- Ashe County has about 168,746 acres of privately owned timberland.
-
Landowners in this county received an estimated stumpage harvest value of $2.1 million.
-
The forest sector in this county had a total economic contribution of approximately $45 million in industry output to the county’s economy.
-
The forest sector in this county supported 176 total jobs with a payroll of about $9 million.
Economic Contribution of the Forest Sector
| Category | Employment (jobs)3 |
Labor Income (million $)4 |
Value Added (million $)5 |
Industry Output (million $)6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forestry | 6 | 0.63 | 0.79 | 0.82 |
| Logging | 7 | 0.67 | 0.69 | 0.82 |
| Primary Solid Wood Products | 54 | 2.64 | 4.50 | 23.91 |
| Secondary Solid Wood Products | 35 | 1.48 | 1.91 | 6.42 |
| Primary paper & paperboard products | - | - | - | - |
| Secondary paper & paperboard products | 0 | 0 | 0.01 | 0.13 |
| Total | 103 | 5 | 8 | 32 |
| Category | Employment (jobs)3 |
Labor Income (million $)4 |
Value Added (million $)5 |
Industry Output (million $)6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forestry | 8 | 0.71 | 0.96 | 1.13 |
| Logging | 10 | 0.76 | 0.90 | 1.18 |
| Primary Solid Wood Products | 108 | 5.28 | 9.23 | 34.00 |
| Secondary Solid Wood Products | 50 | 2.09 | 3.05 | 8.83 |
| Primary paper & paperboard products | - | - | - | - |
| Secondary paper & paperboard products | 0 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.16 |
| Total | 176 | 9 | 14 | 45 |
Timberland & Reserved Forestland by Ownership
| Ownership | NC
(Acres) |
Ashe
(Acres) |
|---|---|---|
|
Public Timberland |
2,623,016 |
7,540 |
|
Private Timberland |
15,132,215 |
168,746 |
|
Reserve Forestland |
652,333 |
- |
|
Total Timberland and Forestland |
18,407,564 |
176,286 |
|
All Land |
31,531,452 |
274,087 |
|
% Timberland |
56% |
64% |
|
% Reserved |
2% |
0% |
Timber Growth vs. Harvest Volumes
|
Volume Estimate |
NC (Million Green Tons) |
Ashe (Million Green Tons) |
|---|---|---|
|
Growth |
59.0 |
0.41 |
|
Harvest |
32.0 |
0.00 |
Growth: Harvest Ratio 1.84
Footnotes
1Economic contribution numbers, based on multi-industry contribution analysis, are reported in 2024 dollars. IMPLAN’s built-in industry contribution analysis method is used. Sectors included: 15, 16, 19 (partial), 132, 134, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 365, 366, 367, 370, 371, and 373. 2022 IMPLAN data are obtained from IMPLAN. ↲
2Direct effect is a series of production changes or expenditures made by producers/consumers as a result of an activity. ↲
3Employment includes both full- and part-time jobs. ↲
4Labor income includes all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income. ↲
5Value added is the difference between industry output and the cost of intermediate inputs. It consists of compensation of employees, taxes on production and imports less subsidies, and gross operating surplus. ↲
6Industry output is the total annual value of production by an industry. ↲
7Total effect is the sum of direct, indirect, and induced contribution effects generated by the sector. ↲
Contacts for Forest Resources in the County
N.C. Cooperative Extension
Ashe County Center
134 Law Enforcement Drive
Suite 202 Jefferson, NC 28640
Phone: (336) 846-5850
Fax: (336) 846-5882
NC Forest Service
Ashe County Ranger Station
629 Ashe Central School Road
Jefferson, NC 28640
Phone: (336) 982-2471
Fax: (336) 982-2383
Email: ashe.ncfs@ncagr.gov
Prepared By
Anukram Adhikary, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Rajan Parajuli, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Robert Bardon, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Specialist
Extension Forestry
College of Natural Resources
This work is supported by Renewable Resources Extension Act Funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
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Publication date: July 24, 2026
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