Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Facts Are Given On Pine Forests

Being in a land of abundant forest, the following information is provided for the interest of our readers.

There are 17.2 million acres of timberland in Arkansas, which covers 51 percent of the state's area.

About 10 million acres, or 57 percent of the timberland, is owned by private individuals. Only 25 percent of the state's forestland is owned by forest industries and 18 percent is owned by federal, state and local governments.

There are four distinct forest regions in Arkansas, the Ozark Mountains, the Ouachita Mountains, the Coastal Plain and the Delta.

Hardwoods, mainly oaks, make up 58 percent of Arkansas' forests. Pines make up 24 percent, and the remaining 18 percent is a mixture of pines and hardwoods.

Timber was Arkansas' number one cash crop in 1991, valued at $574 million, followed by soybeans, rice and cotton.

The forest products industry, Arkansas's largest manufacturing industry, adds more than $2.6 billion to the state's economy each year.

The forest products industry is Arkansas' leading industry in terms of capital investment.

Some 40,000 people are directly employed by Arkansas' forestry community.

The inventory of standing timber in Arkansas is worth more than $12 billion.

Arkansas is the second leading lumber producing state in the South, and fourth leading in the nation.

Many landowners harvest their timber with no plan for reforestation after haravest. When this happens, the valuable tree species are usually replaced by low-value species.

Millions of acres of Arkansas' forestland are producing less than one-half its potential wood growth because of lack of management.

Managed forestland is a good investment that can return 10 to 15 percent or more.

The key to forest management is a written forest management plan prepared by a professional forester.

Arkansas' forests provide many benefits other than timber, including wildlife habitat, soil and watershed protection, biological diversity, natural beauty, recreational opportunities and forage for livestock.