Data year: 2024
The South, often referred to as the country’s “wood basket”, produces more timber than all other regions combined, accounting for roughly 60% of annual U.S. harvests (5). Around 87% of working forests in the South are privately owned (1), and timber production plays an important role in supporting rural economies across the region (25). About three-quarters of southern timber is southern yellow pine, grown on both commercially owned and managed plantations and family-owned forests (5). This timber is especially important for structural wood products, like lumber and panels. The region also supplies nearly half of the nation’s hardwood timber (5).
Wood is sourced from jurisdictions
with a low risk of illegal activity.
These wood products can be traced to the U.S. or other regions through legality-focused standards to ensure they are legally sourced.
Wood is acquired according to an independently certified, responsible procurement system or is harvested from regions with regulatory systems in place to implement forestry best management practices.
These products are sourced utilizing practices that protect the forests and the waters that flow through them.
Mills ensure that the wood they use is sourced from forests that comply with forest best management practices (e.g., protection of water quality, endangered species, etc.)
Wood is acquired from lands with one or more forest management certifications.
These products come from forests managed according to sustainable practices defined by an independent body, such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or Forest Stewardship Council.
The wood can be tracked through the supply chain using chain-of-custody.
14% of all forests in this region have a forest management certification.
• Public lands are generally not certified
• Small family landowners also unlikely to be certified
Written for anyone — no forestry background required.
Deforestation occurs when forests are converted to other land uses – think urban development, agriculture, and even solar. Overall, the area of forestland in the U.S. has remained stable since the early 1900s. Where deforestation does occur, it is primarily driven by conversion to urban development (7 and 4). Some deforestation is also driven by conversion to agriculture, though agriculture is a small driver compared to urban development (12). About half of new developed lands in the U.S. over the last 40 years were converted from forest or rangeland (7), and the 2026 US GHG Inventory estimates there were 74 million tCO2e emitted from land converted to urban development in 2024 (4).
Globally, the causes of deforestation vary depending on the region. In contrast to the drivers of forest conversion in the U.S., according to a 2015 World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Living Forest Report, the most common pressures causing global deforestation and severe forest degradation outside the U.S. are: large and small-scale agriculture; unsustainable logging; mining; infrastructure projects; and increased fire incidence and intensity. A more recent report in Nature analyzed the leading causes of deforestation across 179 countries, with commodities such as cattle meat and palm oil being top drivers globally (23), largely in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Click here to read about the relationship between industrial timber harvests and deforestation rates globally.
Forest managers in the U.S. plan for decades ahead of harvest, with future generations in mind. Roughly 2% of U.S. working forests experience a harvest each year. (3) Foresters, whether for large companies, small family landowners, or tribal forests, invest significant time and thought into developing long-term plans for intentional regeneration of harvested sites. Forest management companies often use advanced growth models based on real world measurements to help them understand how their forests will grow over time and how much they can harvest on an annual basis. The US Forest Service also publishes a Resource Planning Assessment every ten years that reports on the status of U.S. forests and projects future forest resources to ensure harvests remain at a sustainable level.
Currently, U.S. forests grow nearly ~1.5 times as much wood as is harvested and lost to mortality each year (22) and remove approximately 855 million net tonnes of CO2 equivalent from the atmosphere (4).
First, deforestation is defined as changing from a forest to a non-forest use. Urbanization, not the production of forest products, is the single biggest threat facing U.S. forests today. Wood in the US is harvested from working forests, which exclude protected and nonproductive lands. Readily accessible, healthy markets for timber help ensure landowners will have the means to regenerate their forest after harvest. While it may seem counter-intuitive, forest product demand can actually lead to more forests. Demand for forest products provides revenue to landowners, incentivizing them to invest in their forests through replanting, management, and forest health treatments. Data show that global regions with the highest levels of industrial timber harvest and forest product output are also regions with the lowest rates of deforestation.
The forest sector plants around 1.2 billion seedlings per year (21). Just over 500 million of these trees are harvested each year from planted forest stands (5). Another 175 million trees are lost to mortality. The members of the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO), which represent the largest and most intentionally intensively managed forests for timber production calculate their three-year average of seedlings planted which was 400,039,899 in 2025.
Growth-to-drain ratios compare how much wood a forest grows each year after accounting for tree death and harvested wood. The U.S. growth-to-drain ratio is around 1.5:1 (1), meaning U.S. forests grow ~1.5 as much wood as is harvested and lost to mortality each year. For the past 50 years, harvest removals have remained below 2% of standing tree inventory, while net tree growth (accounting for mortality) was near 3%. Currently, the volume of annual net timber growth is more than twice the volume of annual timber removals. (1)
As disturbances like wildfire and pest outbreaks rise, mortality is becoming an increasingly large factor in the growth-to-drain ratio, particularly in regions like the Rocky Mountains where there are high rates of insect infestations. (1) Mortality rates vary by region and typically range from 0.5% to 1% of standing inventory.
While these ratios are certainly not the only indicators that can be used to determine forest sustainability, they are a simple way to show that, despite the U.S. being one of the world’s largest producers of wood products (24), we are still harvesting at a sustainable level.
Learn more about growth-to-drain ratios of private forests in the U.S.
The National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) defines climate-smart forestry as “a dynamic and adaptable approach within sustainable forest management that optimizes climate adaption and mitigation outcomes” and recognizes the important role that different forest management practices have in achieving climate solutions. Forest carbon stocks can serve as a simple metric to determine if forest management practices are “climate-smart”. In the U.S., forest carbon stocks continue to increase each year, removing more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit (4). However, it’s important to note that some management activities that may cause a net loss in forest carbon across a landscape might also be “climate-smart”. A good example of this is fuel load reduction treatments that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires but may also reduce the carbon stocks in the forest.
Both are valid ways to store carbon but only one creates wood products for buildings, which will store carbon throughout their service lives while simultaneously making room for new seedlings to grow. After a tree is harvested, a new one is regrown to continue the cycle of carbon sequestration. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report, “Forestry for a Low Carbon Future,” lists six key strategies for integrating forests and wood products into climate change strategies:
More information on forest age and carbon sequestration rates: Forest Carbon from Young vs. Old Forests
Clearcutting is a forest management practice in which most or all of the trees in a selected area are harvested at the same time. This approach allows for efficient wood removal and creates open conditions where sun‑loving young trees can receive the light they need to grow. Clearcutting sometimes raises public concern because recently harvested areas can resemble land cleared for development. However, unlike permanent land conversion, clearcuts are used in areas where trees are intentionally harvested and regrown as part of an ongoing forest management cycle.
As with all harvesting methods, clearcutting relies on forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) to protect soil health and water quality during and after harvest. All major forest certification standards allow clearcutting, though each sets specific conditions for its use to ensure environmental responsibility. When applied in the appropriate forest type, clearcutting can be just as sustainable as other management practices, provided that soil is protected and the forest is regrown after harvest. In some instances, clear-cutting can provide important habitat for wildlife.
Learn more about clearcutting: HOW WE DO IT: Clearcutting | Oregon Forest Resource Institute: When is clearcutting the right choice?
In the U.S., forestry is practiced under strict regulations that include protections for soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat. Architects, engineers, and other design professionals can find additional assurance that timber comes from sustainably managed forests through mechanisms like certification to procurement or forest management standards.
Here are some common labels to look for as you seek wood products that meet your project’s sustainability goals:
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Learn more: SFI On-Product Labels
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Learn more: FSC On Product Labels
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These databases can help you identify mills with fiber certified to procurement or forest management standards: SFI Certified Organizations | FSC Public Certificate Search | PEFC Find Certified. You can also connect with companies individually to learn about their sustainable sourcing practices!
Mills have invested significantly in certifications and internal supply chain verification systems. The underlying work required by those certifications and internal controls help assure consumers their wood is not coming from practices that are harmful to forest ecosystems. Responsibly sourced wood goes beyond harvest legality by showing that risk mitigation, best management practices, and sustainability safeguards were applied throughout the sourcing process. Sources can be qualified as responsible in a couple of ways:
The first is if the company or mill that manufactures the wood product has an independent certification to a procurement standard, such as:
To qualify for these standards, a manufacturer must have a system in place that verifies their wood is harvested in compliance with all relevant legal requirements and is coming from forests with responsible practices, including measures that protect biodiversity and ecologically and culturally important areas. Companies certified to these standards are third-party audited to ensure compliance.
Another is if wood comes from a geographic area that has programs that implement best management practices (BMPs). BMPs are practices implemented by forest managers and loggers aimed at protecting water quality during all phases of forest management. To qualify as ‘responsible’ under ASTM D7612, the applicable standard or forest governance in the geography must include compliance with BMPs and ensure all fiber comes from known and legal sources. To date, Oregon is the only state to officially have an approved state-based ASTM D7612 compliance program, though other states are likely eligible.
See the additional resources section for more information on procurement certifications.
Responsibly sourced wood goes beyond harvest legality by showing that risk mitigation, best management practices, and sustainability safeguards were applied throughout the sourcing process. For U.S. structural wood products, the majority of producers have at least one type of procurement certification.
| AWC Member Mill Procurement Certification Stats* | ||||
| SFI Fiber Sourcing | SFI Chain of Custody | FSC Controlled Wood | FSC Chain of Custody | |
| Lumber
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82% | 43% | 12% | 15% |
| EWP/Mass Timber
|
48% | 50% | 24% | 28% |
| Panels (Plywood, OSB, etc.)
|
72% | 27% | 34% | 34% |
Forest certification is a voluntary, third-party system used to verify that forests are managed according to established sustainability standards, often covering practices related to forest regeneration, biodiversity, water quality, endangered species, indigenous peoples’ rights, forestry research, and long-term forest health. In the U.S., the most common forest certifications are the SFI Forest Management Standard and the FSC Forest Management Standard. Both standards include requirements addressing the above practices, but they differ in implementation approaches and specific requirements within each category. Click here for a more detailed comparison of SFI and FSC standards.
In 2026, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced a determination recognizing wood sourced under SFI, PEFC, and FSC standards, allowing wood products certified under any of these standards to count toward LEED credits equally.
It’s important to note that not all sustainably managed forests are certified (e.g., federal forests and small family forests). The absence of certification does not necessarily indicate unsustainable practices, but certification is a useful tool for identifying sustainably produced wood products.
See the additional resources section for more information on forest certification.
There are about 102 million acres of certified forests in the U.S., which is about 20% of total U.S. working forests. Globally, the area of certified forest makes up around 11% of global forest area, with the majority of certified area located in North American and Europe. (20)
Certification is mostly used by private owners who intend to sell timber from their lands and want to provide sustainability assurance to customers. It can be costly, however, and many public forests are already subject to public processes (e.g., NEPA) that call for environmental assessment and transparency. Although U.S. federal timberlands are typically not certified, this does not mean they are not being sustainably managed. In 2007, the Pinchot Institute conducted a study of five national forests and found their management practices met many of the certification requirements in terms of forest planning, protection of threatened and endangered species and others. (19). Additionally, many state-owned forests are certified to the SFI or FSC forest management standards. For example, all state-managed forests in Washington State (2.4 million acres) are certified.
Some small family forest owners choose to certify their lands, and others don’t. Cost, complexity, administrative burden, and the diversity of landowner objectives and values make wide-scale certification difficult for small landowners. These landowners make up roughly a third of forest ownership in the U.S. (272 million acres) (8). Even though many of these lands are not certified, wood sourced from them is subject to procurement requirements by the mills that purchase their timber. For those landowners who choose to certify their forests, the American Tree Farm System standard is designed to be implemented by smaller scale forest owners.
Wood product EPDs include emissions from forestry activities (from stand establishment through harvest), transportation, and production emissions in the mill. GHG emissions associated with forestry activities – referred to as the A1 stage in wood product EPDs – include emissions from activities like nursery operations, site preparation, planting, fertilization, thinning and harvesting. These operations are a relatively small contributor to overall wood product embodied carbon. For example, the A1 stage of the production of softwood lumber is responsible for only about 24% of the total emissions. The transportation stage (A2) includes emissions from trucking or other transportation to bring wood from where it was harvested to the mill.
In addition to the efficient forestry operations, the manufacturing process (the A3 stage in EPDs) has lower GHG emissions than many other industries. Unlike concrete and steel, wood products do not require extremely high temperatures to produce, and most wood product mills use residual biomass from logs to fuel their operations. Wood product manufacturing is inherently low-waste, with nearly every piece of the log being used. Manufacturers also use wood residuals to create a host of products we use in our everyday lives, including composite panels, paper, mulch, and compost used to enrich soil.
Wood product EPDs express carbon impacts in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP). EPDs disclose both GWP-fossil (emissions from fossil sources, such as coal, oil, and natural gas) and GWP-biogenic (CO2 emissions and removals from biological materials). GWP values for wood products manufacturing can vary depending on regional factors such as the electricity grid or wood species and moisture differences. Generally, GWP impacts for wood products are lower than for alternative materials and can lead to avoided emissions when used in place of alternative materials. Wood products also store biogenic carbon while they are in use, and wood product EPDs report the carbon storage in the products as additional information.
More LCA data on regional forestry operations can be found here.
Wood product manufacturers source fiber from hundreds to thousands of different landowners across the U.S., and logs from those sources are mixed and sorted based on quality and other characteristics in the mill’s log yard before processing. After wood leaves the mill, it is bought and sold as a commodity product by traders and building materials suppliers across the country and moved by plane and train (and sometimes boat!). This complex supply chain means that the industry relies upon grading stamps on the products to convey procurement requirements, and in some cases chain-of-custody systems provide information on the certification types that went into the growth and sourcing of the product. This helps track the information that’s most important to customers while not adding the expense of tracking individual pieces of lumber or hindering competition in the marketplace between the multitude of actors involved in the supply chain.
Wood products are an inherently circular material because trees are a renewable resource. Sustainably managed forests provide a steady supply of fiber for wood products. In addition, mills use nearly every part of the log, turning sawdust, bark, and chips into energy, paper, and other products instead of waste. Lumber and engineered wood products have long service lives in buildings, and at the end of a product’s life, wood can often be reused, recycled into other products, or used for bioenergy rather than sent to a landfill.