Subdivisions 



Like the coal fields, the farming area has four sub- 

 divisions. The largest of these is the northern dairy 

 subdivision, which lies mostly on the eastern extremity 

 of the Allegheny Plateau. The other subdivisions — 

 the Susquehanna Valley, the Blue Mountain Valley, 

 and the Dauphin-Lebanon area — are in the foothills 

 and valleys. Some of the farm land in the Susque- 

 hanna Valley and Dauphin-Lebanon subdivisions is 

 as good as any in the State. 



Forest-Products Industries 



Every forest-product industry within the Anthracite 

 Forest Region is represented in the farming area. All 

 the maple-syrup manufacture and a high proportion 

 of the fuel-wood and fence-post production are 

 carried on here. A considerable amount of mine- 

 timber and sawlog production also takes place in this 

 area, including most of the small-scale operations. 

 About two-thirds of the sawmills and about half of the 

 planing mills of the region operate here. The larger 

 furniture and paper factories and many of the other 

 wood-using manufacturing plants are located in 

 farming-area towns. Some 65 residents of the area 

 are engaged on a full-time basis in forest management. 

 Except for the furniture and paper-box manufacture, 

 the forest-products industries of the farming area are 

 largely dependent on the local forests. Many of the 



requirements even of these industries could be met 

 locally if the forests were fully productive. 



Land Ownership 



A large proportion of the forest land in the farming 

 area is not owned by farmers (table 14). A small 

 amount belongs to coal and water companies, a large 

 amount to other private owners. Some is owned by 

 large private estates, hunting and fishing clubs, and 

 commercial timber operators. Other tracts are in the 

 hands of banks and insurance companies that have 

 acquired them through mortgage foreclosures, and 

 some tracts are being held for real-estate develop- 

 ment. 



The farming area also includes a small amount of 

 publicly owned forest land. Nearly half of this is 

 owned by counties and communities and is scattered 

 in small tracts. A small tract in Wyoming Count\ is 

 under the supervision of the State department of 

 forests and waters. The other public forests, most of 

 them in Wayne, Susquehanna, and Columbia 

 Counties, belong to the State game commission. 



The ownership distribution within the subdivisions 

 is in approximately the same proportions as in the 

 fanning area as a whole. Certain variations occur, 

 however, largely in the distribution of public owner- 

 ship and in the proportion in farm woodlands. 

 Much of the forest land in the "other" private 

 ownership lies along the ridges that run through or 



Table 14. — Forest-land ownership m the farming area, by subdivisions 



Ownership 



Private: 



( loal companies . . 

 Water companies 



Fanners 



Others 



All private 



Public: 



State forests 



Game commission 



Counties 



Communities .... 



All public 

 Total 



Northern 

 dairv 



Acres 



\. inn 



7,400 



275,900 



mi, >oo 



S 900 



1,800 

 22, 000 

 20, 200 



14,000 



'81,900 



Susque- 

 hanna 

 \ allej 



i 



500 

 16,000 



Hi". 100 

 l" . 200 



122 800 



I )auphin- 

 I ,ebanon 



l 





Blue 



Mi luntain 



\ allej 



i 



83, W0 



9, I 



i. ;,ui 

 1 '6,000 



[otal 



i 



cm. 000 



- 



00 1. tOO, 400 



(') 



57 



23, 900 



19 »00 



13, 100 





j, 000 l J 

 600 13, 00 



t. 300 



1,800 



00 4 



l 







HI, J00 !84, "00 : 





i Negligible. 



The Anthracite Foresl Region A Problem Area 





