and 23 percent of the total forest-range. Other 

 large ecosystems in the non-Federal ownership 

 are the 67 million-acre Mountain grasslands, 

 the 51 million-acre Loblolly-shortleaf pine, and 

 the 38 million-acre Prairie ecosystems. These 

 five ecosystems make up 52 percent of the non- 

 Federal lands and 36 percent of the total forest- 

 range environment. 



For all nonforested ecosystems, only one- 

 fifth of the land was in the top two productivity 

 classes (table 4). In the Western Range eco- 

 group, more than 50 percent of land in the 

 highest classes was in the Sagebrush and 

 Mountain grassland ecosystems, while in the 

 Great Plains, 80 percent of the lands were in 

 the Plains grasslands ecosystem. In terms of 

 ownership, more than 40 percent of both Na- 

 tional Forest System and other Federal lands 

 was in the low productivity class, while about 

 half of the non-Federal land was in the mod- 

 erately low class (fig. 11). However, for the 

 National Forest System lands, 14 percent was 

 in the high categories compared to 3 percent 

 for the other ownerships. 



It was also estimated that 29 percent of the 

 non-forested ecosystems were in good condition, 

 48 percent fair, and 23 percent poor. The larg- 

 est proportion of good condition lands was in 

 the Great Plains ecogroup, even though it ac- 

 counts for only one-third of the nonforested 

 area. Poor condition range was located mainly 

 in the low productivity class of the Western 

 Range Ecogroup. 0\\Tiership comparisons in 

 terms of range condition were not reported be- 

 cause of the different standards used for the 

 various ownerships. 



Almost 45 percent of the forested ecosystems 

 was in mature timber; about 51 percent was in 

 seedlings, saplings, and poles, and about 4 per- 

 cent was nonstocked. The Western Forest eco- 

 systems have the largest share, 60 percent, in 

 the mature timber class. These proportions 

 varied by ownership: The National Forest 

 System has the highest percentage of mature 

 timber, 61 percent, and the lowest percent 

 nonstocked, 3 percent. 



MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES— 1970 



Of the 1,202 million acres of forest-range 

 lands in the 48 States, 835 million, or 69 per- 

 cent, was grazed by livestock in 1970. In terms 

 of percentage, the Great Plains ecogroup has 

 the largest percentage grazed, 95 percent, fol- 

 lowed closely by the Western Range ecogroup 

 with 86 percent (fig. 12). Percentage grazed 

 also varied by ownership: 80 percent of the 

 other Federal lands was grazed, followed by 

 69 percent of the non-Federal, and 61 percent 

 for the National Forest System. 



Approximately three-fourths, or 641 million 

 acres, of the 835 million-acre total being grazed 



is currently under "some livestock" and exten- 

 sive management systems (Strategies B and 

 C); 58 million acres were managed intensively 

 (Strategy D); and grazing output was maxi- 

 mized (Strategy E) on 50 million acres. Maxi- 

 mizing livestock grazing was concentrated in 

 the Prairie, Mountain grasslands, and Plains 

 grasslands ecosystems. 



Application of management strategies varied 

 in terms of ownership (fig. 13). Federal owner- 

 ships dominated in the lowest management 

 intensity, Strategy B, with about one-third of 

 the lands managed in this manner compared 

 to 14 percent of the non-Federal lands. How- 

 ever, the highest intensity of management max- 

 imized livestock production, Strategy E, was re- 

 ported to occur only on the non-Federal lands. 

 Also, the non-Federal lands had the greatest 

 proportion of exploitative management, 10 per- 

 cent, compared to 2 percent for the Federal 

 lands. 



Intensity of grazing varied widely also 

 among ecogroups (fig. 14). Percentagewise, 

 more of the Eastern Forest was not grazed, 

 59 percent, while the highest proportion of 

 maximized grazing (Strategy E), 14 percent, 

 was reported in the Great Plains. Also, 72 

 million acres of exploitative grazing occurred 

 in the Eastern Forest ecogroup. Here, 4.5 

 acres out of every 10 grazed were grazed ex- 

 ploitatively. The extent of this type of man- 

 agement was insignificant on the other eco- 

 groups (fig. 15). 



RESOURCE OUTPUTS— 1970 



The forest-range environment furnished 213 

 million animal unit months (AUM's) in 1970. 

 This involved 196 million man-hours of work 

 and $1.7 billion in terms of direct employment 

 and animal output value (table 5) . 



While AUM output was spread nationwide, 

 70 percent was furnished in the Great Plains 

 and Western Range ecogroups (fig. 16). The 

 Eastern Forest ecogroup provided 25 percent, 

 and the remaining 5 percent came from the 

 Western Forest. 



Two ecosystems in the Great Plains ecogroup. 

 Plains grasslands and Prairie, produced 51 and 

 37 million AUM's, respectively. Thus these two 

 ecosystems accounted for 41 percent of 213 

 million AUM total. Other ecosystems contribut- 

 ing in a major way to the national total include 

 Mountain grasslands and Sagebrush in the 

 Western Range and Oak-hickory and Longleaf- 

 slash pine in the Eastern Forest. Together 

 these six ecosystems accounted for two-thirds 

 of the national AUM production for the forest- 

 range environment. 



The greater part of the AUM production 

 occurred on the non-Federal lands. This sector 

 furnished 183 million or 86 percent of the 



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