Heart Of The Nation's Woodbasket
Arkansas is at the heart of this timber-rich area of the country, due to much of the state being covered by 19 million acres of forestland, or more than half of the total area of the state. This is having a huge impact on the state’s economy, timber and forest products companies from around the world, and the lives of the many families living in the area who are seeing an increase in jobs created by those companies.
Arkansas Wood Basket By the Numbers
- 19 million total acres of forestland covering 56.6% of the state
- 73% of forestland is privately owned
- Forestry contributes 4.1 percent of the state's economy
- Arkansas is the second most timber-dependent economy in the nation with a cash farm receipts value of $409M.
- Forest companies own 14% of the 73% of private timberland ownership.
timber-ready workforce
- 11.8% of the state's workforce is employed in manufacturing
- 4th highest percentage of manufacturing employment in the south and 9th highest in the nation (BLS, 2023)
- Arkansas ranked 10th lowest in union membership in the US (BLS, 2023)
- 24,532 skilled workers employed in timber and related industries (DWS, 3rd Qtr, 2023)
History of Growth & Sustainability
- #2 in the South for the number of seedlings grown
- #1 in the South for the number of hardwood seedlings grown
- Abundant and sustainable water resources
- Average growth rate of 2.6 hardwood trees grown for each tree harvested
- Average growth rate of 1.6 pine trees grown for each tree harvested
- Average annual loss to wildfires in 2023 was 5,659 acres, or roughly 0.02% of the state’s total forestland acreage
EDUCATION
- The University of Arkansas at Monticello's College of Forestry, Agricultural, and Natural Resources owns 1,650 acres of land used for instruction
- The UAM Forestry Research Center is an interdisciplinary collaboration of the UA Division of Agriculture and the Monticello campus. Recent projects were related to biomass, habitat restoration, and bird migration.
- Universities in Arkansas offer agribusiness and science degrees
From the Newsroom
Weyerhaeuser Company Announces Plan to Build New Facility in South Arkansas
Weyerhaeuser Company is investing an estimate $500 million to build a new state-of-the-art...
ReadCoil Breaks Ground for New Independent Stave Company Mill
Coil Construction has broken ground on a new state-of-the-art stave mill for Independent S...
ReadCanfor Investing $130 Million to Modernize Urbana Facility
Canfor Corporation is investing approximately $130 million to upgrade and expand its sawmi...
ReadFrom the Blog
New Report Highlights Strength of Arkansas’ Forestry Industry
A new report from the Arkansas Center for Forest Business spotlights the impact of the tim...
ReadArkansas Center for Forest Business Supports Timber and Forest Products Industry in The Natural State
The Arkansas Center for Forest Business, a major new resource for the state's timber indus...
ReadThe Arkansas Timber and Forest Products Industry Report
The timber and forest products industry in Arkansas has strong roots, and the industry is ...
ReadHigh-Tech Forestry
Arkansas is leading the way in technologically-advanced forestry. With over 70,000 skilled workers employed in timber and forest-related industries, Arkansas has the workforce to accommodate expansion.
Watch More"Agriculture is Arkansas’s leading industry with timber making up a third of the overall income. The state has a strong stewardship program in place to protect timber as a renewable resource."
Hardy Wentzel
CEO, Structurlam
"The acquisition of the U.S. sawmills is the right move, at the right time; it will give us immediate scale in an attractive region, with quality assets in a rich fiber basket, close to growing end-markets."
Yves Laflamme
CEO, Resolute Forest Products
“In Arkansas, we are growing more timber than we have markets for, and we have a saying: ‘A working forest is a healthy forest.’”
Ray Dillon
Former CEO, Deltic Timber
At AEDC, we know economic advancement doesn’t happen by accident. We work strategically with businesses and communities to create strong economic opportunities, making Arkansas the natural choice for success. Here are some examples of businesses that are thriving!
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