124 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



Table 70. — Area and stocking of young-growth stands and nonstocked areas on commercial forest land in 

 the United States and Coastal Alaska, by section and region, January 1, 1953 



Section and region 



Total 1 



Well stocked 



Medium stocked 



Poorly 



stocked 



Nonstocked 



North: 



New England 



Middle Atlantic 



Lake States 



Central 



Plains 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 30, 658 

 42, 225 

 53, 272 

 42, 394 

 5,467 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 



23, 378 



24, 839 

 10, 910 

 22, 412 



1,269 



Percent 

 76 

 59 

 20 

 53 

 23 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 4, 177 

 11, 166 

 15, 813 

 11, 909 

 968 



Percent 

 14 

 26 

 30 

 28 

 18 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 2,217 

 4,830 



16, 114 

 4,844 

 2,555 



Percent 

 7 

 12 

 30 

 11 

 47 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 



886 



1,390 



10, 435 



3,229 



675 



Percent 



3 



3 



20 



8 



12 



Total 



174, 016 



82, 808 



48 



44, 033 



25 



30, 560 



18 



16, 615 



9 



South: 



South Atlantic 



Southeast 



West Gulf 



46, 152 

 94, 985 

 52, 151 



31,626 

 32, 533 

 27, 377 



68 

 34 

 52 



8, 619 

 33, 365 

 16, 163 



19 

 35 

 31 



4, 431 



16, 905 



6, 197 



10 



18 

 12 



1,476 



12, 182 



2,414 



3 



13 



5 



Total 



193, 288 



91, 536 



48 



58, 147 



30 



27, 533 



14 



16, 072 



8 



West: 



Pacific Northwest: 



Douglas-fir subregion 



Pine subregion 



17, 987 

 10, 000 



7, 811 

 4,020 



43 

 40 



6, 220 

 3,618 



35 

 36 



1,914 

 1,712 



11 

 17 



2,042 

 650 



11 



7 



Total 



Cahfornia 



Northern Rocky Mountain. . 

 Southern Rocky Mountain... 



27, 987 



6,077 



24, 667 



12, 250 



11,831 

 1, 222 

 8, 636 

 3, 327 



42 

 20 

 35 

 27 



9,838 

 1,318 

 7,050 

 4,230 



35 

 22 

 29 

 35 



3,626 

 1,424 

 6, 165 

 3,394 



13 

 23 



25 

 28 



2,692 

 2, 113 

 2,816 

 1, 299 



10 

 35 

 11 

 10 



Total 



70, 981 



25, 016 



35 



22, 436 



32 



14, 609 



21 



8,920 



12 



United States 



Coastal Alaska. _ ... 



438, 285 

 315 



199, 360 

 230 



45 

 73 



124, 616 

 49 



29 

 15 



72, 702 

 9 



17 

 3 



41, 607 



27 



9 

 9 







All regions 



438, 600 



199, 590 



46 



124, 665 



28 



72, 711 



17 



41, 634 



9 



' Excluding 50,009,000 acres of old-growth sawtimber stands. 



Table 71. — Area and stocking of young-growth stands on commercial forest land in the United States and 



Coastal Alaska, by stand-size class, January 1, 1953 



Stand-size class 



Total 1 



Well 

 stocked 



Medium 

 stocked 



Poorly 

 stocked 



Nonstocked 



Sawtimber stands 



Thousand 



acres 



132, 699 



169, 483 



94, 784 



41, 634 



Thousand 

 acres 

 80, 124 

 84, 877 

 34, 589 



Thousand 

 acres 

 36, 624 

 55, 115 

 32, 926 



Thousand 

 acres 

 15,951 

 29, 491 

 27, 269 



Thousand 

 acres 



Poletimber stands 





Seedling and sapling stands 



Nonstocked area 



41, 634 













TotaL 



438, 600 



199, 590 



124, 665 



72, 711 



41, 634 



E.xcluding 50,009,000 acres of old-growth sawtimber stands where stocking was not measured 



Trends in Forest Land Area 



In 1630, according to one estimate, the forest 

 land area of continental United States was 950 

 mUlion acres or about one-half of the total land 

 area of the country. Through clearing for agri- 

 culture and settlement, especially in the East, 

 the forests decreased in area until about the first 

 part of the twentieth century. 



Nationwide estimates of forest land using the 

 general terminology and broad concepts of the 

 present day were made in 1920, 1930, and 1938. 

 These estimates, varying from 614 to 630 million 

 acres, were based on limited survey data. Since 

 1938 the area data have been more dependable 

 because of the progress in the nationwide Forest 

 Survey. By 1945 the Forest Survey had covered 

 about 60 percent of the commercial forest area 

 and, by 1953, 86 percent. Thus, data for 1945 



