The timber economy of the Mid-Atlantic region: some preliminary results from the Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment
Abstract
The Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA) is a multi-agency effort headed by the USEPA to assess the health and sustainability of ecosystems in an 8 state region. We present some preliminary results on the economic impact of forest industries from the socio-economic component of the MAIA forest assessment. Employment and income trends between1975-1995 are examined for three specific sectors of the economy in the Mid-Atlantic region: (1) Lumber and Wood Products - Standard Industry Classification (SIC) 24, (2) Paper and Allied Products -SIC 26, and (3) Furniture and Fixtures - SIC 25. During the last two decades, forest based industries in the MAIA produced an average of 244,100 jobs and $4.5 billion in real wages per year, or about 2 percent of all wage employment and income in the MAIA region. However, during this time period the forest industry sector has generally not grown as rapidly as the rest of the MAIA economy (with the exception of SIC 24 in Delaware, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania and SIC 25 in Delaware) and several states have even experienced negative rates of growth in their forest industry sectors. If recent trends continue, forest industry will continue to be an important source of employment and income for parts of some states in the MAIA region; however, forest industry’s importance relative to the entire Mid-Atlantic economy will continue to decline in the 21st century.