New England 
Middle Atlantic__- 
Genital eae eee 3 
Plains cae eee, “ 
South Atlantic____ 8 
Southeasteaae ee BEES 
Pacific Northwest__ B&xxeee SSRN 
~*~ 
2 255 
Galifornia?= ==. = essesceereeneness 
North Rocky Mtn._ 
South Rocky Mtn.. 
Softwood 
<8 x eetenY 
SRS LEG Z 
800 1,200 
BILLION BOARD FEET 
300 400 500 
BILLION BOARD FEET 
Yt Hardwood 
FIGURE 3.—Saw-timber stand in the United States, by region, 1945. 
of saw timber in the West is in virgin stands. If 
these stands are cut so as to put them in good grow- 
ing condition, the average volume needed as grow- 
ing stock for future crops will generally be less 
than at present. Nevertheless, this backlog of for- 
est Capital is an extremely important part of our 
timber supply and should be carefully husbanded. 
The occurrence of different ‘species in different 
parts of the country is another basic element in the 
situation. ‘Timber in the West is almost all soft- 
wood, the kind that is in greatest demand for the 
major industrial uses. But in the North about 
three-fourths is hardwood. Maine is the only 
northern State with more softwood than hardwood. 
Even in the South 43 percent of the saw timber is 
hardwood. 
Half the saw timber in the United States is of 
three species (fig. 5): 
Species: Billion bd. ft. 
Douglas-fini< 728 ee a oe ee ie tee 430.0 
Southern) ‘yellow,pines 33S ee 188.3 
Ponderosa pine te eee ee ere eee ee 185.4 
803.7 
1All commercial southern pine species grouped together. 
18 Miscellaneous Publication 668, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
