To early Arkansas settlers, the state’s forests were obstacles that had to be cleared for farming and raising livestock. It was not until the development of railroads after the Civil War that large-scale timber production and export was possible.
Northern businessmen purchased Arkansas timberland, established companies, constructed sawmills, and built additional railroad track. Lumber camps and company towns were established with shops, schools, and churches to accommodate workers and their families. Early production practices typically cut all trees from an area. When an area’s timber was cleared, sawmills were often dismantled and relocated to uncut lands.
Just prior to Arkansas’s height of timber production in 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Ouachita and Ozark National Forests in 1907 and 1908, and the U.S. Forest Service began protecting those lands. In the 1910s and 1920s timber yields in Arkansas and throughout the United States began to decline due to the previous decades of exploitation. A trend toward sustainable forestry, and therefore sustainable production, began in Arkansas.
In 1931, the Arkansas Forestry Commission (AFC) was created and made responsible for fire control, fire safety, and forest management for non-federal lands in the Arkansas. Fire detection was often performed from the air and used an infrastructure of watchtowers, or fire towers. Over the years the commission’s duties have expanded to include tree seeding and genetics, as well as forestry and fire safety educational services for Arkansas schools, volunteer fire departments, and private landowners.
Over the years, Arkansas’s wood products have included lumber, paper goods, chemicals, charcoal, and more. Sawmills, specialty wood and paper product factories, and chemical plants have been built throughout the state. The timber industry remains one of Arkansas’s top industries and top employers of manufacturing jobs.
This online exhibit offers insight into Arkansas’s forests and timber industries.
For additional resources see the Timber industry resource guide.
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Arkansas Forestry Commission Operations Map of Arkansas
Black and white map entitled "Operations Map of Arkansas" of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, including national forest boundaries, region boundaries, unit boundaries, state headquarters, region headquarters, and observation towers.
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Forest Areas of Arkansas
Black and white map entitled "Forest Areas of Arkansas." The explanation notes "The shaded portion of each county compared with the remaining area represents the ratio of the area of forest land with the area of non-forest land in the county. The figure at the bottom of each square expresses the number of thousands of acres of forest land in each county."
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Organization Chart for Forest Fire Protection
Organization Chart for Forest Fire Protection for Extreme Fire Hazard Class 4 and 5 Days, featuring Crossett, Fountain Hill, Hamburg, Berea, Lacy, Cominto, Mist, and Milo districts. Includes first, second, and third line defense.
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Two workers loading logs onto train car
Image of two workers loading logs onto train car. One worker standing on train car directing log, other worker is watching from the ground.
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Two workers unloading wood pieces from trailer
Image of two workers unloading wood pieces from trailer pulled by small tractor.
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Worker stripping bark from a piece of timber
Image of worker stripping bark from a piece of timber. Striped logs can be seen behind the worker with piles of bark all around.
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"Pines planted on thousand acres by aerial seeding" article in Forest Echoes, 1958 March
Article written in the Forest Echoes issue from March 1958. Describes using airplanes to spread seeds for planting trees.
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Operations map of the Arkansas Forestry and Parks Commission, 1936
Color operations map of the Arkansas Forestry and Parks Commission, including legend showing private forest area under protection, national forest areas, other federal lands, state fire lookout towers, proposed state fire lookout towers, Co-op Towers, Nation forest towers, proposed usage N.F. Tower, state headquarters, region headquarters, district headquarters, unit boundaries, unit numbers, fixed radio stations, state rangers, state fire plows, number co-op fire plows at single station.
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"Forestry Division uses new hauling method" article in Forest Echoes, 1952 August
Article written in the Forest Echoes issue from August 1952. Describes new trailer introduced to the Arkansas timber industry.
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Loading railroad ties
Image of workers loading railroad ties onto small cars that consist of a flat bed with large metal or rubber loops that hold the ties into place.
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"Pallets meet industrial need for better material handling" article in Forest Echoes, 1949 July
Article written in the Forest Echoes issue from July 1949. Describes wooden pallets being used to safely transport materials.
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Stacked railroad ties awaiting shipment along a railroad track
View of railroad ties stacked along track, awaiting shipment. Businesses visible include Lard's Store, Farmer's Trading Company, and Denroad Hotel.
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Stacking railroad ties near North Little Rock
Image of railroad ties being stacked near North Little Rock.
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View of a log train en route to Crossett
View of a log train en route to Crossett where the logs will be converted into lumber and paper. Photograph was taken from the back of the train and shows the length of the train spanning around a bend.
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"Forest furnish your home" advertisement in Forest Echoes, 1948 March
Advertisement titled "Forests furnish your home" shows illustration of furniture in a forest.
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"It's bad luck to be careless with fire in the woods" advertisement in Forest Echoes, 1948 July
Advertisement titled "It's bad luck to be careless with fire in the woods" shows illustration of person walking through forest with flame figure behind them.
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"New wallpaper ask the forests for the latest patterns" advertisement in Forest Echoes, 1948 June
Advertisement titled "New wallpaper ask the forests for the latest patterns" shows illustration of people being shown wallpaper with nature inspired patterns. Located on back cover.
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"Fire! It's forest enemy no. 1" advertisement in Forest Echoes, 1946 January
Advertisement titled "Fire! It's forest enemy no. 1" shows cartoon of trees and log running from flames with text describing the impact fire has on forests.
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"Danger! Live butts and the woods don't mix" advertisement in Forest Echoes, 1945 July
Advertisement titled "Danger! Live butts and the woods don't mix" shows a hand flicking cigarette and detailing fire loss from cigarettes.
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"Dream home will result in great demand for lumber" article in Forest Echoes, 1945 September
Article written in the Forest Echoes issue from September 1945. The article details the plans of World War II veterans creating a "building boom" upon returning to the United States.
