3D Land Group, Inc

08/23/2026

𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝟯 — 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗔 𝗕𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚?

The first two posts identified the representation gap and looked at how neighboring states approach forestry. Now the important question is: What can South Carolina do better?

• Create a formal Timber & Forest Products Advisory Council within SCDA, with representation from loggers, landowners, timber dealers, sawmills, pulp and paper, secondary manufacturers and the SC Forestry Commission.

• Establish a dedicated forestry and forest-products liaison within SCDA to make sure our industry has a direct connection to the department’s marketing, trade and economic-development efforts. Someone with real forestry knowledge.

• Give South Carolina-grown wood and forest products greater visibility through SCDA marketing and promotion where appropriate.

• Make replacing lost wood demand a statewide economic-development priority involving SCDA, the Forestry Commission, Commerce and the forest-products industry.

• Give forestry a consistent presence in SCDA communications, social media, trade promotion and discussions about South Carolina agribusiness.

• Produce an annual Forest Markets Report for state leaders showing wood demand, mill capacity, closures, new investment, timber prices and areas where additional markets are needed.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission deserves credit for the significant work it already does for landowners and the forest industry. The goal should not be to duplicate that work — it should be to give the Forestry Commission and our industry another strong partner.

SCDA already has commodity boards and extensive marketing and market-development capabilities. Forestry should have a meaningful connection to those resources as well.

With 10.7 million tons of annual wood demand lost from South Carolina markets between 2023 and 2025, we need every part of state government pulling in the same direction.

𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦𝗡’𝗧 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘. 𝗜𝗧’𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗧.

If forestry counts when we measure South Carolina agribusiness, forestry should have a meaningful voice when we work to grow it.

08/12/2026

08/01/2026

Asia single-handedly killed the American hardwood industry. All the manufacturers went east... now they control everything.”

Credit: Griff Alms-Davies

Those were the stark words of a trusted senior sales leader at a major North American hardwood manufacturer during a recent conversation about tariffs, manufacturing and the future of the industry.

These conversations always make me think.

Trade wars and shifting trade balances ultimately shape entire communities and people’s lives.

I recently watched Nomadland on a flight. The film follows the aftermath of the US Gypsum plant closure in Empire, Nevada.

It hit me like a sledgehammer.

Especially after my recent post about the closure of the mill in Cochrane.

This week, 32 members of Congress urged the Trump administration to ensure China buys American hardwood lumber, not raw logs.

Their warning was clear: American forests are supplying the raw material while foreign mills capture the manufacturing jobs and value.

The numbers are sobering:

• US hardwood lumber exports to China have fallen from $1.5 billion in 2018 to around $701 million today.

• Domestic hardwood lumber production has declined by 48.3% since 2018.

• For the first time, the value of US hardwood log exports has exceeded hardwood lumber exports.

The debate is not just about tariffs.
It is about where manufacturing happens.

Where skilled jobs are created.
And whether North America wants to export raw materials or finished products.

Is the biggest risk to the hardwood industry the loss of market share, or the loss of the skilled workforce that keeps American mills running?

Pic: Logs stacked at a Chinese timber port. New USDA data shows 69,700 cubic metres of American logs entered the trade in May, every one destined for a Chinese sawmill rather than an American one. (Photo Credit: ambient_pix via Shutterstock)

07/16/2026

Save the date! - October 8th, 2026 Golf Tournament - Florence, SC

07/09/2026

Keep drones grounded near wildfires. Unauthorized flights force firefighters to halt air operations and delay critical work. Help protect communities by staying clear of fire zones.

05/27/2026

https://worldpapermill.com/news/china-paper-overcapacity-global-market-disruption-2026?fbclid=IwZnRzaASDLypleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEexRmv-CF_rNt1CoG5yAv8mpn457Nay3bog3t93RW2t8AZg_K96LH2uGcdZz0_aem_-U3jriA8rbRyI9V58dtE-Q

Chinese paper overcapacity reshaping global trade: 23% export surge, vertical integration, Western producers driving capacity rationalization.

04/29/2026

Email from LLA/PAC You don't want to miss this. Louisiana Loggers Association News & Updates Website Right to the Point A letter from Executive Director: Toni McAllister Multiple timber organization,

04/17/2026

SC Forestry Commission to issue statewide burning ban; restriction on all outdoor burning goes into effect at 7 a.m. Friday

COLUMBIA—The South Carolina Forestry Commission is issuing a State Forester’s Burning Ban for all counties, effective at 7 a.m. Friday, April 17.

A State Forester’s Burning Ban prohibits all outdoor burning, including yard debris burning, prescribed burning, campfires, bonfires and other recreational fires in all unincorporated areas of the state.

Forestry Commission officials cite a particularly dangerous mix of elevated wildfire risk factors through the weekend that warrant limiting all ignitions in the interest of public safety.

Rapidly escalating drought conditions across the state, a critical decrease in relative humidities over the next several days and gusty winds that are expected to accompany an approaching cold front will combine to create extreme fire danger.

"When it’s this dry – energy release component values are at high-to-critical levels – we’re just as likely, if not more, to see wildfires that are fuel-driven rather than wind-driven. Add the other volatile conditions of increased wind and lower relative humidity, and it becomes an especially precarious situation,” said SCFC Fire Chief Darryl Jones. "These conditions not only increase the likelihood of wildfires igniting easily and spreading rapidly, but would also make them more difficult for firefighters to control.”

While the ban does not apply to fires used for the preparation of food or fires used in appropriate enclosures (portable outdoor fireplaces, chimineas or permanent fire pits constructed of stone, masonry, metal or other noncombustible material that conforms with all applicable South Carolina fire codes), Forestry Commission officials urge the utmost caution burning outdoors under these exemptions.

Likewise, citizens should exercise extreme vigilance operating any equipment that could create sparks, avoid parking on dry grass and refrain from using fireworks.

The ban will stay in effect until further notice, which will come in the form of an official announcement from the Forestry Commission.

Shareable release:https://www.scfc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Advisory-StateForestersBurningBan-20260416.pdf