126 



TIMBER TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES 



Table 82. — Timber growth, allocated cut, and inventory of sawtimber and growing stock in the South, 



1952-2000 



SAWTIMBER IN BILLION BOARD FEET 



Species group 



1952 



1962 



Projections 





1970 



1980 



1990 



2000 



Softwoods: 

 Cut 



11.7 



14.1 



187.9 



7.9 



8.8 



186.2 



19.6 



22.9 



374.1 



8.4 



16.9 



224.7 



7.0 



8.4 



187.3 



15.4 



25.3 



412.0 



10.5 



18.8 



293.0 



6.9 



8.5 



200.3 



17.4 



27.3 



493.3 



14.3 



21.9 



376.1 



7.6 



8.1 



214.3 



21.9 



30.0 



590.4 



19.5 



19.7 



408.8 



8.6 



7.1 



209.3 



28.1 



26.8 



618.1 



26.1 



Growth 



Inventory 



Hardwoods: 



Cut 



Growth 



Inventory 



18.6 

 352.2 



10.1 



6.8 



188.5 



Total: 



Cut 



Growth 



Inventory 



36.2 



25.4 



535.7 



GROWING STOCK IN BILLION CUBIC FEET 



Softwoods: 















Cut . . _ 



3.1 

 3.5 



2.5 

 4.4 



2.7 

 4.8 



3.6 

 5.5 



5.1 

 5.0 



7.4 



Growth 



4.8 



Inventory 



52.6 



62.7 



80.4 



99.6 



109.2 



92.8 



Hardwoods: 















Cut 



2.0 

 3.1 



1.7 

 3.1 



1.9 

 3.2 



2.2 

 3.2 



2.8 

 2.9 



3.7 



Growth 



2.8 



Inventory 



67.2 



71.4 



77.4 



87.2 



90.2 



86.3 



Total: 















Cut 



5.1 



4.2 



4.6 



5.8 



7.9 



11.1 



Growth 



6.6 



7.5 



8.0 



8.6 



7.8 



7.6 



Inventory 



119.8 



134.1 



157.8 



186.8 



199.4 



179.1 



Projected Softwood Inventories 

 Increase Considerably 



Because of the excess of growth over cut ex- 

 pected during the next two decades, the softwood 

 sawtimber inventory in the South is estimated to 

 rise about 82 percent between 1962 and 1990 

 (table 82 and fig. 56). Thereafter, with present 

 levels of management, projected inventories de- 

 cline. 



By 2000 inventories would still be much higher 

 than in 1962, but would fall short of the inventory 

 volume required to sustain the projected cut in 

 tree sizes comparable to those now being harvested. 

 Thus the projected cut of softwood trees above 15 

 inches in diameter, for example, declines from 30 

 percent of the total cut in 1962 to 24 percent by 

 the year 2000 (table 83). 



Allocated Cut of Hardwoods 

 Exceeds Projected Growth by 1980 



The projected cut of hardwood sawtimber 

 increases from 7.0 billion board feet in 1962 to 



10.1 billion board feet in 2000^ — a rise of 44 per- 

 cent (table 82 and fig. 56). Growth of hardwood 

 sawtimber in 1962, amounting to 8.4 billion 

 board feet was slightly below the estimated 1952 

 growth, primarily as a result of high mortality 

 arising from drought and the increasing density 

 of many hardwood stands. 



Table 83. — Distribution of timber cut in the South, 

 by diameter classes, and by softwoods and hard- 

 woods, 1962 and 2000 



Diameter at 



Total 



Softwoods 



Hardwoods 



breast height 













(inches) 

















1962 



2000 



1962 



2000 



1962 



2000 





Per- 



Per- 



Per- 



Per- 



Per- 



Per- 





cent 



cent 



cent 



cent 



cent 



cent 



5.0-9.0 



15 



23 



20 



24 



8 



22 



9.0-11.0 



15 



21 



17 



21 



10 



17 



11.0-15.0 



31 



30 



33 



31 



27 



27 



15.0-19.0 



22 



17 



20 



16 



25 



20 



19.0+ 



17 



9 



10 



8 



30 



14 



Total. 



100 



100 



100 



100 



100 



100 



