The overall southern economy has grown since 1969, with total jobs increasing by an average of 2.6 percent per year since 1969. Manufacturing jobs increased by only 0.8 percent per year and agricultural jobs by only 0.1 percent per year. Poverty and unemployment have decreased in the South, but are still higher than in the United States as a whole.
In 1997, timber and agriculture, along with subsequent processing, directly contributed approximately 6 percent of jobs and gross regional product (GRP) in the South. Wood products sectors contributed 1.93 percent of jobs, and agriculture sectors contributed 4.27 percent of jobs. Wood products accounted for 2.31 percent of GRP, and agriculture 3.54 percent.
The U.S. wood products industry continues to concentrate in the South, which has 39.3 percent of U.S. wood products jobs. Both lumber/wood products and pulp/paper concentration increased, while the furniture sector concentration decreased. The percentages of State-level jobs and income in wood products have generally declined since 1969. Actual numbers of jobs have remained fairly constant.
Tourism-related industries are increasing in the South, but are not becoming more concentrated in the South. The percentage of State-level jobs and income in the tourism-related sectors is increasing in all 13 States, as are the actual numbers of jobs and amount of income.
In 1997, wood products sectors contributed 5.5 percent of southern jobs and 6 percent of GRP. Public lands represented 8.5 percent of this contribution.
In 1997, outdoor recreation-based tourism contributed between 0.64 and 2.88 percent of southern jobs and between 0.51 and 2.51 percent of GRP. Public lands represented approximately 56 percent of this contribution.
National forests contributed 1.7 percent of the value of timber harvested and an estimated 17 percent of outdoor recreation-based tourism in 1997. The USDA Forest Service contributed more than $330 million to the southern economy for management of the national forests, research and development, State and private forestry, and payments to States.
National forests in the Southern Region are the second most heavily used of the nine USDA Forest Service regions with visits of 1.9 per acre, reflecting the scarcity of public land for outdoor recreation in this region.
Fourteen southern counties have high concentrations of wood products employment and high percentages of land managed by the USDA Forest Service.
