Pref 



rerace 



This report is the latest in a series of periodic 

 appraisals of the timber situation and outlook in 

 the United States made by the Forest Service. 

 The most recent of such studies prior to this 

 "1962 Timber Appraisal" was the Timber Re- 

 source Review of 1952, published in final form in 

 1958 as "Timber Resources for America's Fu- 

 ture." ' 



National reports on the Nation's timber situa- 

 tion are required from time to time to provide a 

 basis for judging the general effectiveness of and 

 needs for forestry programs. Forests in different 

 regions show highly divergent trends in timber 

 growth, inventories, and availability of wood 

 products for industrial use. Continuing changes 

 are evident in timber markets and utilization 

 practices. And changing forestry policies and 

 programs significantly affect the outlook for 

 production of timber crops. 



The timber supply situation and market op- 

 portunities for timber products are matters of 

 far-reaching importance in the U.S. economy. 

 Timber-based economic activities employ more 

 than 3 million workers. In many parts of the 

 country, timber industries constitute the primary 

 economic base for income and employment. 

 Values added attributable to timber harvesting, 

 timber processing, manufacture of wood products, 

 construction, and transportation and marketing 

 of wood products in recent years have accounted 

 for about $25 billion annually of the Nation's 

 gross national product. 



The information presented in this report has 

 been gathered largely as part of the nationwide 

 Forest Survey, authorized in section 9 of the 

 McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act of 

 May 22, 1928, as amended. This act authorized 

 and directed the Secretary of Agriculture to 

 cooperate with State and other agencies: 



... in making and keeping current a 

 comprehensive survey of the present and 

 prospective requirements for timber and 

 other forest products in the United States, 

 and of timber supplies, including a determina- 

 tion of the present and potential productivity 

 of fore st land therein, and of such other facts 



'U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 

 i?orest Resource Report No. 14, January 1958. 



as may be necessary in the determination of 

 ways and means to balance the timber budget 

 of the United States .... 



This report on the nationwide timber situation 

 and outlook supplements the forest surveys of 

 individual States that are conducted periodically 

 by the Forest Service in cooperation with various 

 State agencies and private cooperators. Br sic 

 Statistics presented in Appendix 1, and much of the 

 text material on timber supplies, represents in 

 effect an updated summary of the information on 

 timber supplies presented periodically in such 

 State survey reports. 



The first section of this report appraises recent 

 trends in consumption of timber products in 

 various markets, and develops projections of 

 possible future demands for timber products. 

 These demand projections extend to the year 

 2000, a long period from the standpoint of timber 

 markets but a relatively short period for appraising 

 most forestry programs. The element of uncer- 

 tainty in such projections is obviously large. But 

 forestry is of necessity a long-range undertaking 

 and much of today's action in forestry must neces- 

 sarily be for a distant future. 



The second section presents an analysis of the 

 Nation's timber supply situation as of January 1, 

 1963. Some comparisons between 1953 and 1963 

 also have been included to show recent changes in 

 forest areas, timber volumes, growth, mortality, 

 and cut. 



The third section appraises prospective trends 

 in timber supplies for the period 1963-2000 by 

 major sections of the United States, and compares 

 these supplies with the projected timber demands. 

 These comparisons of timber supplies and demands 

 provide an indication of the adequacy of the 

 Nation's timber resources, and by implication, the 

 adequacy of existing forestry programs. 



No recommendations with regard to forestry 

 policies and programs are included in this report. 

 The information in timber supplies and demands 

 presented here is intended to point up favorable 

 and unfavorable aspects of the timber situation 

 and outlook, and thus provide a technical basis for 

 development of sound forestry programs by public 

 forestry agencies, the forest industries, and other 

 conservation groups. 



