Arkansas government asks 120 sawmills to take a survey
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Arkansas' Ouachita Pine Forest
ARKANSAS - Arkansas will ask 120 of its active sawmills to participate in a survey, which will allow it to construct year-end harvest and production reports.
 
"The Timber Products Output Survey (TPO) helps us better understand the forest industry, and increases the visibility and marketability of Arkansas wood products to the public," said State Forester Joe Fox. "Reliable data helps the forestry community recognize upcoming trends and prepare for future challenges. "
 
The survey is completed every two years and is administered by the Agriculture Department's Arkansas Forestry Commission (AFC). Even though individual mill data is confidential, the resulting report summarizes timber production by product sector.
 
The most recent TPO Survey indicates Arkansas roundwood output was nearly 528 million cubic feet, or 18.1 million tons. "Roundwood" encompasses wood in log, bolt, or chipped form, including softwood, hardwood, pulpwood, veneer logs, poles, and logs used for composite wood products.
 
Pulpwood and saw logs together accounted for 88 percent of Arkansas' total roundwood output.
 
Arkansas forests provide over 28,000 jobs and contribute to over $6.3 billion in economic impact. A fact sheet showing data from the most recent TPO Survey can be found here.
 

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Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].