1. OPPORTUNITIES TO INCREASE PRODUCTION AND VALUE

The southeastern United States produces more industrial timber than any other region of the world from a forest base that now comprises almost one-half of the world’s industrial forest plantations (Prestemon and Abt, 2002). Over the next several decades, wood demands are expected to continue to increase and the land base used for wood production is projected to continue to shift from natural forests owned by non-industrial private landowners to pine plantations. Typically, plantations have been owned and managed principally by forest industry but now increasingly they are owned by pension funds and other investors. Although softwood removals exceeded growth in many parts of the South in the 1990’s (Cubbage et al. 1995), recent projections indicate that growth should exceed harvest removals within the next decade in most areas as the productive plantation land base continues to increase (Prestemon and Abt, 2002). Clearly, southern forests are undergoing dramatic changes in ownership and use. The area in pine plantations and the intensity at which these plantations are managed are both responding to and affecting the supply and price of wood providing much uncertainty in future predictions.

Historically, forest landowners (both industrial and non-industrial) have focused on minimizing per acre costs associated with plantation establishment and tending. This approach has resulted in millions of planted acres in the southeastern United States with growth rates averaging less than 5 green tons/acre/year. These growth rates are substantially lower than many other forest plantations in the world. Fortunately, theoretical models (Sampson and Allen 1999, Landsberg et al 2001), empirical field trials (Allen and Lein 1998, Martin et al. 1999, Amateis et al. 2000, Jokela et al. 2000, Borders and Bailey 2001, Martin and Shiver 2002) and operational experience show that these growth rates are well below what is possible in the southeastern United States. With investment in appropriate intensive plantation silvicultural systems, growth rates exceeding 10 tons/acre/year are biologically possible and financially attractive for a broad range of site types. The greater inputs typically associated with intensive silviculture may increase per acre costs; however, the resultant increases in production can substantially reduce production costs per ton of wood when variable (treatment) and fixed (land and annual management) costs are considered.

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