THE AUTHORS 



S MONTANA STATE LIBRARY 



333.75 F4I 1978 Brown 



Forest area and timber resource statisti 



3 0864 00042680 2 



GARY G. BROWN is State Forester, Division of Forestry, Montana Department of State Lands, 

 Missoula. 



DWANE D. VAN HOOSER is Project Leader, Resources Evaluation Research Work Unit at the 

 Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station in Ogden, Utah. 



FOREWORD 



This report presents the principal findings of the second forest inventory of State and 

 private lands in western Montana (fig. 1). Data collection began in January 1977 and was 

 completed in December 1978. This report does not note changes or trends since the first 

 inventory of Montana. These items will be included in a State Analytical Report to be published 

 in the near future. 



The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the USDA Forest Service, Region 1. 

 Appreciation is also expressed for the cooperation of other public agencies and private 

 landowners in providing information and access to the sample locations. 



SUMMARY 



The 16 western Montana counties contain 3.7 million acres of commercial timberland in State 

 and private ownership. These acres support 5.9 billion cubic feet of growing stock and more than 

 21.1 billion board feet of sawtimber. In 1976, the inventory increased nearly 130 million cubic 

 feet after deducting 28.7 million cubic feet of mortality and some 125.6 million cubic feet of 

 removals. Additional information on total land area, commercial timberland area, timber 

 inventory, growth, and mortality data based on USDA Forest Service Resources Evaluation standards 

 are presented. 



