250 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



in all regions is on small private ownerships of the 

 North and South combined (table 139), clear- 

 cutting methods, as now practiced on small 

 ownerships, are a major obstacle to improvement 

 in the national growth level. Small ownerships of 

 the West constitute about 4 percent of all com- 

 mercial forest lands in the country. Because of 

 the relatively small area involved, the low produc- 

 tivity associated with the present use of partial 

 cutting methods on these small private holdings is 

 less important nationally although there may be 

 important local implications. 



In addition to the small ownerships already men- 

 tioned, productivity of clear-cut areas was rela- 

 tively low on medium and large private owner- 

 ships of the North and other public lands in the 

 South. With these exceptions, both partial cut- 

 ting and clear-cutting methods resulted in 70 per- 

 cent or more of recentl}^ cut lands in the upper 

 productivity class on medium and large private 

 ownerships, national forests, and otlier public 

 lands in all three sections of the countrv. 



Class of Product Cut Related to 

 Productivity of Cutovers 



The output of pulpwood in the United States 

 has about doubled since 1940. Yet in spite of this 

 great increase in pulpwood use, the heaviest 

 demand is still for the larger size products. 

 About 70 percent of the timber volume being cut 

 is in the form of saw logs, veneer logs, piling, and 

 cooperage bolts (Growth and Utilization, table 95, 

 p. 156). 



Two-thirds of Cutting Primarily 

 for Large Sizes 



During the survey, the recent cutting on each 

 ownership examined was classified as to size of 

 products harvested. On 65 percent of all recently 

 cut lands, the cutting was principally for large 

 products (table 145). On only 15 percent was the 

 cutting primarily for small products sucli as pulp- 

 wood, fence posts, and fuel wood. On the other 20 

 percent, cutting was for both large and small 

 products. 



The cut in the West, reflecting the general size 

 of timber available, was almost all for large prod- 

 ucts. Here even the pulpwood comes primarily 

 from logs of sawtimber size rather than cordwood. 



In the Soutli, where output of pulpwood is 

 greater tlian any other section, cutting for small 

 products primarily was limited to 17 percent of 

 recently cut lands. Large products were the 

 principal products removed on 59 percent of 

 recently cut lands. Obviously, a large share of 

 the pulpwood in this section comes from cutting 



Table 145. — Proportion of recently cut lamh in the 

 United States and Coastal Alaska, hj size class oj 

 products harrested, section, and mnnership class, 

 1953 





Oper- 

 ating 

 area ^ 



Class of products 

 harvested ^ 



Ownership clas.^ ' 



Large 



Both 



large 



and 



small 



Small 



North: 



Small private 



Medium and large pri- 

 vate 



Mil- 

 lion 

 acres 

 22 



19 

 9 



14 



Per- 

 cent 

 57 



27 

 25 

 17 



Per- 

 cent 

 20 



19 

 71 

 60 



Per- 

 cent 

 23 



54 



National forest- - . . 



4 



Other public 



23 



Total or average 



64 



35 



36 



29 



South: 



Small private 



Medium and large pri- 

 vate 



National forest 



44 



32 

 9 

 3 



64 



55 

 47 

 54 



17 



25 

 51 

 39 



19 



20 

 2 



Other public 



7 



Total or average 



88 



59 



24 



17 



West: 



Small private 



Medium and large pri- 

 vate - - 



8 



14 

 45 

 12 



89 



96 

 95 

 98 



4 



3 

 5 

 2 



7 

 1 



National forest 



0) 



Other public ._ . . 





Total or average 



79 



95 



4 



1 



Coa-stal Alaska: 

 National forest 



3 



1 



100 

 100 





 







Other public . . 











Total or average 



4 



100 











All sections: 



Small private 



Medium and large pri- 

 vate 



National forest 



74 



65 

 66 

 30 



64 



56 

 79 

 55 



17 



18 

 20 

 33 



19 



25 

 1 



Other public . 



12 







Total or average 



235 



65 



20 



15 



' Size class of private ownership based on total com- 

 mercial forest area in the ownership. Small, 3-5,000 

 acres in the East; 10-5,000 acres in the West. Medium, 

 5,000-50,000 acres. Large, 50,000 acres and larger. 



- The operating area on an individual ownership is the 

 combined area of the forest tj-pes, within the ownership, 

 in which some recent cutting was done. The operating 

 area of any size class or type of ownership is the sum of 

 operating areas on individual ownerships in that size class 

 or type of ownership. Figures exclude operating area on 

 some large ownerships to which access was denied. 



3 Large: Cuttings on which large products like saw logs, 

 veneer bolts, and stave bolts comprise 80 percent or more 

 of the total cubic foot volume of products harvested. 



Small: Cuttings on which small products such as cord- 

 wood, fuelwood, fence posts, etc., comprise 80 percent or 

 more of the products harvested. 



Both large and small: Cuttings on which both large and 

 small products were harvested and neith(>r made up 80 

 percent of the volume. 



* Less than 0.5 percent. 



