In 1940, under the direction of E. L. Kurth, the Southland Paper Mill in Lufkin began full production of newsprint—the first in the South made from southern yellow pine. The TFS Forest Products Laboratory, created by the 1939 state legislature, conducted some of the early research studies that supported the pulp mill operation. E. W. Stark was director of the laboratory at the time.
TFS silvicultural research carried out on the slash pine plantation known as Plantation 26C within State Forest No. 1 at Kirbyville helped to convince investors that southern yellow pine could be planted and managed on short rotations as an economical and perpetual source of pulpwood.
