New Hampshire

Ranking as one of the state’s top manufacturing industries, New Hampshire’s forest products industry is a vital component of the state’s economy. The industry employs 11,000 workers with an annual payroll of $306 million. New Hampshire’s paper and wood manufacturing workforce represents 7.6 percent of the state’s total manufacturing workforce.

Approximately 86 percent of New Hampshire is forested. Credited to regeneration and planting programs, the net annual forest growth exceeds harvests by 26 percent.

New Hampshire’s Land Area (in thousands of acres)
Total Land Area: 5,740
Forests: 4,955
Forests as Percent of Total: 86.3%
Federal Lands: 759
National Forest System: 728

Timberland (in thousands of acres)
Government
    Federal: 440
    State: 228
    County & Municipal: 125
Forest Industry: 513
Other Private Nonindustrial: 3,246
Total Timberland: 4,552

Federal Land Set-Asides (in thousands of acres)
National Parks: 16
Reserved National Forest: 103
Fish & Wildlife Service: 6
Total: 125

Recycled Paper Consumption (in thousands of short tons): 738
also includes Maine and Vermont’s recycled paper consumption

Tree Planting (acres)
Federal: 3

Value of Industry Shipments (in thousands of dollars)
Wood Product Manufacturing: $476,121
Paper Manufacturing: $882,412

Capital Expenditures (in thousands of dollars)
Wood Product Manufacturing: $17,570
Paper Manufacturing: $34,603

Annual Production
Softwood Lumber (million board feet): 324
Hardwood Lumber (million board feet): 54
Paper (thousands of short tons): 366
Paperboard (thousands of short tons): *
*withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual company

Timberland Ownership
Government: 17%
Forest Industry: 11%
Other Private Nonindustrial: 72%

New Hampshire’s total softwood and hardwood inventory has more than doubled since 1953 despite increasing production of wood and paper products.

Employment
Forestry: 588
Lumber & Wood Products (includes logging): 6,638
Paper & Allied Products: 4,188