F — 24 3320 



FicuRF, l-i. —Oak-hickory forest in southwestern Wisconsin. Heavy pasturing has eliminated almost all reproduction. 



Aspen: Aspen type presumably covered a very 

 limited area in the original forest— woodland bor- 

 ders and accidental openings in the forest. Today, 

 however, it occupies 19.5 million acres, nearly two- 

 fifths of the entire commercial forest area (table 7). 



Some of the aspen forest is producing timber of a 

 quality suitable for box lumber, pulpwood, etc., and 

 at a fairly rapid rate. It may well be maintained 

 indefinitely as aspen type (25). The greater part 

 'of the area, however, would be more productive if 

 restored to its original type. 



POTENTIAL FOREST TYPES 



The present extent of pine, spruce-fir, and hard- 

 wood forest does not indicate fully the area available 

 for producing valuable timber in this region. Un- 



Forest Resources of the Lake States Region 



Table 7.— Area of aspen type in the Lake States region, 

 by stand class, 1950 



Stand class 



Region 

 total 



Minnesota 



Wisconsin 



Michigan 



Saw timber 



Thousand 



acres 



1,200 



3,700 



11,000 



3,600 



Thousand 



acres 



550 



1,150 



4,300 



1,600 



Thousand 



acres 



300 



1,100 



3,500 



1,000 



Thousand 

 acres 

 350 





1,450 



Seedlings and saplings 



3,200 



Poorly stocked and 



deforested... 



1 , 000 



lotal 



19, 500 



7.600 



5, 900 



(,. 000 



der good management, many areas now occupied l)y 

 grass, brush, and poor aspen can be restored to 

 better types (fig. 16). 



13 



