SIC 0851 Forestry Services

Encyclopedia of American Industries | 2005 | Copyright

SIC 0851
FORESTRY SERVICES

This industry classification includes establishments primarily engaged in performing, on a contract or fee basis, services related to timber production, wood technology, forestry economics and marketing, and other forestry services, not elsewhere classified, such as cruising timber, fire fighting, and reforestation.

NAICS Code(s)

115310 (Support Activities for Forestry)

Industry Snapshot

One-third of the United States is forestland. The challenge for federal government, activists' groups, and private companies is how best to put the resources to work, yet preserve old-growth trees and animal habitats. U.S. forests cover nearly 747 million acres, or one-third of the nation's lands. Of that total, 52 million acres are "set aside" for nontimber use, such as parks and reserves, as proscribed by the federal government. Two-thirds of the forestlands (503.6 million acres) are classified as timberlands, capable of producing 20 cubic feet of commercial wood per year. In 2001 nonindustrial private ownership accounted for 58 percent of timberlands. Twenty-nine percent was owned by the federal government (19 percent, national forest; 10 percent, other public use), and 13 percent was used by the commercial forest industry.

The United States is the world's leading producer and consumer of wood products, supplying 25 percent and consuming 30 percent. According to the American Forest and Paper Association (AFPA), in 2000 Americans consumed an average of 718 pounds of paper products and 18 cubic feet of lumber products. New housing accounts for 40 percent of all lumber use; remodeling and repair, 28 percent; nonresidential and manufacturing, 15 percent; and shipper containers, 9 percent. Paperboard accounts for 45 percent of all paper goods; printing/writing, 31 percent; newsprint, 12 percent; tissue, 7 percent; and packaging and other, 5 percent.

Federal regulations regarding the industry are numerous. They encompass everything from road construction to reforestation mandates. Many in the industry see these regulations as excessively burdensome and a barrier to trade. However, for many years private companies harvested trees on public lands, paying nothing to the public coffers and having little regard to the impact of wholesale tree clearing. The U.S. Forest Service stepped in, and with the help of public pressure due to awareness to the need for the forests, set up regulations.

Organization and Structure

During the start of the twentieth century, the economic future of the United States was heavily dependent on the "perpetual supply of timber," as noted in a 1923 editorial in The Timberman, a leading forest products journal. The forestry services industry took hold from a philosophy that the nation's forestland was a resource that had to be serviced, protected, and renewed, rather than just harvested and diminished. Protection from wildfires and pest infestation of the nation's forests were essential for survival.

As the timber industry grew and became more competitive, so did related services: timber cruisers hiked through forests to assess logging conditions and estimate the volume of marketable timber; and estimators, log graders, and scalers inspected logs for defects, measured them to determine volume, and estimated marketable content or value for pulpwood and other uses. Timber and related industries grew at a fast pace along with the demand for skilled loggers.

Vast Forest Resources. As the growth of forestland that required servicing increased, so did the growth for the demand of the forestry services industry. In 1996 over 737 million acres—or approximately one-third of the total U.S. land area—was forested. In Oregon, Washington, and California, more than 10 million acres of old-growth forest can be found. Nonfederal public agencies, the forest industry, farmers and ranchers, and other private individuals owned the majority of this forestland.

Fire fighting and prevention, pest control, and forest management plans took hold in the 1980s and 1990s due to the new philosophy of managing the U.S. forests as complex ecosystems, containing interdependent communities of plants, animals, and microbes. This new way of looking at forests was greatly influenced by the declining number of U.S. forestlands during the early 1970s. Reforestation and new forestry management efforts started, in part to prevent the decline of 1.5 million acres each year between 1970 and 1987. The efforts paid off, for by the early 1990s, the rate of U.S. forest depletion had decreased to approximately half a million acres per year. However, government sources still project a decline of 4 percent of forestland to about 703 million acres by the year 2040.

International Forest Servicing. The issues of deforestation, acid deposition, climate change, and endangered species were problems that crossed national boundaries. During the 1980s and 1990s, natural resource issues helped create an international forestry emphasis. Many U.S. companies and organizations specializing in forestry services increasingly contributed to reforestation efforts in forests from the Amazon to Malaysia. The authorization of the 1990 Farm Bill communicated to the world that the U.S. Forest Service supported forestry services work on an international basis. It coordinated efforts with the U.S. Department of State and other...

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