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Supply Factors

Timber supply defines how landowners deliver timber to market in response to timber prices and, in the longer run, a variety of other signals. Several factors make it difficult to analyze the timber supply situation. These factors include the long production period involved in growing trees, the multiple benefits that landowners can derive from standing forests, and constant change in the land base from which timber is produced. It is tempting to think of supply as simply the relationship between harvests and prices or, even more simply, the amount of standing timber inventory, but these other factors need to be accounted for. In this section, we examine several factors that influence supply. We start by examining the area of timberland in the South, focusing especially on recent trends in and projections of forest area. We then examine the structure of timberland ownership in the region, which in many ways describes the management intent applied to the timberland base. Next we evaluate changes in inventory over time and investment activities that provide insights into future changes in production.