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Forest Products
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
Map showing location of U.S. facilities in this sector; please click on the map to see a larger version.
Sector Profile
The Forest Products sector includes companies engaged in growing, harvesting and processing wood and wood fiber, manufacturing pulp, paper and paperboard products from both virgin and recycled fiber, and producing engineered and traditional wood products. Companies in the lumber and wood products industry cut timber and pulpwood, mill raw materials into lumber and building materials, and manufacture finished articles such as wood panels.
The forest products industry accounts for more than 5 percent of total U.S. manufacturing output, employs nearly 1 million people. The Forest Products sector is the third-largest manufacturing sector in consumption of fossil fuel energy and is a major user of water. Although the sector is energy-intensive, it has a high level of cogeneration and use of biomass to produce energy. Annual shipments totaled $241 billion in 2002.
Performance Data and Trends for this Sector
You can find data and trends for this sector in the Forest Products chapter of the most recent Sector Performance Report.
The Forest Products chapter in Energy Trends in Selected Manufacturing Sectors: Opportunities and Challenges for Environmentally Preferable Energy Outcomes (PDF) (16 pp, 356K, About PDF) outlines the trends and opportunities in energy use for this sector.
Resources
Trade Associations
- American Forest and Paper Association
- National Council for Air & Stream Improvement (NCASI)
- Technical Association of the Pulp & Paper Industry (TAPPI)
Key Documents
- Profile of the Pulp and Paper Industry (2002) (PDF) (135 pp, 1608K, About PDF)
- Profile of the Lumber and Wood Products Industry (1995) (PDF) (126 pp, 507K, About PDF)
Sector-related Links
Industry Sector Notebooks:
- Profile of the Lumber and Wood Products Industry (1995) (PDF) (126 pp, 507K, About PDF)
- Profile of the Pulp and Paper Industry, 2nd Edition (2002) (PDF) (135 pp, 1608K, About PDF)