OUK FORESTS 9 



Today it is estimated that there are about 500,000,000 acres of 

 forest land in the United States capable of producing timber in com- 

 mercial quantities. An additional 100,000,000 acres consist of non- 

 commercial forest land or low-grade forest and scrub. Only about 

 two fifths of the total acreage of commercial forest land bears saw 

 timber and about one fourth is growing cordwood. A considerable 

 part of the remainder is reforesting by natural means, but there are 



Figure 5. — Some Residents of the Forest Community. 



A, Raccoon ; B, mule deer ; C, black bear ; D, grouse. 



F-218551, F-185373, 

 F-170653, F-233805 



many million acres of land suitable for producing commercially valu- 

 able timber that are entirely deforested and nonproductive. 



Three fourths of our forest land, including most of the second- 

 growth and denuded areas, lies east of the Great Plains. That 

 region, however, contains only about one tenth of the remaining old- 

 growth timber and slightly more than two fifths of all wood of 

 merchantable size. Nine tenths of our remaining original growth 

 and three fifths of all the usable wood in the country are concen- 

 trated in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific-coast regions. 



