116 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



FIGURES INDICATE MILLION ACRES 



""^eus 



SOUTSIgS,^.,, 

 ROCKY MOUNTAIN 



COMMERCIAL 



NONCOMMERCIAL 



Figure 50 



but it is also the most extensive commercial forest 

 type in California and in the Southern Rocky 

 Mountain Region. 



About one-fourth of the western commercial 

 forest land carries ''^stands in which Douglas-fir 

 predominates. Most of the Douglas-fir area is 

 in the Pacific Northwest, but the type group is 

 also widespread in the Northern Rocky Mountain 

 Region and in California. 



While none of the other eight western type 

 groups approach ponderosa pine or Douglas-fir in 

 acreage, several are significant in relation to timber 

 supply. The western white pine and redwood 

 groups are noted because of the high quality and 

 specialty uses of their predominant species. Larch 

 types, though of lesser importance nationally, are a 

 major source of poles and saw logs in the Northern 

 Rocky Mountain Region. 



The hemlock-Sitka spruce type group accounts 

 for nearly all of the commercial forest land in 

 Coastal Alaska and is the characteristic type along 

 the coast in Washington and Oregon. In both 

 regions, the pulp and lumber industries look to it 

 for wood supplies. 



The lodgepole pine types and the fir-spruce types 

 are widely distributed, particularly in the Rocky 



Mountain Region. For the present, at least, the 

 water values of both of these type groups far 

 exceed their timber values. 



The commercial forest area of the other western 

 softwood type group, pinyon pine-juniper, is 

 minor. The group is classed as commercial only in 

 the Northern Rocky Mountain Region, where its 

 stands contain some ponderosa pine; elsewhere it is 

 noncommercial. Western hardwood types occupy 

 only three percent of the commercial forest land in 

 the West and less than one percent of the com- 

 mercial forest land in Coastal Alaska. They are of 

 very little importance in the timber economy. 



Noncommercial Forest Land 



One-fourth of the forest land area is classified as 

 noncommercial. Included are 161 million acres 

 of unproductive forest land and 14 million acres of 

 productive forest land that is reserved from timber 

 use (table 66). About 12 million of the unpro- 

 ductive acres are also reserved for special uses like 

 recreation. Practically all of the noncommercial 

 acreage is in the West, Coastal Alaska, and the 

 Plains States. The largest concentration, 69 

 million acres, is in the Southern Rocky Mountain 

 Region. Other sizable blocks are in southern 



