What you were seeing is probably pulp wood for making paper. Alabama cuts a enormous amount for paper. The turn around from planting seedlings to trees large enough to cut can be as little as 8 yrs with some of the hybrid pines they have developed.For what it is worth, as we were driving to and in Alabama, we've seen a number of logging places where finished lumber is visible on their yards. That really surprises us because most of what we see in the way of logs going to the mills aren't the kind that I'd say was good for construction lumber. Compared to what we saw in the way of logs in Oregon, these here are puny at one end.