136 



TIMBER TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES 



trees and the more desirable species, could greatly 

 improve both hardwood timber quality and 

 volumes in coming decades. 



Much of the eastern softwood forest has been 

 understocked in the past, and the timber inventory 

 present consequently has grown rapidly. With 

 the thickening up of stands resulting from more 

 effective fire control, thinning will be increasingly 

 desirable to improve stand composition, reduce 

 mortality, and shorten the time required to pro- 

 duce merchantable trees. 



In western regions present levels of timber 

 culture are not sufficient to sustain any major 

 increases in cut. But future yields could be 

 greatly increased with accelerated management. 

 Western forests include many dense stands in 

 which thinning would be desirable to make use 

 of the growth capacity and to favor superior trees. 

 Commercial thinning is becoming increasingly 

 feasible in many areas, and numerous young 

 stands on productive sites off er promising in vest- 

 ment opportunities. 



Increased Planting and Protection 

 AlsoWould Increase Future Yields 



Prompt establishment of vigorous young stands 

 of desirable species following logging continues 

 to be an important problem in the West and in 

 many parts of the East as well. In addition, 

 there are some 36 million acres of commercial 

 forest lands presently nonstocked with growing 

 stock trees, and 76 million acres of forest land that 

 are poorly stocked. 



Tree planting efforts in recent years have 

 covered about 1.3 million acres annually, includ- 

 ing considerable areas of abandoned farmlands. 

 Expansion of planting on the more productive 

 sites where prospective yields in volume and 

 value are greatest would permit increases in tim- 

 ber harvests in the future, especially in the years 

 after 2000. Shortening the regeneration period 

 after logging by planting of desirable species also 

 would make possible an immediate increase in 

 allowable cut in some western forests. 



Further reduction of mortality from fire, insects, 

 and other destructive agents could likewise have 

 a sizable effect on future wood supplies. Annual 

 losses to these destructive agents in 1962 amounted 

 to nearly 20 billion board feet, or the equivalent of 

 about 36 percent of the net gi'owth of timber. 

 Such losses could be reduced both through in- 

 tensified fire and pest control programs and 

 through more intensive timber management, in- 

 cluding thinning and other measures to forestall 

 mortality losses. 



In all of these management activities — regenera- 

 tion, protection, and cultural work — research will 

 be necessary to provide the knowledge needed for 

 more efficient and abundant production of both 

 timber and the related goods and services pro- 

 duced on forest lands. 



Road Development Essential 

 in the West 



Much of the forest land in the West is still 

 inaccessible for thinning or other management 

 activities, and some mature timber resources will 

 become economically available for harvesting only 

 with completion of a major road system. Sub- 

 stantial investments in road construction will thus 

 be necessary to permit closer utilization of avail- 

 able timber, more intensive cultural work, im- 

 proved protection, and effective multiple-use 

 management of timber and related resources. 



Ownership of Major Significance 

 in Forest Management 



The extent to which timber management will be 

 intensified in the future must depend in consider- 

 able part on the decisions of several rnillion owners 

 of farm and other nonindustrial private forests. 

 They own the major part of this Nation's com- 

 mercial forest land — about 60 percent of the 

 total — and almost 40 percent of the current inven- 

 tory of gi'owing stock. These lands also provide 

 almost 40 percent of all the roundwood products 

 used by the forest industries. 



Partly because of the uncertainty of intensified 

 timber growing efforts on farm and miscellaneous 

 holdings, relatively intensive management of the 

 28 percent of the commercial forest land in na- 

 tional forests and other public holdings also ap- 

 pears necessary if projected demands are to be 

 met. These public holdings contain nearly half 

 the gi'owing stock inventory and more than half of 

 the sawtimber. They furnish about 25 percent 

 of the total cut. 



Industrial holdings, which account for 13 per- 

 cent of the commercial forest, likewise play an es- 

 pecially important role in supplying timber 

 products because of such considerations as the 

 high productivity and relatively heavy stocking 

 of these lands, and the availability of capital and 

 management skills. 



