OWNERSHIP OF FOREST LAND AND TIMBER 



299 



Over Half the Softwood Sawtimber 

 ON Public Lap«)s 



Distribution of ownership of softwood saw- 

 timber is especially significant, because softwood 

 species make up close to four-fifths of all timber 

 products cut in the United States and nearly as 

 large a proportion of prospective requirements. 

 At the present time, private forests support 44 

 percent of the softwood sawtimber (table 169). 

 About 45 percent of the total softwood sawtimber 

 volume is on the national forests, and 1 1 percent is 

 on other public holdings. 



This distribution of volume implies large de- 

 pendence on public timber in the immediate future. 

 In the long run, however, when the cut is obtained 

 solely from second-growth stands, it is to be 

 expected that private forests will contribute more 

 in proportion to their area and thus supply as 

 much as three-fourths or more of the prospective 

 future growth. 



Present hardwood sawtimber resources, unlike 

 the softwood, are mainly found on private lands. 

 About 41 percent of the hardwood sawtimber 

 volume is on farms, 47 percent is on other private 

 lands, and 12 percent is in public holdings. 



Problems Relate to Both Type and 

 Size of Ownership 



Both type of ownership and size of holdings, as 

 well as possible relationships between these 

 factors, must be considered in appraising forest 

 conditions and programs. Forest industry owner- 

 ships, for example, differ in many important 

 respects from the large groups of farm and 

 "other" private ownerships. Consequently, eacli 

 class of ownership will be discussed separately. 



FOREST INDUSTRY OWNERSHIPS 



Holdings of Lumber Manufacturers 

 Predominate 



Lumber companies, pulp companies, and other 

 primary manufacturers of wood products to- 

 gether hold 62 million acres, or about 13 percent of 

 the commercial forest area (table 170). Lumber 

 manufacturers represent the largest class of 

 forest industry owners with 35 million acres, or 

 56 percent of all forest industry lands. Pulp 

 companies own 23 million acres, or about 37 per- 

 cent of these industrial holdings, and other wood 

 manufacturers own 4 million acres, or 7 percent of 



the total. As indicated in table 166, there are an 

 estimated 23,452 forest industry ownerships in the 

 United States, including 21,284 lumber manu- 

 facturers, 159 pulp companies, and 2,009 manu- 

 facturers of other wood products. 



Industrial Lands Chiefly in Large 

 AND Medium -Sized Holdings 



About two-thirds of the commercial forest land 

 held by forest industries is in "large" ownerships 

 of more than 50,000 acres (table 170 and fig. 98). 

 "Medium" holdings include one-fourth of the 

 industrial forest area. "Small" holdings of less 

 than 5,000 acres account for about one-tenth of 

 these industry lands. 



Most of the pulp company holdings are in large 

 ownerships. About half the lands of lumber 

 manufacturers and a third of the area held by 

 other wood manufacturers are also in large hold- 

 ings. A general concentration in large and 

 medium-sized holdings is evident in all sections 

 (fig. 98) and in all regions except the Central 

 States (table 171). 



Industrial Holdings Concentrated 

 in the South 



Somewhat more than half of the 62 million 

 acres owned by forest industries is located in the 

 South (table i72 and fig. 98). The balance of 

 the area is divided about equally between the 

 North and the West. Concentration of industrial 

 holdings in the South is characteristic of all the 

 forest industries, each having somewhat more than 

 half its lands in this section. Extensive holdings 

 of lumber manufacturers, including companies 

 producing wood pulp and other products as well 

 as lumber, are also found in the West, with 

 relatively small holdings in the North. Holdings 

 of pulp companies and other wood manufacturers, 

 on the other hand, are more extensive in the 

 North than in the West. 



Little information is available to indicate timber 

 volumes present on the lands of forest industries. 

 Forest industry lands account for 13 percent of 

 all commercial forest land, but it is believed they 

 support a larger fraction of the timber volume. 

 Considerable areas of old-growth timber in the 

 Western States are held in industrial ownerships. 

 In many cases, forest industries in recent years 

 also have attempted to minimize cutting on com- 

 pany lands in order to build up the quantity and 

 quality of timber on their holdings. 



