PRODUCTIVITY OF RECENTLY CUT LANDS 



241 



two types of ownership, with less than half of 

 recently cut lands in the upper productivity class. 

 This situation presents a serious threat to the 

 Nation's capacit}^ to meet future timber needs. It 

 explains in part why farm timberlands with 34 

 percent of all commercial forest area contain only 

 15 percent of the sawtimber (Ownership of Forest 

 Land and Timber, p. 309). 



Productivity Lowest for Small 

 Holdings in All Types of Private 

 Ownership 



The pulp-manufacturing industry is the only 

 type of private forest land ownership characterized 

 almost entirely by large holdings. Over half of 

 the lumber-industry holdings are also large, but 

 substantial portions are in the medium and small 

 size classes. Other types of private ownership are 

 primaril}^ in the small size class (table 137). 



Within each type of private ownership, the 

 small size class (less than 5,000 acres) is charac- 

 terized by the lowest proportions of recently cut 

 lands in the upper productivity class. Thus the 

 proportion of small holdings has a strong influence 

 on the condition of recently cut lands in eacli type 

 of ownership. The influence of the high propor- 

 tion of small holdings is particularly apparent in 

 table 137 for the farm and "other" private 

 ownership classes. 



In table 138 is shown the proportion of operating 

 area in each type of ownership and its distribution 

 by productivity class. Eleven percent of the 

 operating area falls in the lower class, and most of 



Table 138. — Distribution of all operating area in 

 the United States and Coastal Alaska, by type of 

 ownership and productivity class, 1953 



Ownership class 



Proportion o 

 by produ 



operatiiij 

 etivity cla 



I area 



ss 





Total 



Upper 



Medium 



Lower 



Private: 



Farm 



Forest industries 



Other private 



Per- 

 cent 

 22 

 20 

 18 



Per- 

 cent 

 9 

 15 



9 



Per- 

 cent 

 8 

 4 

 5 



Per- 

 cent 

 5 

 1 

 4 



Total 



60 



33 



17 



10 



Public: 



National forest 



Other Federal _- 



State and local 



• 27 

 5 



8 



22 



4 

 6 



4 



1 

 2 



1 

 (') 



Total 



40 



32 



7 



1 



Total, all ownerships 



100 



65 



24 



11 



' Less than 0.5 percent. 



this — 9 percent — occurs on farm and "other" pri- 

 vate lands. Conversely, of the 65 percent in the 

 upper class, only 18 percent (a little over one- 

 fourth of the total) is on farm and other private 

 lands. 



Motives for Forest Land Ownership 

 Not Determined 



This sur\ey did not inquire into motives for 

 foi-est land ownership, the degree of forestry knowl- 

 edge available, nor the many other factors that 

 may have influenced the treatment of the forest 

 lands examined. It was limited strictly to an 

 appraisal of the conditions that exist on recently 

 cut areas. 



In the case of public forest lands, the responsi- 

 bility placed on the agencies for their management 

 as forest properties is probably the basic reason 

 for the favorable growth conditions on most re- 

 cently cut areas. The direct dependence of forest 

 industries upon timber for raw material is reflected 

 in the increasing adoption of policies and practices 

 designed to keep these lands productive. The 

 growing practice of employing professional for- 

 esters and placing on them, the responsibility for 

 forest rranagcment is commencing to show results 

 on the land. 



The contrasting poorer condition on farm and 

 other private forest lands may be due to the com- 

 petition of other activities, which subordinates 

 interest in forest production. Lack of forestry 

 knowledge and information on how to obtain it 

 may also contribute to this condition. But the 

 situations and factors responsible for the generally 

 lower Ic el of productivity on these types of owner- 

 ship, as well as the small ownerships of all types, 

 are not fullv known. 



PRODUCTIVITY OF RECENTLY CUT 

 LANDS VARIES BY SECTION, RE- 

 GION, OWNERSHIP CLASS, AND 

 OTHER FACTORS 



Productivity of recently cut lands was found to 

 differ widely from, one part of the country to an- 

 other (fig. 82). Examination of these differences 

 helps to identify the relative contribution to the 

 national level of growth made by various combi- 

 nations of ownership and geographic location. 

 This will be done by major sections — North, 

 South, and West. Within each section there are 

 notable exceptions to the general average and these 

 exceptions will be pointed out in later discussion 

 of differences by both region and type of ownership. 



