The economic contribution of logging, forestry, pulp & paper mills, and paper products: A 50-state analysis

The existing forest economics literature contains relatively few economic contribution studies at the state level in the U.S. While some prior studies have aggregated the economic contribution of forest sector activities at the regional or multi-state level, none have specifically calculated this in a comprehensive, homogeneous manner across all 50 U.S. states. Utilizing aggregation schemes in the existing literature, this research computes the economic contribution of multiple sectors of the commercial logging, forestry products, pulp & paper mills, and paper products for all 50 states. These findings have important implications, as strengthening these primary sectors of commercial logging and pulp & paper can help enhance wood products industry clusters and their individual industry sectors throughout the U.S. and breed strong regional economies.