At one time, Missouri's forests covered 30 million acres (12 million hectares), more than two-thirds of the state. As of 2002, Missouri had 13,992,000 acres (5,663,000 hectares) of forestland (about 30% of the land area in the state), of which more than 95% was commercial forest, 85% of it privately owned. Most of Missouri's forestland is in the southeastern third of the state. Of the commercial forests, approximately three-fourths are of the oak/hickory type; shortleaf pine and oak/pine forests comprise about 5%, while the remainder consists of cedar and bottomland hardwoods.
According to the Forestry Division of the Department of Conservation, Missouri leads the US in the production of charcoal, red cedar novelties, gunstocks, and walnut bowls and nutmeats; railroad ties, hardwood veneer and lumber, wine and bourbon casks, and other forest-related items are also produced. Lumber production in 2002 totaled 616 million board feet, most of it hardwoods.
Conservation areas managed by the Forestry Division are used for timber production, wildlife and watershed protection, hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes. A state-run nursery sells seedling trees and shrubs to Missouri landowners. Missouri's one national forest, Mark Twain in the southeast, encompassed 1,494,000 acres (604,621 hectares) of National Forest System lands as of 2001.