The Louisiana Forestry Association says that Hurricane Laura dealt a huge economic blow in an estimated $1.1 billion lost in forest products industry for the state.
According to a release from the association, the storm damaged or destroyed more than 757,000 acres of timberland, taking out 30 million tons of pine and 9 million tons of hardwood, which is more than all mills in Louisiana would use in a normal year.
According to a report from the LSU AgCenter, the damage acreage totaled 757,538, which is an area almost twice the size of Lake Pontchartrain.
The release states that although the damaged area included both pine and hardwood just the sawtimber damage estimate is more than 3.4 billion board feet, which is equal to 120,000 loads of lumber that would have semi-tractor trailers lined from Alexandria to Butte, Montana.
The loss is massive, with an economic value of more than $1 billion to the state’s forest economy, according to the report.
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