Appraisals of the forest resource have been conducted at ten year intervals since 1936. Recently, however, foresters and forest industry leaders became concerned about the status of the southern yellow pine resource. Because of the rapid expansion of wood using industries and reports of a slowdown in the rate of diameter growth of pines in other states, forest interests felt that an update of the 1978 survey would be helpful for future planning. We now have the results of this interim survey. It points out many areas of concern. The future of our forest resource depends on how well we meet the challenges outlined on the following pages.