76 TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICAS FUTURE 



Table 48. — Proportion oj recently cut private commercial jorest land in the upper productivity class, 195S 









Size of 



(vnership (acres) 







Type of ownership 



All 

 sizes 



Large, 



50,000 



and more 



Medium, 



5,000 to 



50,000 



Small 





Total: Less 

 than 5,000 



500 to 

 5,000 



100 to 

 500 



Less 

 than 100 



Farm . _ _ . 



Percent 

 41 



73 

 84 

 73 



Percent 

 84 



78 

 84 

 74 



Percent 

 55 



74 

 79 

 73 



Percent 

 40 



48 

 22 

 62 



Percent 

 42 



58 

 22 

 91 



Percent 

 41 



30 



Percent 

 37 



Forest industry: 



Lumber manufacturer 



47 



Pulp manufacturer _ _ __ __ _. 





Other wood manufacturer 



5 









All forest industry _ . 



77 

 52 



81 

 69 



74 

 56 



48 

 41 



58 

 42 



29 

 40 



47 



Other private _ . ___--_ 



41 







All private ownerships 



56 



78 



64 



40 



44 



40 



38 











ncludes Coastal Alaska 



Figure 37. — Percent of recently cut lands on which 

 productivity is as high as might reasonably be ex- 

 pected today. 



The small ownership group is divided into still 

 smaller size classes in table 48. It is difficult to 

 draw any definite pattern other than the general 

 inference that ownerships of less than 100 acres 

 are in somewhat poorer condition than those from 

 500 to 5,000 acres. Thirty-eight percent of 

 ownerships of less than 100 acres qualified for the 

 upper productivity class, yet they comprise one- 

 fourth of all commercial forest land. These very 

 small ownerships are mainly in farms. Because 

 of the large number of parcels involved, their 

 importance from an acreage standpoint, and their 

 relatively poor forest condition, these forest 



properties of less than 100 acres constitute an 

 important part of the forest problem of the Nation. 



Productivity of Recently Cut Land Best in 

 West, Poorest in South 



In the West, three-fourths of the recently 

 cut lands qualified for the upper productivity class 

 in contrast to two- thirds in the North , and slightly 

 more than half in the South. The South had the 

 largest percentage of recently cut lands in the 

 lower productivity class — ^18 percent in contrast 

 to 5 percent for the West and 7 percent for the 

 North (table 49). The variation in condition of 

 recently cut lands in different sections of the 

 country is explained in large measure by the 

 differing patterns of ownership. The West, where 

 recently cut lands rate higlier in productivity 

 than other sections, is dominated by public and 

 the larger private ownerships, whereas the South, 

 with considerably lower productivity on the 

 recently cut lands, is dominated mainly by farm 

 and "other" private ownership. 



Table 49. — Productivity by sections 





Com- 

 mer- 

 cial 

 forest 

 land 



Oper- 

 ating 

 area 



Productivity class 



Section 



Upper 



Medi- 

 um 



Lower 



North 



South 



Mil- 

 lion 

 acres 

 174 

 194 



121 



Mil- 

 lion 

 acres 

 64 



88 



83 



Per- 

 cent 

 67 

 55 



75 



Per- 

 cent 

 26 

 27 



20 



Per- 

 cent 

 7 

 18 



West and Coastal 

 Alaska 



5 







All sections 



489 



235 



65 



24 



11 



