and most of the rest face a similar decline in the 
near future. 
In both North and South the keen demand for 
pulpwood, mine timbers, box-grade lumber, and 
other items which can be cut from small trees 
induces premature cutting of young trees which 
should be left to grow. This tends to perpetuate 
and aggravate the present shortage of larger timber. 
In the West as a whole, virgin stands now occupy 
less than two-fifths of the commercial forest land, 
and one-fourth has been reduced to seedling and 
sapling growth or is denuded. ‘Taking the Douglas- 
fir subregion of the Pacific Northwest alone, the 
latter proportion is even greater. _ 
The 44.6 million acres of virgin forest contain 
more than half our saw-timber volume. But only 
one-fourth of this acreage meets the high standards 
popularly associated with virgin timber: heavy 
stands of large, high-quality trees of good species 
with little defect (table 8). The best of the virgin 
timber is in the Pacific Northwest. In California 
and the Rocky Mountain regions, which have half 
the acreage, half of it is rated as poor quality. 
For the country as a whole, 37 percent of the virgin 
forest is of poor quality. These poor-quality 
stands, containing only 15 percent of the total 
volume of virgin timber, are often very defective 
and of doubtful value. Some are long past their 
prime. Others contain a high percentage of in- 
ferior species; and others, now merchantable, are 
on poor sites which, as a practical matter, may never 
again grow good timber. 
Tas_e 8.—Quality of virgin timber stands 
Stand quality 
Regi r section Area 
Se : ae Good Medium Poor 
Million 
acres Percent Percent Percent 
Pacific Northwest... 18.5 39 40 21 
California and the 
Rocky Mountain 
MECIONS see eee ee 22.8 2: 36 52 
INOL thi ae 2.3 19 54 27 
Southage see 1.0 55 34 ll 
United 
States ....... 44.6 25 38 37 
Much of the Forest Land 
Is Poorly Stocked 
Another indication that growing stock is below 
par is the prevalence of poor stocking—about 35 
percent of all the commercial forest land is de- 
Forests and National Prosperity 
forested or has less than 40 percent of the number 
of trees required for full stocking: 
Poorly stocked and denuded 
forest land 
Percent of 
Million commercial 
Section: acres forest area 
INGE EEG feo ecole eit PRS ROR 59.4 35 
SOU CISA RC patie markings, soe ne 85.2 46 
WIGS Eig iri Meee Acacia, aA Tang Un nee 19.2 18 
United\\States! 2.02.5. Stasis eee 163.8 35 
This includes 58.0 million acres of second-growth 
saw timber; 30.5 million pole timber; and 75.3 
million of seedlings, saplings, and denuded areas. 
Almost nine-tenths of the poorly stocked stands 
are in the North and South. ‘The southern forests 
are the most deficient, almost half being deforested 
or poorly stocked. In both North and South 35 
to 40 percent of the second-growth saw timber and 
pole timber is poorly stocked and not over 25 per- 
cent is more than 70 percent stocked. 
Of special significance is the 75.3 million acres 
of poorly stocked seedlings and saplings and wholly 
denuded lands. ‘This idle forest land—representing 
about 1 acre in every 6—contributes little to the 
support of roads, schools, or other community serv- 
ices. It supports no jobs. Taxes, if paid, must 
come from other productive enterprise. 
By and large, the rehabilitation of denuded forest 
land is a job that must be done by the public or 
with public aid if it is to be done. Yet 61.8 million 
acres or 82 percent of this idle land is in private 
ownership, as shown in the accompanying tabula- 
tion. Almost nine-tenths of this is in the East. 
Forest land 
All Denuded 1 
commercial (million 
Ownership: (million acres) acres) (percent) 
Med eral tiie et enes Sy a eee 89 7.1 8 
State and local government........ 27 6.4 24 
IEIV ALC tyeece see ee ere nee 345 61:8 18 
IAIIFOW NETS is 8a ote eee oe 461 75.3 16 
2Includes poorly stocked seedling and sapling areas. 
Only 8 percent of the commercial forest land in 
Federal ownership is denuded, or nearly so, in con- 
trast to 24 percent for the forests held by State and 
local governments and 18 percent for the private 
lands. ‘The Federal percent is low because these 
forests, largely in the West, have been protected 
for many years, and cutting on them has been gen- 
erally good. The high percent for State and local 
public forests reflects the denuded condition in 
which so much of this land in the East came into 
public ownership, often through tax delinquency. 
It is reasonable to assume that the acreage of. 
23 
