Forests covered 14,396,000 acres (5,826,000 hectares) in 2002, or more than 50% of the state's total land area. Commercial timberlands in 2002 totaled 13,956,000 acres (5,648,000 hectares). In 2002, 86% of the forested area was privately owned, 10% federally owned, 3% state-owned, and 1% municipally owned. The counties of the Cumberland Plateau and Highland Rim are the major sources of timber products, and in Lewis, Perry, Polk, Scott, Sequatchie, Unicoi, and Wayne counties, more than 75% of the total area is commercial forest.
About 95% of Tennessee's timber is in hardwoods, and nearly one-half of that is in white and red oak. Of the softwoods, pine—shortleaf, loblolly, Virginia, pitch, and white—accounts for 80%. Red cedar accounts for about 5% of the softwood supply. Total lumber production in 2002 was 899 million board feet.
Wood products manufacturing is among the state's largest basic industries. The wood products industry in Tennessee falls into three main categories: paper and similar products, lumber and similar products, and furniture. Manufacturing uses only about a third of the wood grown by forests in Tennessee each year. The remaining two-thirds continues to accumulate on aging trees or is lost through decomposition of diseased and dead trees. The most common method of cutting timber in Tennessee has long been "high-grading," that is, cutting only the most valuable trees and leaving those of inferior quality and value. Clearcutting, patch cutting, and group selection are silviculturally preferable, but, with the exception of clearcutting on industry lands, are rarely practiced.