Hardwood forest products represent the top exported agricultural commodity in Pennsylvania, but domestic use of lumber has waned due to the misconception that cutting down trees is necessarily bad.
Staff Reporter
Hardwood forest products represent the top exported agricultural commodity in Pennsylvania, but domestic use of lumber has waned due to the misconception that cutting down trees is necessarily bad.
Timber harvesting is the driver behind the state’s top exported agricultural commodity, but not everyone is on board with the concept.
Pennsylvania logs more than $1.1 billion annually in forest product exports, but industry leaders are wrestling with what they call a widespread public misconception on the domestic side.
During a Nov. 4 virtual lecture organized by the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, Wayne Bender, former executive director of the Pennsylvania Hardwoods Development Council, said public opposition to logging is a “major concern” that hampers the industry and the jobs it creates.
Much of the objection, he said, is in the southeastern part of the state, where townships are passing ordinances to restrict forestry practices. But it’s more than a regional problem.
“Children are taught today that it’s not good to use wood and we should save trees because they make oxygen,” Bender said.
The younger generation isn’t aware that the United States leads the world in sustainable forestry, he said, and that the forest is a renewable resource.
And when it comes to carbon sequestration — a hot topic these days — Bender said that wood is carbon negative.
“More carbon is put into the environment to make a plastic chair than a wooden one,” he said.
Michael Snow, executive director of the American Hardwood Export Council, said the industry needs to get the right message out about carbon and timber harvesting.
The practice actually reduces carbon, he said, because once a tree matures, it stops absorbing the greenhouse gas.
If a mature tree dies and decays on the forest floor, all of the carbon that it had trapped is released back into the atmosphere, meaning there is a greater carbon sequestration benefit to harvesting mature trees and allowing regeneration to take place, he said.
“It’s a question of educating people,” Snow said. “It’s an uphill struggle because it goes against what people believe.”
In addition to environmental benefits, Bender said there are plenty of economic reasons to support wise forestry practices.
Pennsylvania has the largest volume of standing hardwood timber in the nation, and many of those trees are saw-log quality, he said. Soft maple has overtaken red oak as the dominant species and has a higher value than even black cherry, according to Bender.
The overall value and quality of Pennsylvania hardwoods not only drives exports but also creates jobs.
According to the hardwood council, the lumber industry accounts for approximately 69,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, which equates to 10% of the manufacturing jobs in the state.
Most of those jobs aren’t the heart of the state’s timber stands in the north-central region, but rather are in the southeast, Bender said.
Lancaster County leads the state for jobs in the forest products industry, followed by Montgomery, York, Berks, Bucks and Philadelphia. The cabinet and furniture industries drive most of that workforce.
“If we want to keep those jobs there, it depends on access to the timber resource,” Bender said, noting that domestic consumption of lumber has declined in part due to public perception of logging.
That’s one reason why industry officials are working to maintain and build the export market, much of which goes through the Port of Philadelphia to places like China, where Pennsylvania is the top supplier of hardwood.
China is the U.S.’ largest export destination for hardwood lumber. Canada, Mexico, Vietnam and India are also major buyers, driving U.S. exports to $8.5 billion a year, Snow said.
The financial significance of forest products hasn’t translated to large payments from USDA safety-net programs. Out of $28 billion in relief funding by the department last year, the hardwood industry received just $3.3 million.
“We were essentially ignored,” Snow said. “Only soybeans sold to China accounted for more dollar value than forest products.”
Along with changing the environmental image of timbering, a tariff-free market would benefit the hardwood industry and exports, he said.
“You can recycle all of the plastic you want, but it’s not going to come anywhere near the environmental benefit of using sustainable hardwoods,” Snow said.
A panel of experts recently gave advice on identifying trees in the winter through their bark, buds, and branches.
Although the effects of proper forestry often take a while to manifest, it is worthwhile to manage a sugar bush according to Arron Wightman and Peter Smallidge with Cornell University’s Maple Program.
As part of their ownership goals, woodland owners may want or need to harvest trees from their woods. Understanding the value of those trees is generally the first step in the process.
State ag leaders recently visited Conestoga Wood Specialties for a behind-the-scenes look at one of Pennsylvania’s thriving hardwood products companies.
Staff Reporter
Tom Venesky is a staff reporter for Lancaster Farming. He can be reached at tvenesky@lancasterfarming.com
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