West Virginia

Ranking as one of the state’s top manufacturing industries, West Virginia’s forest products industry is a vital component of the state’s economy. The industry employs 14,000 workers with an annual payroll of $252 million. West Virginia’s paper and wood manufacturing workforce represents 11.7 percent of the state’s total manufacturing workforce.

Approximately 78 percent of West Virginia is forested.  Credited to regeneration and planting programs, the net annual forest growth exceeds harvests by a substantial margin.

West Virginia's Land Area (in thousands of acres)
Total Land Area: 15,415
Forests: 12,108
Forests as Percent of Total: 78.5%
Federal Lands: 1,178
National Forest System: 1,033

Timberland (in thousands of acres)
Government
    Federal: 1,033
    State: 253
    County & Municipal: 38
Forestry Industry: 887
Other Private Nonindustrial: 9,689
Total Timberland: 11,900

Federal Land Set-Asides (in thousands of acres)
National Parks: 89
Reserved National Forest: 181
Fish & Wildlife Service: 6
Total: 276

Recycled Paper Consumption (in thousands of short tons): 2,450
also includes North Carolina and Virginia’s recycled paper consumption

Tree Planting (acres)
Federal: 87
Forest Industry: 53
Farmer & Other Private: 1,995
Total: 2,135

Value of Industry Shipments (in thousands of dollars)
Wood Product Manufacturing: $1,074,260
Paper Manufacturing: $129,747

Capital Expenditures (in thousands of dollars)
Wood Product Manufacturing: $40,675
Paper Manufacturing: $1,550

Annual Production
Softwood Lumber (million board feet): 3
Hardwood Lumber (million board feet): 789
Structural Panels (million square feet): 911
Paperboard (in thousands of short tons): *
*withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual company

Timberland Ownership
Government: 11%
Forest Industry: 7%
Other Private Nonindustrial: 82%

West Virginia’s total softwood and hardwood inventory has more than doubled since 1953 despite increasing production of wood and paper products.

Employment
Forestry: 422
Lumber & Wood Products (includes logging): 12,422
Paper & Allied Products: 1,253