Louisiana Forest Products Development

1) Examine market structures and issues facing the forest products industry in Louisiana from the perspective of the supply chain from the forest to consumers. 2) Identify factors and processes which promote or deter sustainable growth and market development of the forest products industry in Louisiana. 3) Identify Louisiana forest products sector employee training and skills development needs. BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION Louisiana’s forests represent an important resource for the state, both in terms of income to landowners and as inputs to the forest products industry. The harvest of timber, which is Louisiana’s number one agricultural crop both in terms of gross income and value-added processing (LSU AgCenter, 2008), supports a solid wood forest products industry that consists of about 930 primary and secondary manufacturing establishments (Aguilar and Vlosky, 2006). The forest sector, including forestry and forest products, represents Louisiana’s second largest employer with approximately 17,000 manufacturing jobs and 8,000 jobs in the harvesting/transportation of timber (LFA 2008). The value added is a measure of net output (i.e. of gross output less those purchase