lessen the chances of serious floods, they will provide 

 playgrounds for recreationists and habitat for abun- 

 dant game. But the degree to which the possibilities 

 will be attained and the length of time it will take to 

 attain them depend on many factors: on the protection 

 the forests receive, on the various constructive mea- 

 sures undertaken to build up the stands, on the 

 amount of timber cut each year and the care and 

 foresight used in cutting it, and most of all on the 

 desire of the woodland owners and citizenry of the 

 region to reach the goal. 



The Forests Can Be Built Up 



The attainable forests of the future are a far cry 

 from the understocked low-quality stands of the 

 present. The volume of growing stock and the annual 

 growth can be expanded greatly; the proportion of 

 commercial species can be raised; and even the forest 

 area can be expected to increase. 



Forest Area 



The present forest area of the region is 3,198,400 

 acres. This could be enlarged to about 3,500,000 

 acres. Some of the existing forest will be destroyed 

 by mine-stripping operations, and a small area will 

 be cleared for cropland and pasture. But most 

 stripped areas and most mine waste banks will 

 eventually revert to forest. In addition, open areas 

 near towns and on abandoned farms, and otherwise 

 unused cleared land on active farms should be pro- 

 tected from fire and planted or allowed to restock 

 naturally. 



However, some of the present unmerchantable 

 stands may never reach merchantability. Thousands 

 of acres now in scrub oak seem to have always been 

 in scrub oak, and these areas are probably too poor 

 to grow desirable species to merchantable size. Some 

 of the chestnut oak ridges should be maintained for 

 watershed protection and recreation, il uses; other 

 areas should be reserved as protection forests lor rail- 

 roads and highways; and additional areas might In- 

 held from commercial cutting as p. irks. In addition, 



mine waste hanks and strippings which are now bare 



and sterile will not produce high-grade timber lor 



mam years to come, even il planted, and possibly 

 never. Altogether, about 500,000 acres, for one 

 reason or .mother, ma\ not he available for com- 

 mercial forest use. 



Merchantable stands now occupy less than 800,000 

 acres. This area could be increased nearly four times 



if the young stands were allowed to grow to mer- 

 chantable size, and if selective or partial cutting 

 management were instituted throughout the region. 

 Ultimately, well-managed forest stands could probably 

 be operated commercially on some 3 million acres. 



Timber Volume 



Under management 3 million acres of forest could 

 bear at least 20 billion board feet of saw timber and 

 about 100 million tons (more than 3 billion cubic 

 feet) of other material. This is an increase of more 

 than 12 times the present volume of saw timber in 

 merchantable stands, and of more than 8 times the 

 present volume of other merchantable material. 

 Such a goal cannot be attained overnight, of course; 

 it takes years for trees to develop from seedlings into 

 sawlogs. But the goal can be hastened by intelligent 

 and aggressive effort. 



The most important forest type in the region, the 

 maple-beech-birch, is admirably adapted to manage- 

 ment by the selection method. On a cutting cycle 

 of about 10 years, the many valuable species in this 

 type can be grown to optimum sizes, permitting 

 mature trees to be removed from fully developed 

 stands. This would make possible an intensive 

 utilization of the forest and would allow the produc- 

 tion of ash suitable for handle stock, maple for floor- 

 ing and veneer, cherry for furniture, and other high- 

 quality products. Inferior species and young trees 

 that would not develop into high-grade material 

 could be removed as mine props or for other markets 

 that use low-quality timber. 



The white pine-hemlock and white pine-white 

 oak types could be managed b\ a group-selection 

 method to insure the reproduction and development 

 of white pine. Hemlock is onv of the species now 

 favored for mine props, and a large proportion oi the 

 white pine lumber finds its w.i\ into the mines. 



Eventually these species should he utilized to a larger 

 degree as building materials and lor crating and 

 boxes. White o.ik (which is associated with white 

 pine and red oak over a large area 1 gTOWS well and 

 produces high-qualit) material suitable for dght 

 Cooperage and furniture. Red oak makes excellent 



flooring. 



The other oak types could be managed on either 

 <m even-age or a selection s\siem. Knowledge ol the 

 besi methods of management for these ■ 



meager, and research is needed to determine 



besi means of maintaining a high prop.:: 



better species I he chestnut oak rukes. if the\ . 



The Anthracite Forest Region t Problem lira 



