148 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



establishment of pine which prevailed as wildfires 

 were held in check by the spread of organized pro- 

 tection over the huge area of forest land in the 

 South. In contrast, establishment and growth of 

 softwoods on the smaller acreage of suitable land 

 in the North has been impeded by the presence 

 and dominance of hardwoods. White pine, the 

 most important softwood in the North, domi- 

 nated the timber economy of an earlier period. 

 Yet white, red, and jack pines, as a group, have 

 only 5 percent of eastern softwood growth at 

 present. Similarly, spruce and balsam fir, for 

 years the backbone of the woodpulp industry, 

 have only 4 percent of eastern softwood growth. 

 All other softwoods, chiefly hemlock and cypress, 

 make up the remaining 7 percent. 



The Oaks Dominate Eastern Hardwood 

 Growth 



The oaks as a group contribute three-eighths of 

 eastern hardwood growth and comprise about an 

 equal proportion of the total hardwood saw- 



Table 89. — Net annual growth of eastern species in 

 the United States, by species group, 1952 ^ 



Species group ^ 



Growing 

 stock 



Live saw- 

 timber 



Softwoods : 



White, red, and jack pine 



Southern yellow pine 



Million 



cu. ft. 



270 



3,483 



291 



341 



Million 

 bd.-ft: 



906 

 14, 155 



Spruce-fir 



742 



Other softwoods- 



1, 167 







All softwoods 



4,385 



16, 970 







Hardwoods: 



Yellow-poplar _ 



289 

 2,290 



948 



Other soft hardwoods. _ 



6,041 







Total - 



2,579 



6,989 







Oak 



2,478 



718 



1,306 



7,316 



Beech-yellow birch-sugar maple- 

 Other hard hardwoods 



1,877 

 2,939 



Total . 



4,502 



12, 132 







All hardwoods 



7,081 



19, 121 







All species 



11,466 



36, 091 







' Net annual growth by species groups and regions is 

 shown in tables 101 and 102 in this section, and in the 

 Basic Statistics, tables 33 and 35 of the appendix. 



2 Reference to the more important species in ether soft- 

 woods, other soft hardwoods, and other hard hardwoods 

 is found on p. 158. 



timber voliune. On the basis of this volume- 

 growth relationship, it is estimated that the more 

 valuable white and red oaks ^" contribute 45 per- 

 cent of all oak sawtimber growth and the less 

 desirable oaks 55 percent. 



Beech, yellow birch, and sugar maple, generally 

 valuable for manufacture, account for only 10 

 percent of eastern hardwood growth. In this 

 group, however, beech — which comprises almost 

 one-third of the group's sawtimber volume — is 

 distinctly less valuable than the other species. 



Yellow-poplar, one of the most valuable hard- 

 woods, makes up only 5 percent of the hardwood 

 growth. To be sure, it is a rapidly growing species, 

 but it comprises only 4 percent of the hardwood 

 timber volume. 



Thus the five most desirable hardwoods — white 

 oak, red oak, yellow birch, sugar maple, and 

 yellow-poplar — account for less than 30 percent of 

 all eastern hardwood growth. If other soft hard- 

 woods, increasingly used for pulpwood, are added, 

 the total is still less than 60 percent. This leaves 

 more than 40 percent for the less desirable species. 



Douglas- Fir Dominates Annual Growth 

 in the West 



Douglas-fir, the country's most widely used 

 species, contributes 39 percent of all the saw- 

 timber growth of the West and Coastal Alaska 

 (table 90 and fig. 59). Two-thirds of this is in 

 the Douglas-fir subregion of Oregon and Wash- 

 ington, where the bulk of the Douglas-fir timber 

 is concentrated. 



Ponderosa and Jeffrey pines, the former im- 

 portant in every western region, account for 16 

 percent of western sawtimber growth. 



Western hemlock, very largely in the Douglas- 

 fir subregion and Coastal Alaska, is next in line 

 with 9 percent. 



The high-priced specialty woods are of rela- 

 tively limited occurrence and do not loom large 

 in western annual growth : White and sugar pines 

 have 5 percent, and redwood (all in California) 

 4 percent. 



Other softwoods comprise 25 percent of western 

 sawtimber growth and 30 percent of growing-stock 

 growth. This differential in growing-stock growth 

 points toward an eventual higher proportion of 

 these generally less desirable species in the saw- 

 timber stand. 



The growth of western hardwoods, although only 

 2 percent for sawtimber, comprises 5 percent of all 

 western growing-stock growth. 



'"White oak {Quercus alba), chestnut oak {0. prinus), 

 cherrybark oak {0. falcata var. pagodaefolia), and Shumard 

 oak (Q. shmnardii) . 



