Forest Inventory & Analysis Project

Abstract Williams, Niman, 2024 Abstract Kentucky’s forest sector contribution was $18.6 billion in 2022 with an estimated $12.6 billion in direct contributions. Forest industries employed 28,004 people in 2022 with indirect and induced employment resulting in a total of 57,275 Kentucky jobs. Because of this, the need for the Kentucky Forest Industry Directory to be accurate and up-to-date is in high demand due to the most recent update was 2014. The Kentucky Forest Industry Directory is a public service provided in cooperation by the University of Kentucky, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Extension and Kentucky Division of Forestry. This directory has publicly available contact information for primary and secondary wood industries in Kentucky. The directory is in need of an update to make sure all contact and product information is up to date for all listings as well as removal of industries that have closed and add any industries that have been created. To accomplish this project, student workers will work in a team under the supervision of Renee’ Williams to make updates and changes to the directory as well as ensuring the collected data is stored in an effective manner for future use. This project has a three year timeline for completion due to the large volume of contacts and the importance of gathering quality data. Chad Niman will provide technical support and guidance to the project team led by Williams as needed. The directory is a popular tool that helps connect landowners, loggers and wood industries to new wood markets. At the end of the project the directory will be turned into a PDF that will be available for downloading from the Kentucky Division of Forestry’s website as well as the UK Kentucky Forest Product Industry Directory website. htps://kentuckywoodindustry.ca.uky.edu/