126 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



way, and other urban uses. For these new uses, 

 some 2 milhon acres of commercial forest area 

 have been required since 1945. On the other 

 hand, somewhat over 600,000 acres were added 

 when certain military reservations, municipal 

 watersheds, parks, and national-forest lands previ- 

 ously withdrawn were released from cutting 

 restrictions. 



Although the estimate of total noncommercial 

 forest area in 1953 was about the same as in 1945, 

 there were some rather large differences in a few 

 regions. The noncommercial forest area in the 

 West increased by 6.8 million acres. In the 

 Southern Rocky Mountain Region, over 12 

 million acres were added by including hardwood 

 and pinyon pine-juniper types once considered as 

 nonforest. Half of this increase was offset by 

 reductions in noncommercial area classification 

 in California and the Northern Rocky Mountain 

 Region. In the Lake States and Plains regions, 

 forest land classified as noncommercial in 1945 

 was classified as commercial in 1953. Changes of 

 noncommercial area in the South were minor. 



Timber Use Competes With 

 Other Land Uses 



As the national economy expands, competition 

 for the use of land will inevitably increase. In 

 the past, the acreage of commercial forest land 

 has been affected chiefly by competition from 

 agriculture. Other nontimber uses also can be 

 expected to have an important effect on the 

 acreage used for timber production in the future. 



In 1952, some 3.3 million acres of commercial 

 forest land were cut with reported intent of con- 

 version from forest to other land use. Since 

 about 90 percent of this acreage was in small 

 private holdings in the East, most of it was 

 probably cleared for agriculture. However, the 

 acreage of marginal farm land returned to forest 

 more than offset the acreage cleared, as it has for 

 the past 50 years. 



This shifting of land use between forestry and 

 agriculture began in colonial times. Until the 

 opening of the 20th century, clearing for farm use 

 caused a steady decline in forest area, but for the 

 last several decades the area returned to forest 

 seems to have exceeded the area cleared. 



The change in trend has been due to a number 

 of changes in agriculture. In the latter half of the 

 19th century, the great westward flow of popu- 

 lation from New England and other eastern 

 regions to the Prairie States and the nonforest 

 and agricultural lands in the West released millions 

 of eastern acres which had been farmed. The 

 westward migration was still in progress when the 

 automobile and then the gasoline tractor released 

 millions of additional acres that had been needed 

 to provide feed for horses. In the South, the 



boll weevil and economic problems in cotton 

 farming also caused large acreages of farm land 

 to be abandoned. Other substantial areas in the 

 cutover counties of the Lake States proved un- 

 economic for farming and reverted to forest 

 during the last few decades. 



This great readjustment in the area devoted to 

 crops and pastures has about run its course in the 

 North. It has probably passed its peak in the 

 South. And in the West it has never been more 

 than of local importance. It is unlikely that 

 there will be any comparable do^\^lwa^d adjust- 

 ment in agricultural acreage in the future. Rather, 

 further loss of forest area to agriculture seems 

 likelj^, even though technology and economics 

 are still tending to concentrate agricultural pro- 

 duction on the better lands and to free poorer 

 lands for forestry. 



In the shifting of land between timber and 

 other uses, another factor is the increasing im- 

 portance of watershed management. In most 

 agricultural regions, there is a sizable acreage 

 of nonforest land which, because of steepness, 

 susceptibility to erosion, or other reasons, may 

 eventual!}^ be planted to forest trees as a water- 

 shed protection measure. Some of these areas 

 will also be used for timber production. Working 

 in the opposite direction is the inundation of 

 commercial forest land resulting from new reser- 

 voir construction. 



The area available for timber growing is being 

 steadily reduced by urban and industrial develop- 

 ment. Not only is the urban population growing 

 in numbers, but the current trend toward sub- 

 urban living is increasing per-capita space require- 

 ments. Similarly, the requirements for industrial 

 growth are magnified by the current trend toward 

 decentralization, with one-storj' plant layouts and 

 ample space for parking of employees' cars and 

 for expansion. 



Rights-of-way for highways, including timber 

 access roads, pipelines, powerlines, and com- 

 munication lines also encroach upon the area 

 available for timber growing. The construction 

 of new superhighways is of increasing importance 

 in this category, while use of radio tends to reduce 

 further demands for communication lines. All 

 together, such special uses may require more new 

 land than urban and industrial expansion with 

 which they are associated. 



Setting aside of forest land for recreational use 

 is more likeh- to be of importance than any of the 

 factors mentioned except clearing for agriculture, 

 though not all recreation requires curtailment of 

 other uses. Nevertheless, the pressing need for 

 development of recreational areas probably will 

 be met by withdrawing a certain acreage of forest 

 land from commercial use. Recreational facilities 

 in national forests, national parks, and other pub- 

 lic forest lands probably will be greatly expanded 

 to meet growing demands. Along with such needs 



