June 21, 2018 — LUFKIN, Texas — Angelina Forest Products, LLC recently announced plans to open a $100 million sawmill in Lufkin, Texas. The softwood mill is expected to be in place by spring of 2019, creating 100 full-time jobs and contributing $52 million to the Texas economy in its first year.
“We made the decision to build a mill in Lufkin for several reasons,” said Angelina Forest Products Executive Vice President Stephen Raley. “The area offers an abundance of sustainable forest resources as well as a talented workforce familiar with the industry.”
Texas A&M Forest Service assisted Angelina Forest Products with their initial analyses and information needs using the Timber Supply Analysis web application available at www.texasforestinfo.com.
The state agency also helped survey the area around the prospective mill for timberland, softwood sawtimber, and trends in growth and removals of softwood sawtimber.
“We worked closely with Texas A&M Forest Service and the analysis tools they brought to the table,” said Raley. “The data they supplied streamlined our process for siting a new mill and analyzing the sustainability of the surrounding resource supply.”
According to Texas A&M Forest Service Chief Operations Officer for Sustainable Forestry Burl Carraway, the state agency is able to supply such information due to the Forest Inventory and Analysis program, a comprehensive forestland inventory funded in part by the USDA Forest Service.
FIA is especially significant in East Texas, where most of the forestry and logging companies in Texas are located.
“East Texas is the wood basket of the state,” said Carraway. “With the information we get through FIA, the assessments of our resource analysts, and the results we see in economic impacts — investing in forest industry in East Texas makes sense.”
Forestry contributes $32.5 billion in economic activity, 144,500 jobs and $8.4 billion in labor income to the Texas economy.
For more information on how Texas A&M Forest Service supports statewide forestry-based economic development, visit http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu/EconomicDevelopment/.