130 



TIMBER TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES 



Table 85. — Timber growth, allocated cut, and inventory of sawtimber and growing stock in the North, 



1952-2000 



SAWTIMBER IN BILLION BOARD FEET 











Projections 





Species group • 



1952 



1962 









.- - 



1970 



1980 



1990 



2000 



Softwoods: 















Cut 



2.4 



1.9 



1.8 



2.0 



2.5 



3.2 



Growth 



2.5 



2.8 



3.1 



3.3 



3.3 



3.1 



Inventory 



61.6 



66.6 



75.0 



89.0 



100.0 



103.0 



Hardwoods: 















Cut 



4.3 



4.2 



5.3 



6.8 



8.7 



11.0 



Growth 



8.1 



9.7 



10.5 



10.7 



10.2 



9.7 



Inventory 



203.0 



243.2 



286.6 



333.1 



359.6 



358.9 



Total: 















Cut 



6.7 



6.1 



7.1 



8.8 



11.2 



14.2 



Growth 



10.6 



12.5 



13.6 



14.0 



13.5 



12.8 



Inventory 



264.6 



309.8 



361.6 



422.1 



459.6 



461.9 



GROWING STOCK IN BILLION CUBIC FEET 



Softwoods: 



Cut 



Growth. _. 

 Inventory 



Hardwoods: 



Cut 



Growth. _. 

 Inventory 



Total: 



Cut 



Growth... 

 Inventory 



0.7 



1.0 



26.6 



1.3 



3.3 



85.4 



2.0 



4.3 



112.0 



0.6 



1.0 



31.3 



1.1 



3.8 



105.2 



1.7 



4.8 



136.5 



0.5 



1.2 



36.0 



1.5 



3.9 



125.1 



2.0 



5.1 



161.1 







6 



1 



2 



43 







2 







3 



7 



147 



9 



2 



6 



4 



9 



190 



9 



0.9 



1.2 



50.0 



2. 



3. 



163 



3. 



4. 



213. 



1.2 



1.1 



54.3 



3.4 

 3.3 



166.9 



4.6 



4.4 



221.2 



This buildup was primarily a result of greatly im- 

 proved fire protection in recent decades and rela- 

 tively low levels of cutting. A continued buildup 

 in stand volumes seems likely, even with a rapid 

 rise in the allocated timber cut. Thus under the 

 conditions assumed, the total sawtimber stand by 

 1990 would be almost 50 percent greater than in 

 1962. 



As in the South, the proportion of larger size 

 timber available for cutting decreases significantly 

 under the cutting and management assumptions 

 adopted (table 86). The feasibility of substan- 

 tially raising the total cut in spite of such reduc- 

 tions in size of available timber will depend chiefly 

 on the ability of forest industries to adjust to 

 smaller timber. This should not be a serious 

 problem for pulpmills, but could be critical for the 

 lumber and veneer industries, which depend 

 primarily on large logs of walnut, yellow birch, 

 hard maple, and other high-value species. 



Demands for Nontimber Uses Could 

 Reduce Projected Timber Supplies 



The forest area available for timber production 

 could change materially in the North before the 



year 2000. Expanding cities, withdrawals of land 

 for highway rights-of-way and reservoirs, and 

 development of forest areas for recreation all are 

 making inroads into the forest area available for 

 production of timber crops. 



Many northern States, for example, have em- 

 barked on sizable programs of public land acquisi- 



Table 86. — Distribution of timber cut in the North, 

 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 



20 



17 



24 



29 



17 



13 



9.0-11.0 



12 



22 



13 



26 



12 



20 



11.0-15.0 



22 



34 



23 



31 



22 



35 



15.0-19.0 



23 



17 



21 



11 



23 



19 



19.0 + 



23 



10 



19 



3 



26 



13 



Total... . 



100 



100 



100 



100 



100 



100 



