Forestry and Forest Products

The United States has one of the most competitive and highest-volume wood products industry in the world. There are several reasons for this, including the availability of forests that include some of the top tree-growing land in the world, an efficient transportation and distribution system, a skilled labor force, technological advances in the forestry and lumber industries, and adequate energy and water resources. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that the forest production industry is the leader in generating and using renewable energy. Additionally, according American Forests, more than half of America's drinking water comes from forests.

The entire industry is highly sensitive to economic cycles. When the economy is depressed, people buy less of the things that wood is used to make. According to the EPA, prior to the 2008–2009 recession, the United States was the world's leading producer and consumer of forest products. However, in 2012, at the end of the recession, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that China had emerged as a leading producer and consumer of forest products. The U.S. economy has since strengthened, and the United States has regained a leadership position in some categories. The FAO reported that in 2020, the U.S. was the top producer of industrial roundwood (e.g., wood in rough form, whole and/or chipped logs used in industrial manufacturing), wood pellets, and pulp for paper. And the U.S. was the second leading producer of sawn wood, wood-based panels, recovered paper, and paper and paperboard. In 2022, the U.S. accounted for more than 95 percent of North American sawn hardwood production, with 3 percent growth in employment in hardwood sawmills compared to 2021.

The wood industry is linked especially closely to trends in housing construction, repair and remodeling construction, and furniture production. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) predicts that employment in the construction industry will grow at an annual rate of 5.6 percent through 2033, which is faster than the average.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook reported about 49,800 workers were employed in logging jobs as of 2023. Employment for fallers, logging equipment operators, log graders and scalers, and related workers is expected to decline through 2033. Overall, forestry industry employment is declining because increased mechanization will lessen the demand for these workers.

There were about 41,400 conservation scientists and foresters employed in the United States in 2023, and that number is expected to grow by 5 percent through 2033, according to the DOL. Most growth will occur in state and local governments, because of wildfires, which have become a pressing problem over the years. Consumer demand for timber and wood pellets also was expected to have a positive impact on employment growth.

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic created an economic downturn that hurt this industry. Forest-related supply chains froze or diminished, causing a sharp decline in exports as international trade slowed to a crawl. Stay-at-home orders and social distancing reduced demand for forest-related products, ensuring that companies without alternate, innovative means to distribute these products were left facing uncertain prospects. While outdoor work in this industry could continue under COVID-19 safety guidelines, restrictions and quarantining shrank the market for forest products. According to an article by Research and Markets, the U.S. forestry industry lost an estimated $1.1 billion in 2020 due to the pandemic. The federal government passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help businesses such as the forestry and forest products industry that have been negatively affected by the pandemic.

As of July 2024, the timber services industry in the U.S. was valued at $1.1 billion, with about 2,671 businesses and total employment of 5,544. Industry revenue had dipped by about 1.5 percent annually from 2019 through 2024, due to a decrease in demand for new construction. However, the research group IBISWorld predicts slow but upward growth for this industry through 2029. Residential construction is expected to pick up again in the coming years. Competition will be keen for small timber services operators as investment firms have started to purchase timberland. The softwood sector is also expected to increase in popularity, because softwood grows fast, which means lower costs than hardwood.