Every timber processor in Missouri is being asked to help determine how much timber was cut in Missouri in 1997. This survey, called the Timber Products Output is funded by the Missouri Department of Conservation and is part of a larger effort to monitor status of Missouri's forests. The actual survey will be done in person by trained consulting foresters. Similar surveys are taken every three years and are often called "Drain" surveys.
"Interest in Missouri's hardwood timber, especially the oak, has increased steadily since 1991," says Shelby Jones, who has supervised the last four surveys for MDC. "While wood industries which have been a part of Missouri's economy for generations are expanding, there has also been an increase in interest from outside the state."
Results of the surveys can be used to predict impacts from proposed new or additional need for wood raw materials. It is very important in forecasting both short and long-term availability of timber. The survey will be completed in June.
At the same time, a new Forest Inventory which measures the increase or decrease in the total forest resource of the state, will begin in July of 1998. Since the inventory involves measuring thousands of forest plots around the state, it will require approximately two years to complete.
