FOREST RESOURCES OF NORTHEASTERN FLORIDA 



Introduction and Explanation 

 of Terms Used 



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NORTHEASTERN Florida is distinctly dif- 

 ferent from any other section of similar size 

 in the United States. As soon as one 

 crosses the State line from Georgia, he finds owner- 

 ship of land in larger tracts, a different tax situation, 

 and less intensive management of forests. Over 

 three-fourths of the survey unit is in forest, and 

 most of the sites here are better than those to the 

 south and west. Furthermore, this section is un- 

 usual in that the principal transportation systems 

 focus on a single point, Jacksonville, to which tur- 

 pentine, rosin, and the other forest products are 

 brought for redistribution throughout the world. 



In planning for the development of northeastern 

 Florida, it must be recognized that forests have long 

 been the most important source of its basic raw ma- 

 terials. A knowledge of the kind, character, and 

 quantity of these materials and of the industries en- 

 gaged in their utilization is essential to the formula- 

 tion of sound forest policies that will benefit both 

 present and future generations. A summary of 

 present knowledge of these factors is presented in 

 this report, together with their significance and 

 their relation to the industries and communities de- 

 pendent upon the forest resources. Certain lines of 

 action in regional planning can be suggested now, 

 but the solution of the general problems of forest 

 land use and industrial development must wait 

 until the whole southern pine region, of which this 

 survey unit forms a part, is analyzed. 



This report on northeastern Florida, or Florida 

 Unit No. 1 — one of several key units in the South 

 covered by the Forest Survey — is based on a survey 

 conducted between the latter part of November 

 1933 and the end of July 1934. A number of 

 trained three-man crews recorded the conditions on 

 11,956 quarter-acre plots distributed at %-mile in- 

 tervals along lines 10 miles apart, running approxi- 



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mately east and west. For each plot the crews re- 

 corded the class of land use; and on forest plots they 

 recorded the forest type and condition, tallied the 

 trees by species and diameter classes, and deter- 

 mined the rate of growth of the timber during the 

 past 10 years. The data obtained, when used as a 

 statistical sample, indicate that the larger figures 

 for the major classifications are reliable to within 5 

 percent. For relatively small figures in a given 

 classification the reliability may be less, however, 

 and such figures should be regarded only as indica- 

 tive. Also, data concerning industrial conditions 

 and forest depletion were obtained on all of the 

 naval stores still operations and on a large number 

 of the wood-products industries. Present consump- 

 tion and probable future trends in national require- 

 ments for timber and other forest products are 

 being studied on a Nation-wide basis and will be 

 treated in a separate report. 



The following definitions of the technical and un- 

 usual terms used in this report are given below to 

 facilitate easy grasp of the forest situation discussed 

 herein. 



General 



Forest Survey Unit. — The term "forest survey unit" means 

 an area of 2 to 10 million acres in which forest, economic, 

 and industrial conditions are reasonably homogeneous. The 

 division of a State in this manner facilitates analysis and dis- 

 cussion of the forest situation. 



Naval stores unit. — This unit is equivalent to one 50-gallon 

 barrel of turpentine and three and one-third 500-pound 

 (gross) barrels of rosin. 



Land-use Classes 



Productive forest land. — Forest land that has the qualities 

 essential for the growth of commercial timber. 



Nonproductive forest land. — Forest land that does not have 

 the qualities essential for the growth of commercial timber. 



