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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"Trees and Jobs" article in Forest Echoes, 1945 November
Article written in the Forest Echoes issue from November 1945. The article explains job security in and some products of the timber industry.
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"Glamour of Wood" advertisement in Forest Echoes, 1944 December
Advertisement titled "Glamour of Wood" shows a woman in formal dress with text describing the ways wood can be used in clothing and for glamourous Christmas trees.
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"Wood at War" article in Forest Echoes, 1944 January
Article written in the Forest Echoes issue from January 1944. Describes uses for wood during WWII.
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"Wood Goes to War" illustration in Forest Echoes, 1942 May
Illustration titled "Wood Goes to War" shows examples of products made from wood like planes, ships, and barracks.
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Riding saw carriage at a lumber mill in Kingsland
Image of a riding saw carriage at a lumber mill in Kingsland, Arkansas.
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Two men stacking boards at a sawmill in Kingsland
Image of two men stacking boards outside at a sawmill in Kingsland, Arkansas. One man is handing boards to another man on top of the stack.
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O.F. Wyman, James O. Cuthbertson, and Floyd Richardson looking up at trees
Photo of O.F. Wyman, James O. Cuthbertson, and Floyd Richardson looking up at trees, taken at E 1/2 NW 14 4/13/11. Remarks note "Virgin timber with long periods of fire protection showing natural reproduction."
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Graph of Increase in Area of Forest Protection on Private Lands, 1933-1938
Graph entitled "Increase in Area of Forest Protection on Private Lands" from 1933-1938, featuring tree shapes for each year with each tree representing 1 million acres of forest protection.
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Jess Hogue and saw crews making second selective cutting
Jess Hogue and saw crews pose with saws after making second selective cutting on Section 16-12-8 in Drew County, Arkansas, Burford Tract for the Ozark Badger Lumber Co.
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Jess Hogue with gnarled tree
Photo of Jess Hogue with a gnarled tree. Notes state the tree was "once cut but lived to get back over its own stump." Photo taken at S 1/2 SE Sec. 29-12-8 in Drew County, Arkansas, Booth Tract for the Ozark Badger Lumber Company.
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Measel, Pomeroy, Clanton, and Daniel estimating timber at Fitzsimmons Tract
Photo of Measel, Pomeroy, Clanton, and Daniel examining the forest while estimating timber at Fitzsimmons Tract.
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View from ground, looking up at a loblolly pine
View from ground, looking up at a loblolly pine, taken at SW-SE Sec. 24-13-8 Drew County, Arkansas, Scroggins tract.
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View of trees with smoke from forest fire on adjacent lands
Photo of trees with smoke from forest fire on adjacent lands, taken at NW SE-16-12-8 Drew County, Arkansas, Booth tract.
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Map of Forest Protection Unit No. 13
Map of Forest Protection Unit No. 13, including highways, truck trails, other roads, lookout towers, forest telephone lines, unit boundaries, and unit headquarters. Includes northern border of Ozarks National Forest.
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Graph of Forest Fire Statistics by month, 1936
Graph of Forest Fire Statistics by month produced by the Arkansas State Forestry Commission.
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Map of Areas Characterized by Major Forest Types in Southwestern Arkansas
Black and white map entitled "Areas Characterized by Major Forest Types in Southwestern Arkansas," including forest types of shortleaf hardwoods, shortleaf loblolly hardwoods, mixed upland hardwoods, mixed bottomlands hardwoods, and prairie lands. Prepared from data collected by Southern Forest Experiment Station.
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Graph of Forest Fire Statistics by cause, 1935
Graph of Forest Fire Statistics by causes of lightning, railroads, lumbering, miscellaneous, camp fires, brush burning, smokers, and incendiary.
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Employees' identification tag from Bodcaw Lumber Company
Bodcaw Store identification check tag E6 used at Commission of Bodcaw Lumber Company, Stamps, Arkansas.
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Letter from J.B. Hastings of the United States Forest Service to L.K. Pomery, President of Ozark Badger Lumber Company, 1929
Letter from J.B. Hastings of the United States Forest Service to L.K. Pomery, President of Ozark Badger Lumber Company, regarding his interests in practicing sustainable forestry. The letter discusses sustainable methods of growing, thinning, and reseeding loblolly and shortleaf yellow pine. This letter includes discussion of tree diameters for cutting and seed trees, stump height, and logging practices in Arkansas's Ozark and Ouachita National Forests.
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Ohman's Standard New Map of Arkansas, "The Wonder State," including maps of soils of the state, physiographic divisions, boundaries of Ozark and Arkansas National Forests, distribution of timber, minerals and geological map, rainfall and temperature map
Color Ohman's Standard New Map of Arkansas, "The Wonder State," including maps of soils of the state, physiographic divisions, boundaries of Ozark and Arkansas National Forests, distribution of timber, minerals and geological map, rainfall, and temperature.
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1928 report on Ozark Badger Lumber Company, Wilmar, Arkansas
1928 report on Ozark Badger Lumber Company, of Wilmar, Arkansas, including operations, products, and finacial information on assets, stocks, interest, profits, losses, and sales. Includes photographs of selective cutting operations and regrowth using seed trees, often with a man in the photos as a size reference.
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United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, list of consulting timber and logging experts
United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, list of consulting timber and logging experts including representatives from Alabama, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.
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Letter from Gifford Pinchot to Thomas C. McRae regarding participation in the American forest movement.
Letter from Gifford Pinchot to Arkansas Congressman Thomas C. McRae requesting a statement regarding McRae's participation in the American forest movement
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Letter from C.C. Henderson to Thomas C. McRae on Shreveport, Jonesboro, & Natchez R.R. Co. letterhead
Letter from C.C. Henderson to Thomas C. McRae on Shreveport, Jonesboro, & Natchez R.R. Co. letterhead discussing land in Choctaw Nation for sale.