88 



TIMBER TRENDS EN THE UNITED STATES 



TIMBER INVENTORIES 



The quantity and quality of standing timber 

 are both of fundamental importance in appraising 

 the Nation's forest situation. Timber inventories 

 not only represent the reservoir of basic raw ma- 

 terial from which forest industries must draw 

 their requirements but they also represent the 

 base for future growth. 



Growing Stock 90 Percent 

 of Total Timber Volume 



Growing Stock 69 Percent Softwood,- 

 Sawtimber 87 Percent Softwood 



Softwoods predominate in the Nation's timber 

 inventory, accounting for 69 percent of the 628 

 billion cubic feet of growing stock in 1963 (table 

 61). Hardwoods made up 31 percent of the total. 

 The proportions of softwoods varied widely by 

 section, from 23 percent in the North to 95 

 percent on the Pacific coast. 



The sawtimber inventory included an even 

 larger proportion of softwoods — about 81 percent 

 of the total inventory of 2,537 billion board feet 

 of all species. Hardwoods constituted 19 percent 

 of the total sawtimber inventory. 



The commercial forests of the United States 

 contained 699 billion cubic feet of sound wood as 

 of January 1, 1963 (table 60). Ninety percent of 

 this total volume, or 628 billion cubic feet, was 

 classed as growing stock. The remaining 10 per- 

 cent consisted of sound wood volume in cull trees 

 and salvable dead trees. 



Nearly two-thirds of the total timber inventory 

 was in sawtimber trees, i.e., trees of sufficient size 

 and of suitable form and soundness to contain 

 at least one saw log. Sawtimber is given special 

 emphasis in later sections of this study because 

 the bulk of industrial wood is cut from sawtimber 

 trees, including not only lumber and veneer and 

 plywood, but also much pulpwood and other 

 products. 



West Has 57 Percent of Growing 

 Stock and 72 Percent of Sawtimber 



The geographic distribution of timber volumes 

 differs drastically from the distribution of the 

 forest area. Although Western States have only 

 one-fourth of the commercial forest acreage, they 

 have 57 percent of the Nation's growing stock 

 and 72 percent of the sawtimber of all species 

 (table 62 and fig. 39). 



Old-growth timber, located mainly in Oregon 

 and Washington, accounted for roughly 30 percent 

 of the total sawtimber inventory in 1963. It is 

 largely because of these old-growth stands that 

 the West had about 86 percent of the total soft- 

 wood sawtimber. 



Table 60. — Volume of timber on commercial forest land, by class of material, January 1 , 1 963 



Class of timber 



All species 



Softwoods 



Hardwoods 





Volume 



Proportion 



Total 



Eastern 



Western 





Sawtimber trees: 

 Saw-log portions 



Million 

 cu. ft. 

 403,753 

 52,430 



Percent 

 58 

 7 



Million 

 cu. ft. 

 322,517 

 32,671 



Million 

 cu. ft. 

 51,708 

 9,139 



Million 

 cu. ft. 

 270,809 

 23,532 



Million 

 cu. ft. 

 81,236 



Upper stems . _ 



19,759 







TotaL.. . 



456,183 



65 



355,188 



60,847 



294,341 



100,995 







Poletimber trees 



171,699 



25 



78,894 



33,147 



45,747 



92,805 



Total growing stock 



627,882 



90 



484,082 



93,994 



340 , 088 



193.800 



Salvable dead trees . . 



16,748 

 32,045 

 22,167 



2 

 5 

 3 



15,737 

 6,292 

 6,027 



141 

 3,710 

 1,084 



15,596 

 2,582 

 4,943 



1,011 



Sound cull trees 



Rotten cull trees 



25,753 

 16,140 







All classes. . _ 



698,842 



100 



462,138 



98,929 



363,209 



236,704 







