move to the Washington 

 office of the Forest Service, 

 the Pisgah and Nantahala 

 National Forests 

 implemented a policy of 

 even-aged management for 

 most hardwood species. 



During the shift toward 

 even-aged management, 

 the demand for and value 

 of pine timber increased, 

 the productive quality of 

 forest sites was determined, 

 and new forest inventories 

 were completed. Before 

 many parcels came under 

 Federal management, 

 frequent fires and insect 

 and disease attacks had 

 effectively altered their tree 

 species from softwoods to 

 hardwoods. The Forest 

 Service determined that 

 many such sites were 

 actually better suited to 

 growing pines than to 

 supporting hardwoods. 

 New silvicultural 

 prescriptions and the 

 associated cutting practices 

 emphasized the release of 

 pine reproduction on those 

 sites. This was to be 

 accomplished by removal 

 of competing hardwood 

 species less suited to such 

 sites and by regeneration 

 cuts designed to replace 

 hardwood species with 

 pine. With this expansion 

 and intensification of timber 

 management activities came 

 criticism from wildlife 

 interests, particularly 



hunters, recreationists, and 

 even some foresters. 



Seven years after World 

 War II, the commercial 

 forest land area of the 

 southern national forests 

 was 10,369,000 acres, of 

 which some 454,738 acres 

 had been regenerated by 

 planting and seeding and 

 by prescribed burning or 

 other artificial means to 

 obtain natural seeding.- 

 Pine types covered 

 4,002,000 acres, mostly in 

 the Coastal Plain forests; 

 mixed pine-hardwoods, 

 338,000 acres; bottomland 

 hardwoods, 346,000 acres; 

 and upland hardwoods, 

 4,121,000 acres, mostly in 

 the mountain forests. The 

 inventory of softwood 

 growing stock was 

 estimated to be 4.975 billion 

 cubic feet (roughly 25 billion 

 board feet), and the 

 hardwood growing stock 

 inventory was estimated to 

 be 3.951 billion cubic feet 

 (roughly 19.8 billion board 

 feet). Average volume per 

 acre, including both 

 softwoods and hardwoods, 

 was 861 cubic feet, or about 

 4,305 board feet, (USDA 

 Forest Service 1 985b and 

 1985c, unpubl.) 



Net annual growth ranged 

 from 23.2 cubic feet (116 

 board feet) per acre in the 

 Florida national forests to 

 68 cubic feet (340 board 



37 



