Ranking as one of the state's top manufacturing industries, Arizona's forest products industry is a vital component of the state's economy. The industry employs 14,000 workers with an annual payroll of $314 million. Arizona's paper and wood manufacturing workforce represents 5.6 percent of the state's total manufacturing workforce.
Approximately 27 percent of Arizona is forested. Credited to regeneration and planting programs, the net annual forest growth exceeds harvests by a substantial margin.
Arizona's Land Area (in thousands of acres) Total Land Area: 72,731 Forests: 19,926 Forests as Percent of Total: 27.4% Federal Lands: 33,130 National Forest System: 11,255
Timberland (in thousands of acres) Government Federal: 2,763 State: 12 Other Private Nonindustrial: 1,297 Total Timberland: 4,072
Federal Land Set-Asides (in thousands of acres) National Parks: 2,834 Reserved National Forest: 2,145 Fish & Wildlife Service: 1,718 Bureau of Land Management: 2,120 Total: 8,817
Recycled Paper Consumption (in thousands of short tons): 1,063 *also includes Colorado, Idaho, Montana and New Mexico's recycled paper consumption
Tree Planting (acres) Federal: 1,672 State, County & Municipal: 5 Farmer & Other Private: 42 Total: 1,719
Value of Industry Shipments (in thousands of dollars) Wood Product Manufacturing: $947,117 Paper Manufacturing: $727,185
Capital Expenditures (in thousands of dollars) Wood Product Manufacturing: $14,893 Paper Manufacturing: $32,099
Annual Production Softwood Lumber (million board feet): 98 Paper & Paperboard (thousands of short tons): 1,831* *includes entire Mountain Region's production
Timberland Ownership Government: 68% Other Private Nonindustrial: 32%
Arizona's total softwood and hardwood inventory has increased 25 percent since 1953 despite increasing production of wood and paper products.
