Consistently among the top ten lumber producing states in the country, Idaho is home to 340 forest product plants, including 77 lumber mills.

A typical mill will produce between 20 and 100 million board feet of lumber each year. In 1996, Idaho produced 1.8 billion board feet of softwood lumber and 500,000 tons of paper with a total wholesale value exceeding $1.5 billion.

Secondary wood products plants had additional sales of $1.1 billion.

Around 80 percent of the wood is shipped to other western states, the Midwest and the Northeast in the form of lumber, plywood, power poles, paper products, veneer, shingles, logs for homes and many other items.

One percent of these forest products are exported out of the country. A small number of raw logs from private lands are shipped overseas. The export of logs from federal lands has been banned for over 20 years. More recently, Idaho's legislature, with industry's support, virtually banned the export of logs from state-owned forests.