Over the last 50 years, usually around the time fall colors are in full bloom, state and federal officials have dedicated a week to highlight all of the products our forests provide.
Kentucky, of course, has been blessed more than most states. Trees cover nearly half of our 25 million acres, and we are among the nation’s leaders – and first in the South – when it comes to hardwood production.
Nearly 58,000 Kentucky jobs are directly dependent on our forests, which generate $14.6 billion for our economy, putting it on par with the state’s tourism industry.
An in-depth look at our forests by the University of Kentucky in 2013 showed that the biggest economic impact can be found in paper products, while wood used in such other areas as furniture and flooring was second. There are 1,800 logging companies that get the wood to the market and 700 saw, paper and pulp mills that get the first cut, so to speak.
Over the past seven decades, foresters have conducted about a half-dozen surveys to determine the true size and diversity of our trees – and what we have gained or lost as the years go by.
The most recent survey shows there to be about seven billion trees in Kentucky. That’s roughly one for every person in the world or 1,600 for each Kentuckian. Red maple, sugar maple and yellow poplar are some of our most plentiful among the 115 species we have growing here.
If you just count the larger ones – those at least five inches in diameter several feet above the ground – we have nearly 25 billion cubic feet of wood volume, which is the equivalent of more than 660 Empire State buildings. In fact, according to the UK study, timber volume is growing twice as fast as we’re removing it, a good sign that the resource will be there for many more years to come.
Kentucky first got into preserving forests in 1919, when a land and coal company donated 3,700 acres in Harlan County. Much of what now stands at 43,000 preserved acres, however, was deeded to us by the federal government in the mid-1950s.
During much of Kentucky’s early history, conservation was not even remotely considered important by most citizens. Early last century, Kentucky’s first forester wrote that most people “wondered why anyone should be concerned about the forests.” Even massive wildfires – which burned a half-million acres alone in 1880 – were not enough to sway public opinion.
In a given year now, there are about 1,500 wildfires across the commonwealth, according to the state’s Division of Forestry. Most are the result of arson or improper burning, which is why there is a restriction of open burning within 150 feet of any forests or brush land between 6 a.m.-6 p.m. during the fall and spring forest fire hazard seasons. The fall season begins Oct. 1 and runs through mid-December, while the spring season begins Feb. 15 and runs through the end of April.
On a more personal note, I have a true appreciation for foresters and the Division of Forestry for the work they do to keep our forests healthy and protected from such things as pests and fire. As a certified tree farmer, I know the job they do is not always an easy one.
Although Forest Products Week is not designed to highlight the tourism impact of the trees themselves during the fall, it is worth noting that our state parks and the Kentucky Department of Travel and Tourism have kept up with the changing colors for more than 30 years.
If you’re curious about a particular region, they’ve developed a website – which runs through Nov. 11 – that can be found at www.kentuckytourism.com/seasons. You can also post your own fall photos in Instagram by tagging them #kycolorfall.
Locally, of course, the fall colors mean a little something extra here, given Augusta’s recent Turning of the Leaves Festival, which is an ideal way to highlight season.
If many thought our forests were inexhaustible a century or more ago, we now know that not to be the case. By managing them correctly, though, they can be a resource that will still sustain us for many more years to come. That’s certainly worth setting aside a week to commemorate.
If you have any thoughts on this, I would like to know. My address is Room 329E, Capitol Annex, 702 Capitol Avenue, Frankfort, KY 40601; or you can email me at Mike.Denham@lrc.ky.gov.
To leave a message for me or for any legislator by phone, please call 800-372-7181. For those with a hearing impairment, the number is 800-896-0305. I hope to hear from you soon.
I would like to add that this newspaper column was prepared at my direction by legislative staff. I provided information I thought was important and approved it as written.
State Rep. Mike Denham is a Democrat from Maysville and has represented House District 70 (Bracken, Fleming and Mason counties) since 2001.
