This publication provides a broad spectrum of information on the hardwood veneer industry in North America. Veneer manufacturers and their customers impose guidelines in specifying wood quality attributes that are very discriminating but poorly defined (e.g., exceptional color, texture, and/or figure characteristics). To better understand and begin to define the most important attributes that distinguish veneer logs from sawlogs, and high-end from low-end veneer logs, we visited and interviewed veneer log buyers and sellers, veneer manufacturers, and veneer sales personnel. The first section of this report provides information on the demographics of the hardwood veneer industry and domestic and export market influences on veneer manufacturing. This is followed by a discussion of: 1) veneer quality requirements for different product markets, 2) veneer log quality evaluation procedures, 3) veneer log procurement systems, 4) regional variations in veneer log quality characteristics, and 5) species-specific quality requirements and issues.

The forest industry within the northern region of the U.S. has declined notably in employment, mill numbers, wood consumption, and forest harvests since 2000...a downturn exacerbated by the recession of 2007 to 2009. Longer term industrial decline (since 2000) has been evidenced by reductions in secondary products (e.g., furniture) and print paper manufacturing which can be attributed, respectively, to the lack of global competitiveness due to high U.S. wages and ascent of electronic media. In contrast, shorter term (since 2008), yet sharper declines occurred in industries such as composite panel production that serve the housing industry. Despite a decade of decline, there are future opportunities for this region's forest industry. The region's forests are predominantly within private ownership and represent tremendous volumes of some of the world's most valuable sawtimber (e.g., select hardwoods). Coupled with this natural resource is a present, but underutilized industry with excess capacity and a skilled work force. As evidenced by recent trends in positive trade balances, the decline of the northern region's forest industry may be mitigated with a focus on new markets (e.g., wood energy) and balancing increased export of unfinished products (e.g., logs) with increased use of the region's skilled secondary product workforce (e.g., increasing international competiveness of U.S. production).

The annual inventory of West Virginia's forests, completed in 2013, covers nearly 12.2 million acres of forest land with an average volume of more than 2,300 cubic feet per acre. This report is based data collected from 2,808 plots located across the State. Forest land is dominated by the oak/hickory forest-type group, which occupies 74 percent of total forest land area. Seventyeight percent of forest land area consists of a plurality of large diameter trees, 15 percent contains medium diameter trees, and 7 percent contains small diameter trees. The volume of growing stock on timberland has been rising since the 1950s and currently totals over 25 billion cubic feet. The average annual net growth of growing-stock trees on timberland from 2008 to 2013 is approximately 519 million cubic feet per year. Important species compositional changes include increases in sapling numbers of yellow-poplar, American beech, and noncommercial species, which coincide with decreases in numbers of trees and saplings of oak species. Additional information is presented on forest attributes, land use change, carbon, timber products, species composition, regeneration, and forest health. Detailed information on forest inventory methods, data quality estimates, and summary tables of population estimates, are available at http://dx.

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Pricing policy in water allocation has become of more concern as some areas find water is indeed a scarce resource. Demand estimates, where the quantity purchased‐value in use relationships are of concern, have been made in other studies for residential, industrial, and agricultural uses in many areas of the country. The price‐quantity relations for water use in commercial firms are estimated and discussed for several different types of stores in this study. A derived demand model is used to estimate commercial demand in the Miami, Florida, area. The price elasticity was generally low (inelastic) for all groups studied except for department stores. This group was found to have an elastic demand for water at all prices above $0.93 per thousand gallons purchased per month, where the mean price for this part of the sample was $1.24. The major implication of the study is that commercial establishments may be responsive to price changes over the long run, much as has already been shown for other types of user groups in other studies.