PRODUCTIVITY OF RECENTLY CUT LANDS 



255 



Table 147. — Productivity of recently cut lands in the United States and Coastal Alaska, by rating element, section, and ownership 



class, 1953 





Commercial 

 forest area 



Proportion of operating area by productivity class for— 



Section and ownership class ' 



Total 



Oper- 

 ating 2 



Existing stocking only 



Total stocking (existing 

 plus prospective stocking) 



Stocking modified by 

 composition 



Stocking and composition 

 modified by felling age ^ 





Upper 



Medium 



Lower 



Upper 



Medium 



Lower 



Upper 



Medium 



Lower 



Upper 



Medium 



Lower 



North: 

 Small private 



Million 



acres 



118 



24 



32 



Million 



acres 



22 



19 



23 



Percent 



54 

 67 

 60 



Percent 

 30 

 27 

 35 



Percent 

 16 

 6 

 5 



Percent 

 73 

 86 

 91 



Percent 

 19 

 13 

 9 



Percent 



8 



1 



0) 



Percent 

 61 



80 

 85 



Percent 

 27 

 18 

 15 



Percent 

 12 

 2 



0) 



Percent 

 50 

 68 

 84 



Percent 

 33 

 28 

 16 



Percent 

 17 



Medium and large private. 

 Public 



4 

 (<) 



Total or average. 



174 



64 



60 



31 



9 



83 



14 



3 



75 



20 



5 



67 



26 



7 



South: 

 Small private 



128 

 48 

 18 



44 

 32 

 12 



32 

 42 



48 



34 

 41 

 43 



34 

 17 

 9 



48 

 77 

 90 



33 

 16 

 9 



19 



7 

 1 



45 

 76 

 88 



34 

 17 

 10 



21 



7 

 2 



34 



74 

 86 



37 

 18 

 12 



29 



Medium and large private- 

 Public 



8 

 2 







Total or average 



194 



88 



38 



38 



24 



65 



23 



12 



62 



25 



13 



55 



27 



18 



West: 

 Small private. 



19 

 21 



77 



8 

 14 

 57 



25 

 51 

 38 



51 

 39 

 53 



24 

 10 

 9 



59 

 83 

 78 



35 

 16 

 18 



6 

 1 

 4 



54 

 78 

 76 



37 

 18 

 19 



9 

 4 

 5 



48 

 78 

 76 



39 

 17 

 19 



13 



Medium and large private. 

 Public 



5 

 5 



Total or average. 



117 



79 



39 



50 



" 



77 



19 



4 



75 



21 



4 



74 



21 



5 



United States: 



Small private 



Medium and large private- 

 Public 



265 

 93 

 127 



74 

 65 

 92 



38 

 51 

 45 



35 

 36 

 47 



27 

 13 

 8 



57 

 81 

 83 



29 

 15 

 15 



14 

 4 

 2 



51 



77 

 80 



32 

 17 

 17 



17 

 6 

 3 



40 

 73 

 79 



36 

 21 

 17 



24 

 6 

 4 







Total or average 



Coastal Alaska: Public 



485 

 4 



489 



231 



4 



45 

 87 



40 

 13 



15 

 



74 

 89 



19 

 11 



7 

 



70 



89 



22 

 11 



8 

 



65 

 89 



24 

 11 



11 

 



Total or average, all sections. 



235 



45 



40 



15 



74 



19 



7 



70 



22 



8 



65 



24 



11 



' Size class of private ownerships based on total commercial 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 or larger. 



2 Operating area of an individual ownership is the combined area of the 

 forest types, within the ownership, in which some cutting was done since 

 January 1, 1947. The operating area of any size class or type of ownership 



Effects of Species Composition 



Substandard Species Composition 

 Has Limited Effect 



In a previous discussion of concepts, the 

 standard of species composition adopted for each 

 type was described. Application of this standard 

 to the stocking rating results in a reduced rating 

 if less than 50 percent of the stocking consists of 

 desirable species. In some cases, this reduction 

 is great enough to drop the rating from upper to 

 medium or even to the lower class. In other 

 cases, it may not be large enough to change the 

 productivity class. Thus, an individual rating 

 of 85 for total stocking may drop to 75 when 

 composition is considered, but the rating still 

 remains in the upper class since the range in 

 ratings for this class is 70 to 100. The statistics 

 of table 147, then, show the proportion of recently 



439296 0—58 18 



is the sum of the operating areas on individual ownerships in that size class 

 or type of ownership. The figures exclude operating area on some large 

 private ownerships to which access was denied. 



' Final combined rating. 



' Less than 0.5 percent. 



cut lands sufficiently affected by substandard 

 composition to be reduced from one rating class 

 to another. The percentages of all recently cut 

 lands which were lost from the upper class because 

 of substandard composition are summarized in 

 the following tabulation: 



North South West All sections 



Ownership class: (percent) (percent) (percent) (percent) 



Small private 12 3 5 6 



Medium and large 



private 6 15 4 



Public 6 2 2 3 



All ownerships 8 3 2 4 



This shows that nationally 4 percent of re- 

 cently cut lands were lost from the upper pro- 

 ductivity class because of substandard composi- 

 tion. Although it has much less effect on pro- 

 ductivity than stocking, substandard composition 

 occurs on all ownership classes in all sections of 

 the country. 



