The Texas timber sector has experienced fluctuations of supply and demand and other market forces, but new products and opportunities are enhancing the value to trees, according to Texas A&M Forest Service. In East Texas, where much of the traditional timber industry is located across 43 counties, timber tracts cover about 11.5 million acres of the area’s nearly 22 million acres. The impact of fiber grown, managed, harvested, processed and manufactured throughout the state is substantial, contributing about $41 billion to the state’s economy. It also supports over 172,000 jobs each year, according to Dr. Eric Taylor, Texas A&M Forest Service silviculturist. …In 2022, Texas sawmills produced over 1.5 billion board feet of lumber. …New products are also reshaping the timber industry. Cross-laminated mass timbers offer super-strong constructed support beams that are used by architects and engineers in high-rise buildings and commercial structures because of the environmental benefits over other building materials.