Many people and organizations are documenting the impacts of logging in the United States. The large-scale industrial logging rate is high, especially in the US Southern coastal plain. The Southern US is known as the “wood basket” of the world. This region’s forests are cleared at a rate four times that of South American rainforests.

Low income rural communities in the South are at the mercy of forest industry expansion. This not only puts community health at risk but also stops or slows widespread economic prosperity. Here we’ll talk about the logging rate, by state and region, in the US South. We’ll also discuss:

• the critical services forests provide
• the economic costs of logging forests
• what you can do to help forests in your community

Calculating logging rates in the US South

We care about logging rates because they show us if the forests around us are healthy. The best way to fight climate change is to protect healthy, intact forests.

Since “logging rate” isn’t an official phrase, we’ll focus on forest clearing. While some forest clearing may be due to other sources, most forest clearing in the US is through logging.

Satellite Forest Cover Loss Data

One way to measure the logging rate is to look at yearly forest loss via satellite. Dr. Matthew Hansen, at the University of Maryland, has been the lead scientist on this mapping project. Plus, it’s easy to use over at the Global Forest Watch website. This is the information we’ll use to talk about the logging rate below.

Here’s a map I made showing the forest clearing for all the years that I could access (2001-2019). Every colored pixel represents a loss of forest cover. The different colors represent different years:

Logging rates across the US South

Rural communities near a wood products plant are more likely to deal with noise, dust, and truck traffic. These Southern communities need to know about the forest destruction in their backyards. For our purposes, I’m defining the “US South” as nine states :

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Florida
• Georgia
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Virginia

Across this nine state region, an average of 2.3 million acres were cleared each year from 2001-2021. As a result, a total of 49 million acres have been cleared from the South in the last two decades. This is an area roughly the size of South Dakota. For each state, there’s a brief summary of the data and then a final table that combines it all.

Logging rates in Alabama

From 2001 to 2021, Alabama has lost an average of 370,865 acres of forest per year to forest clearing activities. A total of 7.7 million acres of forest cover has been lost over two decades.

Logging rates in Arkansas

From 2001 to 2021, Arkansas has lost an average of 225,020 acres of forest per year to forest clearing activities. A total of 4.7 million acres of forest cover has been lost over two decades.

Logging rates in Florida

From 2001 to 2021, Florida has lost an average of 235,914 acres of forest per year to forest clearing activities. A total of 4.9 million acres of forest cover has been lost over two decades.

Logging rates in Georgia

From 2001 to 2021, Georgia has lost an average of 402,814 acres of forest per year to forest clearing activities. A total of 8.5 million acres of forest cover has been lost over two decades.

Logging rates in Louisiana

From 2001 to 2021, Louisiana has lost an average of 229,823 acres of forest per year to forest clearing activities. A total of 4.8 million acres of forest cover has been lost over two decades.

Logging rates in Mississippi

From 2001 to 2021, Mississippi has lost an average of 287,971 acres of forest per year to forest clearing activities. A total of 6 million acres of forest cover has been lost over two decades.

Logging rates in North Carolina

From 2001 to 2021, North Carolina has lost an average of 226,790 acres of forest per year to forest clearing activities. A total of 4.7 million acres of forest cover has been lost over two decades.

Logging rates in South Carolina

From 2001 to 2021, South Carolina has lost an average of 210,666 acres of forest per year to forest clearing activities. A total of 4.4 million acres of forest cover has been lost over two decades.

Logging rates in Virginia

From 2001 to 2021, Virginia has lost an average of 143,690 acres of forest per year to forest clearing activities. A total of 3 million acres of forest cover has been lost over two decades.

Data for all previous years

The table below is the easiest way to show you the specific state and year you might be interested in.

What’s lost when forests are logged?

Logging generates some money for forest landowners and local governments. But a “forest economy” does not need to be like this. Vulnerable communities  benefit more from the ecosystem services that forests provide. Forests provide natural flood control, air filtration, and clean water. We lose these services when forests are logged. Instead we get:

1: A Degraded Landscape

No one wants to live in or visit a clearcut. Industrial scale logging scars the landscape. It leaves ugly clearcuts that often don’t regenerate well or quickly. Some people say that because logging happens on private land, it’s none of our business. But studies have shown that living in a place with intact forests increases property values. In other words, a beautiful and healthy place to live does not include intensive logging practices.

Finally, where forests are valued only for their wood, natural forests may soon be replaced by pine plantations. Pine plantations are basically the cornfields of forests. They require a lot of extras, like pesticide and herbicide applications, to make them ready to harvest. In contrast, communities that value forests for the benefits they provide are more likely to keep diverse natural forests.

2: Degraded Biodiversity

There’s evidence that logging reduces the number and type of species (“biodiversity”) that live nearby. When plantations replace natural forests, the biodiversity can also decrease. Studies show time and time again that logging hurts wildlife.

3: Degraded Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem services are the free services that forests provide to us. For example, forests provide natural flood control, air filtration, and other critical services. Forests also provide a place for us to find food through hunting, fishing, and gathering. We recreate, rejuvenate, and refresh ourselves in forests. They are a life support system for not only humans, but animals, too. And when we consistently log forests, we experience detrimental community impacts.

4: Community Health and Prosperity

Companies say that they’ll bring jobs to a community. But rarely does a new wood pellet mill bring widespread economic prosperity. Forest destruction often benefits a few who don’t live in the region where the facility operates. For example, Enviva HQ is in Bethesda, Maryland, but Enviva plants operate throughout the rural South.

Living close to polluting industries has serious drawbacks. Neighbors complain about the 24/7 noises, pollution, smells, and truck traffic. Many local communities next to forest products mills say their quality of life has gone down.

Final Thoughts

Thriving rural communities need the critical life-supporting services that forests provide. Logging contributes to a destructive economic system that puts profits over people. A forest economy NOT based on logging creates healthy jobs and other community benefits.

If you’re ready to take action, make your voice heard for the forests of the South. Tell President Biden to act on forests today!