30 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICAS FUTURE 



Million 



Major forest type groups: '"^''^^ Percent 



Oak-hickory (East) 112.2 23 



Loblolly-shortleaf pine (East) 58.5 12 



Oak-gum-cypress (East) 40. 3 8 



Ponderosa pine (West) 37.5 8 



Maple-beech-birch (East) 33.4 7 



Douglas-fir (West) 31.7 6 



Other softwood tvpes: 



East '- 58.3 12 



West 48.2 10 



Other hardwood types: 



East 64. 6 13 



West 3.9 1 



All types 488.6 100 



The oak-hickory type includes nearly one-fourth 

 of the total commercial forest land area of the 

 Nation, and is twice as extensive as the next most 

 widespread type, loblolly-shortleaf pine. The 

 ponderosa and Douglas-fir types, which are the 

 most extensive in the West, represent only 8 and 

 6 percent respectively of our total commercial 

 forest land area. These type distributions are 

 significant in that they foreshadow the probability 

 that the timber inventory of the future will shift 



toward liardwoods as the eastern types are built 

 up and as the old-growth conifers of the West are 

 utilized. This shift w'ill be lessened to the extent 

 eastern hardwood types are converted to soft- 

 woods. 



Three- Fourths of the Commercial 

 Forest Area Is Privately Owned 



Privately owned forest lands, and mainly those 

 in farm and "other" private (i. e., exclusive of 

 forest industry) ownership, hold the main key to 

 the Nation's future timber supplies.* Nearly 

 three-fourths of all commercial forest land is in 

 private ownership, and more than four-fifths of 

 this, or about 60 percent of the national total, is 

 owned by farmers and the "other" private group 

 (fig- 13). 



' The significance of ownership as a factor in future 

 timber supplies is discussed in more detail in a latter 

 section of this summary, and in the section on "Ownership 

 of Forest Land and Timber." Consequently only the 

 broad highlights relative to type of ownership, sectional 

 distribution, and size class of ownership are presented here. 



Table 15. — Forest land area, 1953 ' 



Section and region 



Total forest land 



Commercial 

 forest land 



Noncommercial 

 forest land 



North: 



New England .-. . _ ._ . 



Million 

 acres 

 31.4 

 44. 9 

 55.2 

 42. 7 

 34.6 



Percent 

 5 

 7 

 8 

 6 

 5 



Million 

 acres 

 30. 6 

 42. 2 

 53.3 

 42. 4 

 5.5 



Percent 

 6 

 9 

 11 

 9 

 1 



Million 



acres 



0.8 



2.7 



1.9 



.3 



29. 1 



Percent 

 (') 



Middle Atlantic. ._ _ _ 



2 



Lake - _ . 



1 



Central _ _ 



(') 



Plains - ---- 



17 







Total, North _ _._.._ 



208.8 



31 



174.0 



36 



34.8 



20 







South: 



South Atlantic 



Southeast 



West Gulf 



47.3 

 96.9 

 53. 1 



7 



15 



8 



46. 1 

 95.0 

 52.2 



9 

 19 

 11 



1. 2 



1. 9 



.9 



I 

 1 







Total, South 



197.3 



30 



193.3 



39 



4.0 



2 



West: 



Pacific Northwest: 



Douglas-fir subregion ... 



29. 

 25. 1 



4 

 4 



25.4 

 20.0 



5 



4 



3. 6 

 5. 1 



2 



Pine subregion 



3 



Total 



Calif orn ia 



Northern Rockv Mountain _ . 



54. 1 

 42. 6 



55. 3 

 89. 6 



8 



6 



8 



14 



45. 4 

 17.3 

 33. 8 

 20. 5 



9 

 4 

 7 

 4 



8. 7 

 25.3 

 21.5 

 69. 1 



5 

 14 

 12 



Southern Rocky Mountain 



40 



Total, West ... . 



241. 6 



36 



117. 



24 



124. 6 



71 







Continental United States ..... 



647. 7 

 16. 5 



97 

 3 



484. 3 

 4. 3 



99 

 1 



163. 4 

 12. 2 



93 



Coastal Alaska .. .. 



7 







All regions ... ._ 



664.2 



100 



488. 6 



100 



175.6 



100 







' Table 15 is the first in a series of four regional tables 

 in this summary. Most tabular material is more con- 

 densed and regional data are largely confined to the indi- 

 vidual sections or appendix. The four regional tables in- 



cluded in this summary are those relating to forest land 

 (table 15), timber volumes (table 21), timber growth 

 (table 29), and timber cut (table 32). 

 2 Less than 0.5 percent. 



