ARKANSAS 



COMMERCIAL FOREST LAND 



1. Definitions: 



a. Commercial forest land is defined as all 

 land, not classed as agriculture, urban or rur- 

 ban, bearing or capable of bearing forest 

 growths of potential commercial use. 



b. Non-commercial forest land is defined as 

 the land from which the original forest has been 

 removed, partially or totally, and not used for 

 agriculture, urban or rurban purposes. 



(1) The types of land in this classifica- 

 tion include those variously known as wild 

 land, swamp land, etc. 



(2) Uses for this type land are for pur- 

 poses varying from limited grazing in 

 fringe farming areas, natural and planned 

 reforestation, hunting and allied recrea- 

 tional activities, to no use whatever for 

 certain barren or isolated areas. Some 

 areas are used for run off and erosion con- 

 trol in developed water sheds and some of 

 it is a mere over-burden on known mineral 

 deposits. 



2. Forest Regions: 



a. Arkansas is divided into four distinct for- 

 est regions, based on dominant forest species 

 and physiography. Each of these regions has a 

 predominant forest type, land class and related 

 soils. By comparing the Regional Map (Annex 

 #1) and Forest Type Map (Annex #2) it can 

 be seen that there is a definite relationship of 

 forest type to region. 



b. Though the four forest regions of Arkansas 

 are defined both by related soils and forest types, 

 boundaries defining these areas are drawn along 

 county lines, to maintain county integrity, in 

 computing total land acreage, production, etc. 

 Because of county line boundaries two or more 

 regional timber types may fall in one county, 

 such as Pulaski County, which is placed in the 

 Ouachita Mountain Region but timber of all 



1 The material included is from the forestry section 

 (revised 1966) of the 1960 Assessors' Manual — Real 

 Estate, Arkansas Public Service Commission. 



regions grows there. The four regions are as 

 follows : 



(1) Coastal Plain 



(2) Ouachita 



(3) Ozark 



(4) Delta 



(5) See Annex #3, Arkansas Forest Re- 

 gions drawn along County Lines. 



(6) See Annex #4, Characteristics of the 

 Different Forest Regions. 



3. Classification of Land: 



a. As a basis for valuing base soil, four land 

 classes will be recognized that will be applied to 

 the State as a whole. 



(1) Coastal plain pine land: All the up- 

 land soils of the Coastal Plains Region are 

 potential pine growing soils, despite the 

 presence of hardwood growth, and capabil- 

 ity of the soil is based on potential pine 

 yields. 



(2) Mountain pine land: Most of the 

 Ouachita Region and the pine sites in the 

 Ozark Region are included. The upland 

 hardwood types of the Ouachita Region are 

 potential pine sites. In the Ozark Region 

 the presence of pine is an indication of the 

 capability of the site for pine and, as a gen- 

 eral rule, the South and West slopes of the 

 Ozarks are best adapted for pine. 



(3) Bottomland hardwood lands: The 

 most extensive land class which includes 

 the six forest types of the Delta Region 

 and bottomlands of the other regions. 



(4) Mountain hardwood lands: Primarily 

 the Ozark Region and includes the upland 

 hardwood type. 



4. Timber Stand Conditions: Stand timber will 

 be classified into stand size and types as follows : 



a. Pine 



(1) Saw-timber: Stands with the domi- 

 nant trees ten inches DBH and over, 

 merchantable heights tallied in 1/2 log 

 lengths. The merchantable top will be that 

 point on the stem at which merchantability 

 for saw-timber is limited by large 



