Changes in Forest-Based Industry Economic Contributions in the South‪.‬

Abstract Periodic assessment of the contributions of forest-based industries to regional and state economies is essential to document and illustrate the importance of these industries to policymakers and constituents. This study reports the economic contributions of forest-based industries for 13 southern states individually and as a region; it is the first such report in nearly a decade. Since the early 1990s, forest-based industries have shifted production to the South, which now produces approximately 60 percent of the nation's total. Despite this shift, forest-based industries represent a smaller share of the regional economy. Within the region, there have been significant shifts among states and among sectors. The nature and magnitude of these changes illustrate the need for more frequent assessments of the economic contributions of forest-based industries to identify emerging trends in a timely fashion.