The Arkansas timber industry faced significant challenges at the start of 2024, including plant closures and natural disasters. However, the year concluded with optimism driven by groundbreaking initiatives and significant investments that signal a promising future for the state’s forestry sector.
According to the Arkansas Center for Forest Business at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, Arkansas forests contributed approximately $7 billion to the state’s economy in 2024 through wood production facilities, tourism, hunting and other activities. While timber prices remained soft throughout the year, announcements of forest product mill expansion and development of the Arkansas Forest Health Research Center provide encouragement for the health of the state’s forests and the markets they sustain.
“The reduced value of small-diameter trees from market declines and the large areas of overstocked forests in poorer health that results from that were of high concern coming into 2024, but we’re concluding the year with increased investment in new and existing forest markets in southern Arkansas,” said Michael Blazier, dean of the UAM College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources and director of the Arkansas Forest Resource Center…