- Rutherford County has about 203,474 acres of privately owned timberland.
- Landowners in this county received an estimated stumpage harvest value of $4.1 million.
- The forest sector in this county had a total economic contribution of approximately $391 million in industry output to the county’s economy.
- The forest sector in this county supported 1,201 total jobs with a payroll of about $63 million.
Economic Contribution of the Forest Sector
| Category | Employment (jobs)3 |
Labor Income (million $)4 |
Value Added (million $)5 |
Industry Output (million $)6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forestry | 1 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| Logging | 45 | 0.61 | 0.73 | 1.50 |
| Primary Solid Wood Products | 258 | 16.35 | 27.66 | 120.00 |
| Secondary Solid Wood Products | 260 | 11.05 | 17.44 | 67.22 |
| Primary paper & paperboard products | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Secondary paper & paperboard products | 152 | 11.14 | 19.21 | 102.38 |
| Total | 728 | 40 | 67 | 300 |
| Category | Employment (jobs)3 |
Labor Income (million $)4 |
Value Added (million $)5 |
Industry Output (million $)6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forestry | 1 | 0.04 | 0.06 | 0.07 |
| Logging | 48 | 0.71 | 0.91 | 1.89 |
| Primary Solid Wood Products | 476 | 27.07 | 47.79 | 162.10 |
| Secondary Solid Wood Products | 367 | 16.04 | 26.84 | 86.93 |
| Primary paper & paperboard products | 24 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| Secondary paper & paperboard products | 285 | 17.60 | 31.21 | 127.54 |
| Total | 1,201 | 63 | 110 | 391 |
Timberland & Reserved Forestland by Ownership
| Ownership | NC
(Acres) |
Rutherford
(Acres) |
|---|---|---|
|
Public Timberland |
2,623,016 | 17,557 |
|
Private Timberland |
15,132,215 | 203,474 |
|
Reserve Forestland |
652,333 | - |
|
Total Timberland and Forestland |
18,407,564 | 221,031 |
|
All Land |
31,531,452 | 362,956 |
|
% Timberland |
56% | 61% |
|
% Reserved |
2% | 0% |
Timber Growth vs. Harvest Volumes
|
Volume Estimate |
NC (Million Green Tons) |
Rutherford (Million Green Tons) |
|---|---|---|
|
Growth |
59.0 | 0.74 |
|
Harvest |
32.0 | 0.11 |
| Growth: Harvest Ratio | 1.84 | 6.73 |
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), 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 143, 348, 349, 350, 353, 354, and 356. 2024 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. ↲
8Timberlands are a subset of forestlands that are not reserved by law and potentially available for commercial timber harvest. Federal, state and local governments own public
timberlands. Non-industrial private landowners (i.e., farm forests, family forests), forest industry, or other corporate businesses (i.e., timber investment management organizations) own
private timberlands. 2024 Data are retrieved from USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis. [8]
9Reserved forests, as used here, are for public lands where the law does not permit commercial timber production. [9]
10Harvests include removals during timber harvests and removals for other reasons such as land conversion. [10]
Contacts for Forest Resources in the County
N.C. Cooperative Extension
193 Callahan-Koon Road
Spindale, NC 28160
Phone: (828) 287-6010
Fax: (828) 288-4036
NC Forest Service
Rutherford County Ranger Station
519 Airport Road
Rutherfordton, NC 28139
Phone: (828) 286-9201
Fax: (828) 286-9201
Email: rutherford.ncfs@ncagr.gov
Prepared By
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: Aug. 18, 2026
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