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FOREST L,AND ANT) TIMBER 



123 



Table 69. — Commercial forest area in the United States and Coastal Alaska, by stand-size class, section, 



and region, January 1 , 1963 



Section and region 



Total 



Sawtimber 

 stands 



Poletimber 

 stands 



Seedling 



and sapling 



stands 



Nonstocked 

 areas ' 



North: 



New England 



Middle Atlantic, 



Thousand 

 acres 

 30, 658 

 42, 225 

 53, 272 

 42, 394 

 5,492 



Thousand 



acres 



10, 302 



15, 002 



6,457 



14, 486 



1,475 



Thousand 

 acres 



14, 501 

 16, 991 

 16,010 



15, 722 

 2,289 



Thousand 

 acres 

 4,969 

 8,842 

 20, 370 

 8,957 

 1,053 



Thousand 

 acres 



886 

 1,390 



Lake States 



Central 



Plains 



10, 435 



3, 229 



675 







Total . 



174, 041 



47, 722 



65, 513 



44, 191 



16, 615 







South: 



South Atlantic 



46, 152 

 94, 985 

 52, 151 



16, 833 



24, 505 

 19, 164 



18,212 

 37, 201 

 22, 963 



9,631 



21, 097 



7,610 



1,476 



Southeast . 



12, 182 



West Gulf 



2,414 







Total , 



193, 288 



60, 502 



78, 376 



38, 338 



16, 072 







West: 



Pacific Northwest: 



Douglas-fir subregion 



Pine subregion 



25, 455 

 19,910 



14,611 

 14, 065 



4,542 

 3,968 



4,260 

 1,227 



2,042 

 650 







Total _ 



45, 365 

 17,317 

 33, 840 

 20, 489 



28, 676 



14, 038 



15, 039 

 12, 639 



8,510 



1, 122 



11, 275 



4,612 



5,487 



44 



4,710 



1,939 



2,692 



California 



2, 113 



Northern Rocky Mountain 

 Southern Rocky Mountain 



2,816 

 1,299 







Total 



117,011 



70, 392 



25, 519 



12, 180 



8,920 







United States 



484, 340 

 4,269 



178,616 

 4,092 



169, 408 

 75 



94, 709 



75 



41, 607 



Coastal Alaska 



27 







All regions 



488, 609 



182, 708 



169, 483 



94, 784 



41, 634 







' Including other stands that do not qualify as sawtimber, poletimber, or seedling and sapling stands, 

 definitions in appendix. 



See stand-size 



Although some of the old-growth stands are 

 virgin timber, many — particularly in the ponder- 

 osa pine type — have been cut selectively. Such 

 cuttings have resulted in thrifty, managed stands 

 over a substantial part of the old-growth area in 

 the West. 



Large Share of Commercial Forest 

 Land Is Understocked 



Density or degree of stocking, another criterion 

 of the condition of forest land, indicates to what 

 extent growing space is occupied by present or 

 potential sawtimber or poletimber trees of com- 

 mercial species. Well-stocked stands are 70 per- 

 cent or more stocked in relation to full stocking 

 for comparable sites and stands; medium stocked 

 stands are 40 to 70 percent stocked ; poorly stock- 

 ed stands are 10 to 40 percent stocked; non- 

 stocked areas are less than 10 percent stocked. 

 Nonstocked areas, poorly stocked stands, and even 



medium stocked stands are producing timber con- 

 siderably below their potential. Excluding old- 

 growth sawtimber stands, it is estimated that 17 

 percent of the remaining commercial forest land 

 is poorly stocked, and that 9 percent is non- 

 stocked (table 70). 



When stocking is examined with respect to 

 stand size, as in table 71, it is apparent that the 

 younger stands have more than a proportionate 

 share of poor stocking. Only 12 percent of the 

 young-growth sawtimber area is poorly stocked, 

 and 17 percent of the poletimber area, but 29 

 percent of seedling and sapling stands are in this 

 category. 



The combined acreage of poorly stocked seed- 

 ling and sapling stands and nonstocked areas is 

 69 million acres. Most of it is in the East where 

 two regions, the Southeast and the Lake States, 

 account for more than half of it (fig. 55). This 

 sizable area of idle forest land suggests one of the 

 more outstanding opportunities for increasing the 

 timber supply. 



