TIMBER DEPLETION, PRICES, EXPORTS, AND OWNERSHIP. 



33 



New England 



Middle Atlantic 



Lake 

 Centra/. 



B| SQFTWOO&S 



1 HARDWOODS 



Jmrrfi Atlantic and 

 Gulf, 



Lower 



Rocky Mountain. 



Ptutit Coast- - 



JOO 600 



BILLION BOARD 



FIG. 5. Stand of saw timber In the United States by regions. 



1100 



1200 



feet, or less than 3 per cent of the total. (See Table 6 and 

 fig 6.) 



The exhaustion of the eastern forests and the steady progress 

 of the lumber industry toward the West Is well Indicated by 

 the location of the remaining stands of sawtimber. Thus, New 

 England, the Middle Atlantic, Central, and Lake States, with 

 35 per cent of the total forest area, contain only 349 billion 

 board feet, or 16 per cent of the total ; while the Pacific Coast 

 Sinlcs, with only 13 per cent of the forest area, contain 1,141 

 billion board feet, or nearly 52 per cent of the total. (See 

 lig 7.) Between those two extremes come the South At- 

 lantic, Kast Culf, and Lower Mississippi Slates, with 39 per 

 cent of the forest area and 23 per cent of the sawtimber; and 

 the Rocky Mountain States, with 13 per cent of the forest 

 area and 10 per cent of the sawtimber. Altogether, 61 per 

 cent of the present stand of sawtimber lies west of the Great 

 Plains. 



In other words, the depletion of our eastern forest resources 

 has now reached the point where the softwood stands in the 

 Northern and Central States can no longer contribute any large 

 proportion of the total softwood lumber consumption of the 

 country, wiiere the Southern States are losing the command- 

 ing position that they have held for the last 20 or 30 years, 

 and where the one great reservoir of softwood timber still left 

 lies on the Pacific coast, chiefly In the Pacific Northwest. 

 Douglas fir, with an estimated total stand of 596 billion board 

 feet, approximately 85 per cent of which is in the two States 

 n( Washington and Oregon, is the principal species in the West. 

 (See Table 7 and fig. 8.) Western yellow pine is a fair 

 second, with a total stand of 250 billion board feet, 27 per cent 

 of which is in the Rocky Mountains and 73 per cent on the 

 Pacific coast. Following these two species, which together com- 



prise nearly half of the softwood sawtimber in the entire coun- 

 try, come western hemlock, the true firs, and redwood, with 

 stands of 95, 91, and 72 billion board feet, respectively. 



TABLE 6. Ownership of forest area and stand of taictimber 

 in the United States by regions. 



AREA. 



STAND. 



' Not indicated because of lack of data. 



In the East the only softwood with a stand comparable to 

 any of these is southern yellow pine, with a total of 258 billion 

 board feet, or slightly more than western yellow pine. (See 

 Table 7 and fig 8.) Spruce and fir come next, with a stand 



Eastern U.S. 



Rocky Mountains 

 Pacific Coast 



50 



100 



ISO ZOO 



AREA MILLION ACRES 



250 



3SO 



STAND -BILLION 3d. Ft. 



National Forest 03 Farm Wood lots in Eastern U.S. 

 Other Public 



(Not estimated for western U.S.) 

 Other Private 



PIG. 6. Ownership of forest area and stand of saw timber in the United States by regions. 



18621220 5 



