Kentucky's Forest Resources 



-^ 



Fo res t Area an d Ow nersh ip 



THE FOREST area of Kentucky is lli/o mil- 

 lion acres— 45 percent of the total land area 

 (fig. 11). No other State in the Central States 

 region has so much of its land in forest. All of the 

 forest area is productive and accessible. However, 

 some 51,000 acres, mainly in State and Federal 

 parks, are reserved from timber cutting. 









im^ 



f mA 



Forest land 

 45% 



3\ 





^^.^^--'''"^''^ 





\ All other 





\ 10% 



Cropland 

 45% 



^ 



Figure 11.— Ma/or land uses. 



Forestry problems must be considered in the 

 light of forest ownership. In general, public forests 

 are dedicated to the public welfare, whereas private 

 forests are operated for the immediate economic 

 gain of the owner. Ninety-four percent of the forest 

 land- in Kentucky is privately owned. Of this, about 

 half is held by farmers (fig. 12) and the remainder 

 by industrial operators and others. 



2 The definition of "forest land" and other Forest Survey- 

 terms used in this report are in the appendix, pp. 36 to 40. 

 Because the terminology differs somewhat from that in earlier 

 reports, the definitions should be studied carefully. 



^^ 



Farm woodlands average about 30 acres. Because 

 of their small size, and also because diversified 

 markets are lacking, annual or even frequent pe- 

 riodic sales of forest products are not often possible. 

 Lump-sum sales are common and returns are usually 

 sinall when compared with income from other prod- 

 ucts. As a result, many farm woodland owners have 

 scant incentive to practice forestry. 



Coal companies are perhaps the most important 

 single class of nonfarm owners. Many of their own- 

 erships are large. In 21 counties of the Eastern 

 Highlands region, more than a million acres are in 

 ownerships of 1,000 acres and larger. Coal and lum- 

 ber companies own most of this land. In addition, 

 the coal companies have leased the mineral rights 

 on privately owned land concentrated in the Eastern 

 Highlands and in the north-central part of the 

 Western Plateau. 



Some of the coal companies ciu irrine timbeis 

 from their own land and from leased land. The 

 rights of access and of free use of small timber held 



/-— ^ 



state/ Farm ' \ 



17 



fe^l^=-*^i«S^ 



I . ■■;^'*''^^g 



\ Other privote / 



\ 46 7o / 



Figure \1.—Torest land ownershii). 



Kentucky's Forest Resources and Industries 



II 



