Montana

Ranking as one of the state’s top manufacturing industries, Montana’s forest products industry is a vital component of the state’s economy. The industry employs 11,000 workers with an annual payroll of $253 million. Montana’s paper and wood manufacturing workforce represents 26.5 percent of the state’s total manufacturing workforce.

Approximately 25 percent of Montana is forested. Credited to regeneration and planting programs, the net annual forest growth exceeds harvests by a substantial margin.

Montana’s Land Area (in thousands of acres)
Total Land Area: 93,502
Forests: 23,232
Forests as Percent of Total: 24.8%
Federal Lands: 26,136
National Forest System: 16,893

Timberland (in thousands of acres)
Government
    Federal: 12,485
    State: 715
    County & Municipal: 7
Forest Industry: 1,618
Other Private Nonindustrial: 4,340
Total Timberland: 19,165

Federal Land Set-Asides (in thousands of acres)
National Parks: 1,273
Reserved National Forest: 3,494
Fish & Wildlife Service: 1,280
Bureau of Land Management: 665
Total: 6,712

Recycled Paper Consumption (in thousands of short tons): 1,063
also includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, and New Mexico’s recycled paper consumption

Tree Planting (acres)
Federal: 11,992
State, County & Municipal: 622
Forest Industry: 5,866
Farmer & Other Private: 418
Total: 18,898

Value of Industry Shipments (in thousands of dollars)
Wood Product Manufacturing: $1,008,580
Paper Manufacturing: *

Capital Expenditures (in thousands of dollars)
Wood Product Manufacturing: $23,283
Paper Manufacturing: *
*withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual company

Annual Production
Softwood Lumber (million board feet): 1,458
Structural Panels (million square feet): 633
Paper& Paperboard (thousands of short tons): 1,831
includes entire Mountain Region

Timberland Ownership
Government: 69%
Forest Industry: 8%
Other Private Nonindustrial: 23%

Montana’s total softwood and hardwood inventory has increased 26 percent since 1953 despite increasing production of wood and paper products.

Employment
Forestry: 731
Lumber & Wood Products (includes logging): 9,052
Paper & Allied Products: 827