CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 223 



Previous related appraisals 224 



Comparability of national surveys 225 



How concepts were developed 226 



Concepts and procedures 226 



Summary 226 



The elements adopted 228 



Existing stocking 228 



Prospective stocking 229 



Species composition 229 



Effect of felling age or premature cutting 230 



Basic level of standards 232 



The productivity index and class 232 



Standards geared to local situations 233 



Only recent cuttings examined 233 



Degree of survey coverage 233 



Sampling method 233 



Ownership classification 234 



Method of expressing results 234 



The survey on an individual ownership 234 



How the survey results were summarized 236 



How high are the standards? 236 



Major national contrasts 237 



Public and private lands compared 237 



Small private holdings a major problem 237 



Public and forest industry lands rank highest 239 



Productivity lowest for small holdings in all types 



of private ownership 241 



Motives for forest land ownership not determined.. 241 

 Productivity of recently cut lands varies by section, 



region, ownership class, and other factors 241 



Sectional differences significant 242 



Recently cut lands in the West rank highest- . 242 



South has poorest conditions 242 



The North shares in major problem 244 



Strong and weak spots identified by region and 



ownership 244 



Major weak areas on farms and other private 



forests 244 



Public and industry forests are strong areas 247 



Productivity varies with size of trees left after 



cutting 248 



Productivity generally highest for residual 



sawtimber 249 



222 



Page 

 Productivity of recently cut lands varies by section 

 region, ownership class, and other factors — Con. 

 Lowest productivity in seedling and sapling 



stands of small eastern ownerships 249 



Class of product cut related to productivity of cut- 

 overs 250 



Two-thirds of cutting primarily for large sizes. 250 



Highest productivity on integrated operations. 251 



Conditions responsible for low productivity 251 



Stocking most significant element in productivity 252 



Stocking poorest on small ownerships 252 



Stocking deficiencies greatest in the South 252 



Effects of species composition 255 



Substandard species composition has limited 



effect 255 



Substandard composition most prevalent in 



the North 256 



Premature cutting affects 30 percent of recently 



cut lands 256 



Premature cutting most prevalent in the East. 257 

 Premature cutting limits productivity mainly 



on small private ownerships 257 



Premature cutting sometimes unavoidable 258 



Study by forest type groups further identifies de- 

 ficiencies 258 



Softwood type groups of East and West con- 

 trast sharply 258 



Hardwood type groups of largest area below 



average in productivity 259 



Weak spots by forest type groups identified by 



rating element and ownership class 259 



Intensified survey on West Coast 263 



Area of recent cutting 263 



Stocking poorest on small ownerships 263 



Brush and poor seed sources major causes of 



stocking failure 264 



Species composition changed by cutting 264 



Representation of Douglas-fir in its type group 



drops except on national-forest clear cuttings. _ 266 



Ponderosa pine loses ground on all ownerships. 266 

 Hemlock partly replaced by Sitka spruce and 



other species in hemlock-spruce type group. 266 



Clear cutting common in most types 266 



Proportion of clear cutting by age classes 267 



Summary 267 



