Forestry Facts - Empire State Forest Products Association

6/13/18, 7:52 AM

Highlights

  • New York has more forests than any other state in the Northeast - 18.95 million acres. That's nearly an acre for each and every New Yorker!
  • New York's forests are growing over 3 times faster than they are being harvested, cleared for development or lost to insects and disease.
  • Are we running out of trees yet? Over 61 percent of the state is covered by forests, an increase of 24 percent since 1953.
  • Over 614,000 individuals and families own most (11.2 million acres) of New York's forests.
  • New York's forest industry contributes about $4.6 billion to the state's economy each year.
  • The forestry industry remains one of New York's top ten manufacturing sectors.
  • The forestry industry employs 53,833 New Yorkers, which comprises 4.5% of the manufacturing workforce, with an Annual payroll of $1.6 billion.
  • There are 1,428,000 registered hunters and 3,852,00 wildlife watchers who benefit from New York forestland.

See more at http://www.esfpa.org/content/forestry-facts.