A SUMMARY OF THE TIMBER RESOURCE REVIEW 



107 



of recently cut lands failing to measure up to upper 

 productivity standards. 



18. Improved stocking, control of destructive agents, 



accelerated planting, and better utilization are 

 the four best possibilities of increasing timber 

 supplies. 

 In addition to timber from commercial forest 

 land in the continental United States and Coastal 

 Alaska, there are several possible supplementary 

 sources which need to be placed in proper perspec- 

 tive. In terms of standing timber there are 

 unknown quantities on reserved but productive 

 forest land and on ronforest land. There are also 

 an estimated 180 billion board -feet of sawtimber 

 in Interior Alaska. 



On an annual basis there are 2.2 billion board- 

 feet of sawtimber consumed for fuel, some of 

 which could be used for other products. Net 

 imports from Canada might be increased some- 

 what above the anticipated annual level (1.7 bil- 

 lion cubic feet) assumed in projecting timber 

 demand. 



The best possibilities, however, for permanenth^ 

 adding to timber supplies are (1) obtaining im- 

 proved stocking on the one-fourth of the commer- 

 cial forest land of the Nation that is poorly 

 stocked or nonstocked, and obtaining prompt and 

 adequate restocking on recently cut lands in order 

 to make them productive; (2) reducing the growth 

 loss from destructive agents of about 31 billion 

 board-feet annually, and utilizing a substantial 

 portion of the unsalvaged mortality loss which 

 was almost 10 billion board-feet in 1952; (3) cap- 

 turing the 8 billion board-feet of annual sawtimber 

 growth potential from the 52 million acres of 

 commercial forest land that need planting; and 

 (4) utilizing significant portions of the 37 billion 

 board-feet of salvageable dead trees, the 56 biUion 

 board-feet of sound volume in cull trees, and the 

 2.7 billion cubic feet of residues unused annually, 

 including 2.7 billion board-feet of logging residues. 



19. The key to adequate timber supplies in the future 



lies with the 4-5 million farm and "other" 

 private holdings. 



The greatest advancements in forestry, the best 

 productivity on recently cut lands, and 70 to 80 

 percent of the Nation's inventory of softwood 

 sawtimber occur on forest industry and public 

 land. The 23,000 forest industry ownerships ac- 

 count for 13 percent of the commercial forest 

 land; public lands, 27 percent. The national 

 forests contain 45 percent of the softwood saw- 

 timber. 



In contrast, the farm and "other" private owner- 

 ships have the poorest productivity, own 60 

 percent of the commercial forest land, are largest 

 in number of owners and potentially the largest 

 in total timber volumes. Eighty -six percent of 



these 4.5 million ownerships are in forest holdings 

 of less than 100 acres, and 50 percent have hold- 

 ings of less than 30 acres. 



Growth must be increased on industrial and 

 public lands; but unquestionably the key to ade- 

 quate future timber supplies lies mainly with the 

 3.4 million farm owners and the miscellaneous 

 group of 1.1 million "other" private ownerships. 

 Although they own mainly very small tracts of 

 forest land, and their principal interests usually 

 are not timber growing, in the aggregate they con- 

 trol well over half of the Nation's commercial 

 timberland and they must continue to supply a 

 substantial portion of the raw materials for forest 

 industry. Industrial and public ownerships alone 

 do not have the capacity to sustain future timber 

 demands. 



20. Growth needed to sustain future timber demands 

 is much greater than 1952 growth. 



Comparisons of current levels of growth and 

 inventory with amounts that may be needed in the 

 future help to indicate how easy or difficult it may 

 be to sustain projected timber demands. 



Needed growth of sawtimber in 2000 to sustain 

 projected medium timber demand is 105 billion 

 board-feet. This is close to the growth of 101 

 billion board-feet which might be realized if all 

 commercial forest land were, on the average, man- 

 aged as well as the better managed lands today. 

 Both are a little more than twice the 1952 growth. 



Percentagewise, sawtimber growth needed to 

 sustain medium demands is 44 and 122 percent 

 above 1952 growth for 1975 and 2000, respectively. 

 On a per capita basis, needed growth is 5 and 27 

 percent above 1952 growth. In other words, to 

 sustain medium timber demands would mean 

 growing about a fourth more sawtimber per person 

 in 2000 than was grown in 1952. 



To sustain lower timber demands would mean 

 growing 24 and 67 percent more sawtimber in 1975 

 and 2000 than in 1952; but this would be equiva- 

 lent to per capita decreases of 9 and 4 percent in 

 sawtimber growth. 



For all three species groups — eastern hardwoods, 

 eastern softwoods, and western species — sawtim- 

 ber growth by 2000 would need to increase very 

 substantially above 1952 levels if medium timber 

 demands are to be sustained. 



Inventory adjustments are also indicated if 

 there is to be available the sawtimber growth 

 needed to sustain either lower or medium timber 

 demands. To sustain medium demand, the saw- 

 timber inventory of eastern hardwoods needs to 

 double by 2000, whereas a fourfold increase is 

 needed in eastern softwoods. Better distribution 

 of age classes and orderly harvesting of old growth 

 could result in a 26-percent reduction in sawtimber 

 inventory of western species by 2000 and still sus- 

 tain the western share of medium timber demand. 



