Forestry is a vital natural resource in South Carolina and the ACE Basin. The forest industry is important to the South Carolina economy and will continue to play a major role into the foreseeable future. The forestry sector provides jobs and income to residents, and is a source of wealth (a natural asset) to the many small woodlot owners in the state. Timber is the largest cash crop in the state and the forestry industry is the third largest manufacturing employer in South Carolina.It is important to recognize that timber has many different kinds of value. The largest and most easily recognized values are economic and are realized when the timber is harvested. The economic benefits include: 1) income to the owner of the timber, 2) profits to businesses from the sale of wood products, 3) wages for those working in the wood and wood products industry, 4) sales income of other dependent industries, and 5) the taxes local government levies on forestry-related goods and services.Forests left intact can also generate economic benefits. A stand of timber increases in value as the resource matures. Forests can, when marketed and made accessible to visitors, increase the local economy through tourism and recreational activities. Finally, the importance of forests is not only economic but social and environmental.On a worldwide and regional basis, forestry has had an effect on the landscape. Deforestation by the timber industry has had a profound effect on biodiversity. Estimates of deforestation vary globally and regionally, largely because there is disagreement over statistical totals which influence conservation and development policy. Furthermore, not all types of modifications are included in deforestation statistics. Land used in commercial forestry is often not included in statistical compilations (Groom 1997). It has been determined that even low-intensity selective logging can cause local reductions in biodiversity as well as changes in geochemical processes and greenhouse gas absorption. In addition to the impact of the timber industry, forests are being converted to agricultural land and becoming degraded through fragmentation and suburbanization which results in impoverishment of the ecosystem and biodiversity (Meffe and Carroll 1997).Industrialization has brought about many changes to the forest industry. Mechanization of logging and mass-production technology for sawing wood has accelerated destruction of forests nationwide. Roadway construction has made forests more accessible than ever, and transportation methods that accommodate long-distance shipping of lumber and pulp have opened up new markets for the timber industry (Marchak 1995).