William G. Luppold

Defining Hardwood Veneer Log Quality Attributes

This publication provides a broad spectrum of information on the hardwood veneer industry in North America. Veneer manufacturers and their customers impose guidelines in specifying wood quality attributes that are very discriminating but poorly defined (e.g., exceptional color, texture, and/or figure characteristics). To better understand and begin to define the most important attributes that distinguish veneer logs from sawlogs, and high-end from low-end veneer logs, we visited and interviewed veneer log buyers and sellers, veneer manufacturers, and veneer sales personnel. The first section of this report provides information on the demographics of the hardwood veneer industry and domestic and export market influences on veneer manufacturing. This is followed by a discussion of: 1) veneer quality requirements for different product markets, 2) veneer log quality evaluation procedures, 3) veneer log procurement systems, 4) regional variations in veneer log quality characteristics, and 5) species-specific quality requirements and issues.

An assessment of the downturn in the forest products sector in the northern region of the United States.

The forest industry within the northern region of the U.S. has declined notably in employment, mill numbers, wood consumption, and forest harvests since 2000...a downturn exacerbated by the recession of 2007 to 2009. Longer term industrial decline (since 2000) has been evidenced by reductions in secondary products (e.g., furniture) and print paper manufacturing which can be attributed, respectively, to the lack of global competitiveness due to high U.S. wages and ascent of electronic media. In contrast, shorter term (since 2008), yet sharper declines occurred in industries such as composite panel production that serve the housing industry. Despite a decade of decline, there are future opportunities for this regions forest industry. The regions forests are predominantly within private ownership and represent tremendous volumes of some of the worlds most valuable sawtimber (e.g., select hardwoods). Coupled with this natural resource is a present, but underutilized industry with excess capacity and a skil...

Changes in Eastern Hardwood Sawtimber Growth and Harvest

Abstract This article examines increases in eastern hardwood sawtimber volume by species group and species, the utilization of sawtimber by species groups and important eastern species, the utiliza...

Diversity of the Eastern Hardwood Resource and How This Diversity Influences Timber Utilization

Abstract The eastern hardwood resource is often associated with high-quality sawtimber used in the production of grade products, but this segment of the resource accounts for approximately 20 perce...

A Simulation Model for a Hardwood Sawmill Decision Support System

The paper describes a sawmill simulation model developed as a component of an integrated decision support system for hardwood sawmills. Discussions focus primarily on some of the essential features of the simulator and how it can be used as a tool for designing sawmill facilities and in the evaluation of sawing policies and production plans. Further discussed are some of the discrete-event simulation modeling techniques used in developing the simulator.

West Virginia Forests 2013

The annual inventory of West Virginias forests, completed in 2013, covers nearly 12.2 million acres of forest land with an average volume of more than 2,300 cubic feet per acre. This report is based data collected from 2,808 plots located across the State. Forest land is dominated by the oak/hickory forest-type group, which occupies 74 percent of total forest land area. Seventy-eight percent of forest land area consists of a plurality of large diameter trees, 15 percent contains medium diameter trees, and 7 percent contains small diameter trees. The volume of growing stock on timberland has been rising since the 1950s and currently totals over 25 billion cubic feet. The average annual net growth of growing-stock trees on timberland from 2008 to 2013 is approximately 519 million cubic feet per year. Important species compositional changes include increases in sapling numbers of yellow-poplar, American beech, and noncommercial species, which coincide with decreases in numbers of trees and saplings of oak species. Additional information is presented on forest attributes, land use change, carbon, timber products, species composition, regeneration, and forest health. Detailed information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and summary tables of population estimates, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-105.

Changes in Tennessee's secondary hardwood processing and sawmill industries from 2005 to 2009

Tennessee is in the center of the Eastern hardwood region and has experienced large declines in employment by primary and secondary hardwood processors since 2005 in a pattern similar to the one these processors have experienced nationally. The objective of this article is to examine changes in national hardwood processing industries between 2005 and 2009 and compare these changes with changes in secondary manufacturing employment and hardwood lumber production in Tennessee. The decline in employment in Tennessees furniture industry was caused by increased imports of wooden furniture from Asia and reduced domestic furniture demand as the result of the 2009 recession. Reduced employment in Tennessees flooring and kitchen cabinet industry was a function of the decline in home construction, large firms shifting production to other states, and the 2009 recession. Employment in the millwork industry was less affected perhaps because of shifts in production by larger firms from northern and western states to Tennessee. Declines in hardwood lumber consumption caused most large and very large sawmills in Tennessee to downsize and several medium and small mills to go out of business. The short-term outlook for Tennessees secondary and primary hardwood manufacturers continues to be bleak except for pallets, crossties, and exports.

Delaware Forests 2013

This report summarizes the 2013 results of the annualized inventory of Delaware’s forests conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Results are based on data collected from 389 plots located across the State. There are an estimated 362,000 acres of forest land in Delaware with a total live- tree volume of 936 million cubic feet. There has been no change in the area of forest land since 2008, however, live-tree volume in Delaware has been increasing. Forest land is dominated by the oak/hickory forest-type group, which occupies 53 percent of total forest land area. Seventy-four percent of the forest land area is in large diameter stands, 12 percent in medium diameter stands, and 13 percent in small diameter stands. The volume of growing stock on timberland has been rising since the 1950s and currently totals 811 million cubic feet. Between 2008 and 2013, the average annual net growth of growing-stock trees on timberland was approximately 16 million cubic feet per year. Additional information is presented on forest attributes, ownership, carbon, timber products, species composition, regeneration, and forest health. Detailed information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and summary tables of population estimates are available online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-115.

Changes in Eastern US Sawmill Employment and Estimated Hardwood Lumber Production from 2001 to 2015

Abstract Sawmills are an important component of the hardwood industry, developing value-added products derived from the timber resources of the eastern United States. Employment in eastern sawmills...

Missouri Forests 2013

The third full cycle of annual inventories (2009-2013) of Missouris forests, completed in 2013, reports that there are an estimated 15.5 million acres of forest land in the State. An estimated 60 percent of the forest land area is in sawtimber size stands, 30 percent are pole timber size, and 10 percent are seedling/sapling size or nontstocked. The net volume of live trees on forest land increased by 4 percent, from 20.1 million cubic feet in 2008, to 21.0 million cubic feet in 2013. Average annual net growth of live trees on forest land decreased by more than 25 percent, from an average of 36 cubic feet per acre in 2008, to an average of 26 cubic feet per acre in 2013. This report includes additional information on forest attributes, land-use change, carbon, and forest health. In addition to this document, Missouri Forests 2013: Statistics, Methods, and Quality Assurance is online at https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-RB-108. It contains 1) descriptive information on methods, statistics, and quality assurance of data collection, 2) a glossary of terms, 3) tables that summarize quality assurance, 4) a core set of tabular estimates for a variety of forest resources, 5) a set of user and database guides for P2, P3, and P2+, and 6) a Microsoft Access database that represents an archive of data used in this report, with tools that allow users to produce customized estimates.