THE 



ANTHRACITE 



FOREST 



REGION — A 



PROBLEM 



AREA- 



Part II. — Economic Subregions 



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<&r 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 



IN RESOURCES, land use, land ownership, and 

 industry, the Anthracite Forest Region divides 

 naturally into three economic subregions (fig. 26): 

 The coal fields, the farming areas, and the extensive 

 forests. Each subregion differs greatly from the 

 others (table 8); each subregion has its own charac- 

 teristic problems. These subregions are further 

 divided into subdivisions, each of which has charac- 

 teristics of its own. 



This break-down of the Anthracite Region into 

 three subregions is arbitrary, of course. The sub- 

 regions and subdivisions are not geographic but 

 economic units, and the various types of land use are 

 found to some degree in all parts of the region. 

 However, there are certain problems that overleap 

 the subregional bounds: watersheds, and fire pre- 

 vention and control are such general problems; and 

 since mine timbers are the major product of the entire 

 region, utilization also must be treated as an over-all 



problem. Nevertheless the dominant economy of 

 each subregion is clearly defined. And since many of 

 the problems of the area must be dealt with locally, a 

 detailed separate study of each subregion is necessary 

 to define the problem in each area and to suggest a 

 solution. 



Forest-Land Ownership 



The most important difference among the three 

 subregions is in the type of ownership that dominates 

 each (table 9). In the coal fields almost two-thirds 

 of the forest land belongs to the coal companies; all 

 but a negligible proportion of the land owned by 

 coal companies falls within this area. Most of the 

 forest in the farming area is in small tracts and be- 

 longs either to farmers or to other private owners; 

 90 percent of the farmer-owned woodland and a large 

 proportion of the other privately owned small tracts 



Table 8. — Land use by subregions; forest area classified by size of tract 



Land use 



Coal fields 



Farming areas 



Extensive forests 



Total 



Forest: ' 



Tracts less than 1 acres 



Acres 

 5,300 

 12.700 

 384, 400 



Percent 

 1.0 



2.4 

 73.2 



Acres 

 46, 100 

 109. 800 

 1, 367, 900 



Percent 



1.4 



3.3 



40.6 



Acres 

 10,900 

 16,300 

 1,245,000 



Percent 



0.8 



1.2 



91.5 



Acres 

 62, 300 

 138,800 

 2, 997, 300 



Percent 

 1.2 

 2.6 



Tracts 50 acres and over 



57. 1 



All forest 



402, 400 



76.6 



1,523,800 



45. 3 



1,272,200 



93.5 



3,198,400 



60.9 







Nonforest: 



Cropland 2 



Mine waste ' 



7,800 

 60, 100 



3, 300 

 51, 600 



1.5 



11. 5 



.6 



9.8 



1,032,300 



30.6 



19,400 



1.4 



1,059,500 

 60, 100 



73, "00 

 861, 500 



20.2 

 1. 1 



Water 2 



Other 



49, 400 

 761,900 



1.5 

 22.6 



21,200 

 48, 000 



1.6 



3.5 



1.4 

 16.4 



All nonforest 



122, 800 



23.4 



1.843, 600 



54.7 



88, 600 



6.5 



2, 055, 000 



39. 1 



Total 



525, 200 



100.0 



3, 367, 400 



100.0 



1,360,800 



100.0 



5, 253, 400 



100.0 



1 Based on aerial photographs taken* 1937-40. 



2 Bureau of the Census, 1940. 



34 



Miscellaneous Publication 648, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



