What would life be like if Missouri had no forests? Besides being a lot less pleasant, scenic and enjoyable for us and the plants and animals that rely on Missouri’s forests, Missouri’s wallets would take a big hit! Working with data collected by the Federal government, other branches of state government and the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) own foresters, MDC undertakes periodic assessments of the economic impact of the forest products industry on the state as a whole.
The Missouri Department of Conservation has been tracking the state’s forest products industry over the years. In 2023, the most recent available data, forest products, wood, lumber, paper, and related industries contributed $11.7 billion to the Missouri economy, in 2024 dollars (see Table 1). These industries support about 37,500 jobs at a payroll of over $2.7 billion and are responsible for $920 million in taxes that help to run our state and country, including $148 million in state tax. These numbers include logging and sawmill operations, secondary wood products, furniture and cabinet makers, log cabins, paperboard manufacturing and so on. The grand total includes not only the direct effect of jobs in the industry but secondary effects in the economy as a whole. Secondary effects are the changes in economic activity from subsequent rounds of re-spending of primary dollars. There are two types of secondary effects: 1) Indirect effects are the changes in sales, income, or employment within the region in backward-linked industries supplying goods and services to forest products industry. 2) Induced effects are the increased sales within the region from household spending of the income earned in the forest products and supporting industries. Forest products employees spend the income they earn on housing, utilities, groceries, and other consumer goods and services. This generates sales, income, and employment throughout the region's economy.