The Economic Contributions of Forestry and Forest Products - Lee County

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Publication Number: M1677

Lee County

Forestry and forest products are a major component of Lee County’s economy. Forest-related economic sectors generate value not only within the forest-related sectors but also in other sectors of the economy. The economic contributions of forest-related sectors and their contributions on other sectors can be estimated using input-output analysis. Using 2018 data, this study estimates the total economic contributions of forestry and the forest products industry to Lee County, Mississippi.

Employment and Income Contributions

Forest-related economic activity in Lee County during 2018 generated 5,260 jobs and over $256.7 million in income. That’s about 6.3% of jobs and 6.7% of income in the county. Employment is the number of full- and part-time jobs in all sectors of the economy. Income includes all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income, also referred to as labor income.

Total Output and Value Added Contributions

Forestry and the forest products industry generated over $1.1 billion, or about 6.9% of economic output in Lee County. Forest-related value added amounted to over $396.5 million, or about 5.9% of all value added in the county. The value of all goods and services produced is defined as total output. Value added is a portion of total output and represents the creation of new wealth.

Tax Contributions

Forest-related economic activity contributed an estimated $74.12 million in tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments. This represents an estimated tax revenue of $47.88 million for federal and $26.24 million for state and local governments.

Contributions from forest-related sectors on employment and income in Lee County, Mississippi, 2018.

	Number of Jobs	% of County	Income ($)	% of County
Direct Contributions from Forest-Related Sectors
Misc. Forest Products	1	0.00	51,289	0.00
Logging	9	0.01	17,028	0.00
Solid Wood Products	103	0.12	7,420,096	0.19
Wood Furniture	2,802	3.35	125,333,595	3.27
Pulp & Paper	368	0.44	27,951,613	0.73
Subtotal	3,283	3.92	160,773,621	4.19
Indirect and Induced Contributions on Sectors
Wholesale & Retail Trade	500	0.60	26,999,991	0.70
Misc. Manufacturing	382	0.46	16,783,448	0.44
Misc. Services	352	0.42	11,493,321	0.30
Transport. & Comm. Services	199	0.24	10,825,341	0.28
Financial & Real Estate	197	0.24	7,605,042	0.20
Health Services	167	0.20	14,107,580	0.37
Petroleum & Chemicals	39	0.05	1,642,819	0.04
Domestic Services	30	0.04	1,829,345	0.05
Recreation & Amusement	23	0.03	436,481	0.01
Education	23	0.03	265,487	0.01
Utility Services	20	0.02	1,402,602	0.04
Construction	20	0.02	786,967	0.02
Government	19	0.02	1,603,693	0.04
Agricultural Products	2	0.00	4,471	0.00
Metal Industries	2	0.00	78,334	0.00
Resource Services	1	0.00	15,985	0.00
Transportation Equipment	1	0.00	64,467	0.00
Glass, Stone, & Clay	0	0.00	32,835	0.00
Mining	0	0.00	18,276	0.00
Food Processing	0	0.00	8,736	0.00
Machinery & Equipment	0	0.00	4,434	0.00
Agricultural Processing	0	0.00	1,834	0.00
Farm Inputs & Machinery	0	0.00	735	0.00
Fabric Mills & Leather	0	0.00	456	0.00
Technology Industries	0	0.00	50	0.00
Subtotal	1,977	2.36	96,012,730	2.50
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS	5,260	6.29	256,786,351	6.70
Rest of County	78,411	93.71	3,578,108,859	93.30
Total in County	83,671	100.00	3,834,895,210	100.00

Contributions from forest-related sectors on total output and value added in Lee County, Mississippi, 2018.

	Output ($)	% of County	Value Added ($)	% of County
Direct Contributions from Forest-Related Sectors
Misc. Forest Products	72,419	0.00	51,744	0.00
Logging	318,574	0.00	31,435	0.00
Solid Wood Products	63,313,020	0.39	26,913,691	0.40
Wood Furniture	544,056,111	3.39	163,439,790	2.43
Pulp & Paper	178,171,189	1.11	41,584,490	0.62
Subtotal	785,931,311	4.90	232,021,151	3.45
Indirect and Induced Contributions on Sectors
Wholesale & Retail Trade	86,077,171	0.54	47,930,128	0.71
Misc. Manufacturing	35,533,148	0.22	20,104,217	0.30
Misc. Services	32,390,137	0.20	18,496,396	0.28
Transport. & Comm. Services	32,219,662	0.20	14,141,651	0.21
Financial & Real Estate	56,167,176	0.35	29,983,687	0.45
Health Services	26,713,113	0.17	16,110,647	0.24
Petroleum & Chemicals	14,621,189	0.09	3,620,310	0.05
Domestic Services	10,900,443	0.07	4,769,152	0.07
Recreation & Amusement	1,895,482	0.01	789,527	0.01
Education	727,197	0.00	258,911	0.00
Utility Services	11,170,482	0.07	4,218,317	0.06
Construction	3,466,923	0.02	1,099,273	0.02
Government	6,401,475	0.04	2,640,201	0.04
Agricultural Products	54,470	0.00	14,383	0.00
Metal Industries	431,846	0.00	114,581	0.00
Resource Services	23,666	0.00	15,347	0.00
Transportation Equipment	460,600	0.00	86,662	0.00
Glass, Stone, & Clay	150,493	0.00	52,958	0.00
Mining	133,668	0.00	22,753	0.00
Food Processing	27,484	0.00	10,955	0.00
Machinery & Equipment	25,688	0.00	7,618	0.00
Agricultural Processing	28,274	0.00	5,609	0.00
Farm Inputs & Machinery	9,400	0.00	1,388	0.00
Fabric Mills & Leather	2,736	0.00	971	0.00
Technology Industries	153	0.00	55	0.00
Subtotal	319,632,074	1.99	164,495,697	2.45
TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS	1,105,563,385	6.89	396,516,847	5.90
Rest of County	14,950,133,542	93.11	6,320,943,655	94.10
Total in County	16,055,696,927	100.00	6,717,460,502	100.00

Economic contributions developed using 2018 IMPLAN® software and data (reported in 2020 dollars).

Lee County forestland acreage, ownership, value, and taxes collected.

Total forestland acres, 2018	95,461
Private ownership acres	95,461
Public ownership acres	0
Forestland assessed value, 2018	$5,556,835
Ad valorem tax collections from forestland, 2018	$606,473
Value of standing timber, 2018	$188,345,496
Value of timber harvested, 2019	$1,449,846
Timber severance tax collections (100%), 2019	$4,580
Tax to Forest Resource Development Program (80%)	$3,664
Tax returned to county government (20%)	$916

Sources: Forestland ownership, acreage, and timber volumes were estimated using the USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, Forest Inventory EVALIDator web application Version 1.8.0.01. Tax collections according to Mississippi Tax Commission and Mississippi Department of Revenue. Timber harvest values according to the Mississippi Harvest of Forest Products Report.

M1677 (100-11-20)

By Shaun M. Tanger, PhD, Assistant Extension Professor, Forestry; Marcus K. Measells, MS, Senior Extension Associate, Forestry; James E. Henderson, PhD, Extension Professor and Head, Coastal Research and Extension Center; and Ian A. Munn, PhD, Associate Dean and Professor, Forestry.

Copyright 2020 by Mississippi State University. All rights reserved. This publication may be copied and distributed without alteration for nonprofit educational purposes provided that credit is given to the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Produced by Agricultural Communications.

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Extension Service of Mississippi State University, cooperating with U.S. Department of Agriculture. Published in furtherance of Acts of Congress, May 8 and June 30, 1914. GARY B. JACKSON, Director

Department: MSU Extension- Lee County

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