FOREST LAND AND TIMBER 



119 



Table 66. — Noncommercial forest area of the United 

 States and Coastal Alaska, by section and region, 

 January 1, 1953 





Total 



Pro- 

 duc- 

 tive 

 but re- 

 served 



Unproductive 



Section and region 



Re- 

 served 



Unre- 

 served 



North: 



New England 



Middle Atlantic 



Lake States 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 



720 



2,669 



1,929 



332 



29, 169 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 



232 



2,552 



718 



247 



26 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 85 



32 



41 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 403 

 117 

 1, 179 



Central 



Plains. _ 



85 

 29, 102 







Total . -__ 



34, 819 



3,775 



158 



30, 886 







South: 



South Atlantic 



Southeast 



1, 136 



1,921 



920 



668 

 387 

 160 



39 



186 



10 



429 

 1,348 



West Gulf 



750 







Total . 



3,977 



1,215 



235 



2,527 



West: 



Pacific Northwest: 

 Douglas-fir subregion. 

 Pine subregion 



3,592 

 5,172 



1, 551 



688 



827 

 556 



1,214 

 3,928 



Total 



8,764 

 25, 224 



21,421 



69, 141 



2,239 

 1,202 



4,518 



1,612 



1,383 

 1,941 



4,450 



2,796 



5, 142 



California 



22, 081 



Northern Rocky Moun- 

 tain 



12, 453 



Southern Rocky Moun- 

 tain 



64, 733 







Total 



124, 550 



9,571 



10, 570 



104, 409 







United States 



163, 346 

 12, 239 



14, 561 

 183 



10, 963 

 701 



137, 822 



Coastal Alaska _ 



11, 355 







All regions. . 



175, 585 



14, 744 



11,664 



149, 177 







Park and the New York State Forest Preserve in 

 the Adirondacks and Catskills are examples. As 

 centers for recreation, most reserved forests receive 

 intensive use. Not only are many of them good 

 hunting, fishing, and camping grounds, but they 

 include some of the most popular areas for winter 

 sports and some of the most scenic attractions in 

 the country. Much of the noncommercial forest 

 is used for grazing livestock. It also provides for- 

 age and habitat for wildlife. For example, some 

 of the higher slopes of the western mountains sup- 

 port mountain goats, bighorn sheep, ptarmigan, 

 and other wildlife species. Wildlife is compatible 

 with the many other uses of noncommercial forest 

 and adds much to the pleasure people get from 

 being in remote and forested areas. 



The most important use of much noncommercial 

 forest area is for watersheds. Much of the water 

 for agriculture in the West, and for domestic and 

 industrial purposes both there and in other regions, 



4392&6 O — 58 9 



originates on high mountain slopes, many of which 

 are classified as noncommercial forest land. The 

 protective value of the chaparral type in California 

 and in the Great Basin is far greater than the 

 value of any trees which may grow on such areas. 

 Likewise, the effect of forest vegetation in pre- 

 venting erosion and in regulating streamflow is 

 valued highly in many communities. 



Nonforest Land 



In addition to areas classified as forest land, 

 there are others that support tree growth, even 

 though they are not defined as forest land. They 

 include isolated forest tracts of less than 1 acre 

 in the East or less than 10 acres in the West; tree- 

 covered areas in thickly populated urban and 

 suburban sections; fencerows; orchards; and road- 

 side, streamside, shelterbelt strips less than 120 

 feet wide; and areas from which the forest has 

 been removed to less than 10 percent stocking and 

 which have been developed for grazing, agricul- 

 tural, residential, industrial, or other uses. In the 

 aggregate, the area of these lands is probably 

 much greater than generally realized. 



22 



The Ownership Pattern 



Commercial Forest Land 

 Mostly Private 



Commercial forest land ownership has several 

 distinctive patterns (table 67, fig. 54). Most 

 noticeable is that private ownership predominates 

 nationally: 73 percent of all commercial forest 

 land is in private holdings, 27 percent in public 

 holdings. In the East, the proportion of private 

 land is even higher, averaging 87 percent for the 

 North and South combined. In the West, where 

 a large acreage is in national forests and other 

 public holdings, public ownership accounts for 

 about two-thirds of the total; one-third is private. 



Farm holdings represent the largest block of 

 commercial forest land in private ownership. 

 They include nearly half of all such land in the 

 United States and Coastal Alaska. Somewhat 

 more than one-third is in the "other private" class. 

 In this class are a great number of owners of va- 

 rious kinds. Included are the nonforest industries, 

 public utilities, various organizations, urban resi- 

 dents, and other individuals. Most farm and 

 "other" private forest owners do not depend for 

 their livelihood on timber use, or depend only to a 

 minor degree. The smallest acreage in private 

 ownership is held by the forest industries. The 

 largest percentage of forest land owned by these 

 industries is in the West. They control the least 

 land in the North, onl}^ 10 percent of the total. 



22 A more complete discussion of forest ownership can 

 be found under Ownership of Forest Land and Timber, 

 p. 289. 



