32 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



Table 16. — Ownership oj commercial forest land, 

 by section, 1953 



Ownership 



All 

 sec- 

 tions 



North 



South 



West 



and 



Coastal 



Alaska 



Private: 



Farm 



Forest industries 



Other 



Million 



acres 



165. 2 



62. 4 



130. 7 



Million 



acres 



61. 4 



14. 1 



66. 1 



Million 

 acres 

 90. 1 

 33.5 

 53.0 



Million 

 acres 

 13.7 

 14.8 

 11. 6 



Total 



358.3 



141. 6 



176.6 



40. 1 



Public: 



National forest 



Other Federal 



State and local 



84.8 

 18. 3 

 27.2 



10. 3 



2.8 

 19.3 



10. 4 

 3.8 

 2.5 



64. 1 



11. 7 



5. 4 



Total 



130. 3 



32. 4 



16. 7 



81. 2 



All ownerships 



488. 6 



174.0 



193. 3 



121. 3 



As would be expected with an ownership pattern 

 dominated by farmers, the size class of ownership 

 is mainly small. One-third of the private com- 

 mercial forest land is owned by 3.9 million indi- 

 viduals with less than 100 acres each. An addi- 

 tional one-fourth of the land is in some 590 thou- 

 sand more ownerships of 100 to 500 acres each 

 (fig. 14). The distribution of both privately 



owned commercial forest land and number of 

 private owners is as follows: 



Percent of Percent of 

 privately number of 

 Size of ownership in acres owned area private owners 



50,000+ 16 Negl. 



5,000-50,000 10 Negl. 



500-5,000 13 1 



100-500 27 13 



Less than 100 34 86 



Total 100 100 



Although farm ownerships are concentrated in 

 units of 500 acres and less, the reverse is true in 

 forest industrj'' ownerships where two-thirds are in 

 ownerships of 50,000 acres and larger. Lumber 

 industry ownership is fairly evenly divided be- 

 tween ownerships in the 5,000 to 50,000 acre class 

 and those above 50,000 acres. Pulp industry 

 ownership is concentrated in the 50,000 acre and 

 larger size class. The most uniform ownership 

 distribution according to size of holding is in the 

 "other" private group. There the concentration 

 tends toward the small ownerships, but there is 

 also substantial acreage in the large and very large 

 size classes. 



Sawtimber and Poletimber Stands 

 About Equal in Area 



One criterion of forest condition and a factor in 

 future productivity is size of timber. On a na- 



Table 17. — Number and area of private commercial forest land ownerships in the United States and Coastal 



Alaska, 1953 





Number 



of 

 owners ■ 



Total 

 area 



Ownership size class (acres) 



Ownership 



50,000 



and 



larger 



5,000 to 

 50,000 



500 to 

 5,000 



100 to 

 500 



Less than 

 100 



Farm 



Thousands 

 3, 382. 5 



Million 

 acres 

 165. 2 



Million 

 acres 

 0.5 



Million 

 acres 

 4.5 



Million 

 acres 

 23. 2 



Million 

 acres 

 59. 2 



Million 

 acres 

 77. 8 







Forest industry: 

 Lumber 



21. 3 



. 2 



2.0 



34.7 



23.3 



4. 4 



18. 6 



21.8 



1. 6 



10. 6 

 1.3 

 2.5 



8. 1 

 . 2 

 . 1 



L9 



. 5 



Pulp 





Other 



.2 



(') 







Total ._ _. 



23.5 

 1, 104. 7 



62.4 

 130.7 



42.0 



14. 4 



3.4 



2. 1 



. 5 







Other 



15.8 



15.8 



19.8 



36.6 



42. 7 







Total, private area 





358. 3 



58. 3 



34. 7 



46. 4 



97.9 



121. 









Total, number of owners 



4, 510. 7 





Thou- 

 sands 

 .3 



Thou- 

 sands 

 2.5 



Thou- 

 sands 

 46. 3 



Thou- 

 sands 

 586. 5 



Thou- 

 sands 

 3, 875. 1 







' state basis. Owners holding commercial forest land 

 in two or more States are counted more than once. 



' Less than 0.1. 



