RD388 - 2013 State of the Forest Report


Executive Summary:
On the eve of our 100th Anniversary as a state agency, I'm pleased to present to you the State of the Forest Report that covers our 99th year of protecting and serving the citizens of the Commonwealth.

The sluggish U.S. economy continued its negative impact on the forest industry this year, according to the most recent study of the state's agriculture and forest industries. The report shows the overall economic output of Virginia's forest industry at more than $17 Billion annually, and 103,000 Virginians working in forestry and related industry. While forestry is still a major player in the Virginia economy (and together with Agriculture it remains Virginia's No. 1 economic engine), there has been some contraction over the last few years.

But we are seeing signs of improvement in some sectors. One of the strongest areas is the biomass energy sector. There are several biomass power plants in operation across the state; expansions of biomass energy systems at multiple sites, and the addition of two pellet mills. Traditional forest industries are also experiencing a resurgence, and overseas demand for Virginia wood products continues to expand.

More than 62 percent of the Commonwealth is forestland, the bulk of which is privately owned. More than 373,600 individuals and families control 10 million acres of Virginia forestland. Forest products firms own just 1 percent (186,700 acres) of the forestland - that's down from 7 percent in 2001. While we hear some people say otherwise, the forests of Virginia actually continue to display good species diversity. Hardwood and hardwood-pine forest types make up more than 12.6 million acres - that's more than 79 percent of the forestland! And pine forests represent 20 percent (about 3 million acres) of the state's forestland - a far cry from the 1940 inventory when pine constituted 6.2 million acres.

Another report that came out this year was the Southern Forest Futures Project, which was designed to model and project the tentative impact of urbanization/population growth, climate change, non-native invasive species and timber markets/demand on the extent and composition of the forests of the South 50 years from now. While I can't share the entire report with you in the space I have here, a couple items of note from the report include: an estimated annual loss of 20,800 acres of Virginia timberland (that's 956,800 acres lost through the year 2058), and an average annual increase of 12,000 acres of pine plantation (552,000 acres through 2058).

On the pages that follow, you'll find a lot of information in other areas, such as forest health, research, forest management, resource protection, land conservation, ecosystem services and, of course, water quality, that are of interest to you. Thank you for your support of forestry in the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

/s/ Carl E. Garrison, III
State Forester