22 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



tion factors to convert domestic output of each 

 product to timber cut by making allowances for 

 that part of the product manufactured from plant 

 residues and nongrowing-stock sources, amounts 

 wasted in logging, and savings due to better 

 utilization. This results in the timber needed 

 to be cut from growing-stock sources in order to 

 meet projected estimates of demand. A portion 

 of the timber cut is attributed to sawtimber; and 

 the timber cut is divided between softwoods and 

 hardwoods, roughly 70 percent to softwoods and 

 30 percent to hardwoods. 



Table 10. — Projected demand for timber products 

 and associated timber cut, 1975 and 2000 



LOWER PROJECTED DEMAND 





Total 

 round- 

 wood 

 demand 



Dome.s- 

 tic out- 

 put 



Timber cut 



Year and specie.s 

 group 



Growing 

 stock 



Live 

 saw- 

 timber 



1975: 



Softwood 



Hardwood 



Billion 



cu. ft. 



9. 9 



4. 3 



Billion 



cu. ft. 



8. 4 



4. 1 



Billion 



cu. ft. 



8.4 



4. 



Billion 

 bd.-ft. 

 40. 9 

 15. 1 



Total 



14. 2 



12. 5 



12.4 



56. 



2000: 



Softwood 



Hardwood 



12.5 

 5.4 



10. 9 

 5.2 



10. 3 



5.4 



49. 6 

 19.4 



Total 



17.9 



.16. 1 



15. 7 



69.0 



MEDIUM PROJECTED DEMAND 



1975: 



Softwood 



Hardwood 



11.4 

 4.8 



9. 9 

 4. 6 



9. 6 

 4.4 



47. 6 

 17. 8 



Total 



16. 2 



14.5 



14.0 



65.4 



2000: 



Softwood - , 



Hardwood 



15. 6 

 6.8 



14. 

 6. 6 



13. 



6. 7 



68. 4 

 26. 7 



Total 



22. 4 



20. 6 



19.7 



95. 1 



UPPER PROJECTED DEMAND' 



2000: 



Softwood 



Hardwood 



17. 9 

 8. 3 



16. 3 



8. 1 



15. 3 



8. 1 



79.5 

 31. 5 



Total 



26. 2 



24.4 



23.4 



111.0 



' Not estimated for 1975 because the difference between 

 these demand projections and the medium projections, due 

 to relatively slight differences in projections of population 

 and gross national product, would be too small to be re- 

 garded as significant. 



The savings to be expected in timber cut result- 

 ing from fuller utilization in both 1975 and 2000 

 are significant. It is estimated that about 5 

 percent less sawtimber will need to be cut in 1975 

 and in 2000 to satisfy projected demand as a 

 result of better utilization than would be true if 

 1952 utilization standards continued to prevail. 

 Improvements in utilization standards vary from 

 about 2 percent for saw logs and veneer logs to 20 

 percent for pulpwood. The application of these 

 revised standards means that to meet medium 

 projected timber demand for 2000, 5.1 billion 

 board-feet less of live sawtimber would need to 

 be cut than under 1952 standards. Similar im- 

 provement is projected in utilization of growing 

 stock. 



The results of converting roundwood demand to 

 domestic output and subsequently to timber cut 

 are summarized in table 10 for the three levels of 

 projected demand, for both 1975 and 2000, and 

 for softwoods and hardwoods. The estimates of 

 timber cut in table 10 provide the starting point 

 for the analysis presented in the section on Timber 

 Supply Outlook. 



UNITED STATES IN RELATION TO 

 WORLD TIMBER RESOURCES 



Having completed a summary of future demands 

 for timber, and before considering domestic tim- 

 ber resources, it is desirable to place United States' 

 resources in their proper perspective by relating 

 them to the timber resources of other nations. 

 There are vast timber resources in other countries 

 of North America, in other nations of the Free 

 World, and in the Soviet Bloc of nations. A com- 

 parison of timber resources of the United States 

 with those of other North American countries and 

 other nations of the world affords insight as to the 

 tlegree to which the United States may safely ex- 

 pect to rely on imports or may, on the other hand, 

 increase its exports. The degree of self-sufficiency 

 which the United States may need to attain is an 

 important factor in appraising the domestic 

 timber situation. 



Interior Alaska ^ 



Interior Alaska includes all of the Territory, 

 except the timbered coastal strip as shown dia- 

 grammatically in figure 1.'^ Although Interior 



'^ The timber resources of other United States' territories 

 and possessions including the Commonwealth of Puerto 

 Rico, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and duam do not loom 

 large in an appraisal of the futvire timber supply of the 

 United States. The forests, through clearing for agricul- 

 ture and grazing and uncontrolled cutting and fire, now 

 support little commercial timber. The commercial forest 

 area, which amounts to less than 1 million acres, is pri- 

 marily valuable for water conservation and soil stabiliza- 

 tion and will likely remain so because of the overriding 

 importance of these resource values to the local economy. 



^ Shown in more detail in figure 101, j). 326. 



