Expert: Forestry is state’s second-largest industry

ALBANY — Scott Howell calls it “the hidden industry,” but, he notes, forestry is the second-largest industry in the state of Georgia.

Howell, a property services manager for Albany-based F&W Forestry Services, shared with the Kiwanis Club of Dougherty County recently some figures that demonstrate forestry’s impact on the state’s economy.

He said the industry has a $23.6 billion impact and provides more than 108,000 jobs. There are 151 wood-processing facilities in the state that use more than 45 million tons of wood annually.

“Considering how much wood is cut, we are exceeding that with what we grow by about 38 percent a year,” Howell told club members.

Some other observations he shared:

— Two of every three raindrops that fall in Georgia land on forest lands.

— Forests are among the most significant factors in water quality and quantity.

— Including water quality, wildlife habitat, carbon storage, recreation and aesthetics Georgia’s forests are worth approximately $37 billion.

— Of 37 million acres of land in Georgia, 24.8 million are forested and 24.4 million are available for commercial forestry practices.

— Ninety-one percent of timberland in the state is under private ownership, with 56 percent of that total owned by individuals. Nine percent of the forest lands are publicly held, in contrast to Oregon, where 64 percent of woodlands are publicly owned.

The forestry industry offered an early omen prior to the Great Recession, according to Howell, as housing starts began to decline.

“In 2006 our timber prices really started falling,” he said. “This is about two years before the rest of the world recognizes the Great Recession. We started seeing the impacts of it before the rest of the economy did.

“The buying power of one ton of saw timber in 2011-12 was lower than it has ever been in the history of the timber industry. If you are a landowner with timber on your property, things are expected to get better, but not as good as they once were.”

F&W Forestry was founded in Albany in 1962 and now provides acquisition, management and disposition services through 26 offices in 25 U.S. states, as well as Uruguay, Brazil, the United Kingdom and France.