concentrations are in New York and Pennsylvania in 

 the Northeast, and in Michigan, Minnesota, and 

 Wisconsin. 



Federal forest land in the North accounts for 13.6 

 million acres, only 8 percent of the total. National 

 Forest lands, which account for 84 percent of all Fed- 

 eral forests in the section, are found in 13 of the 20 

 States, but are concentrated in the North Central 

 region. The relatively small amount of public forest 

 land in the North emphasizes the importance of pri- 

 vate forests in meeting the many forest resource needs 

 of the large urban population. 



Productivity — In the North, about 5 percent of the 

 forest land is capable of producing more than 120 

 cubic feet of wood per acre per year (table 2.4). 

 Another 16 percent is capable of producing 85-120 

 cubic feet per acre per year and 35 percent could 

 produce 50-85 cubic feet. Of the remainder, most is 

 marginal or submarginal as timber land, capable of 

 producing less than 50 cubic feet per acre per year. 

 About 6 million acres are potentially productive 

 forest lands reserved from timber production. 



Generally speaking, the productive capability of 

 forest land is higher in the Northeast region than in 

 the North Central. In the Northeast, 30 percent of the 

 forest land can produce in excess of 85 cubic feet per 

 acre, while only 29 percent of forest area falls in the 

 0-50 cubic foot category. In the North Central region, 

 only 12 percent of the forest area can produce in 

 excess of 84 cubic feet per acre and the 0-50 cubic foot 

 class accounts for 52 percent of all forest land. 



There are several reasons for the poorer forest pro- 

 ductivity in the North Central region. Through a 

 large portion of the northern Lake States, wet, boggy 

 lands support slow-growing black spruce, northern 

 white-cedar, and tamarack. Also, extensive areas that 

 were heavily logged and repeatedly burned are 

 covered with aspen and jack pine — two post-fire spe- 

 cies that come in under such adverse conditions. In 

 Missouri, where 7 1 percent of the forest land is in the 

 0-50 cubic foot class, large areas of shallow hardpan 

 soils support blackjack and post oak forest types. 



Rangelands 



Rangelands make up only a small portion — 1.8 

 million acres — of the land area of the 20 States in the 

 North. Most of the rangeland — 1 .4 million acres — is 

 in Missouri (table 2.8). Practically all of the re- 

 mainder is in four States — Maryland, New Jersey, 

 Iowa, and Minnesota. 



The wet grasslands and the prairie ecosystems are 

 the only rangeland ecosystems in the North. The wet 

 grasslands in the Northeast region are primarily 



northern cordgrass prairie communities. Smooth and 

 saltmeadow cordgrasses and seashore saltgrass are 

 dominant grass species. Other important plants 

 include such forbs as seaside gerardia, sea-lavender, 

 seaside plantain, glasswort, and shore podgrass. In 

 the North Central region, the wet grasslands include 

 the tule marshes in low, poorly drained areas. Several 

 species of tules, bulrushes, and cattails are predomi- 

 nant plant species. Sedges are abundant and contrib- 

 ute significantly to the production of herbage. 



The prairie ecosystem is the most important range- 

 land ecosystem in the North Central region. Two 

 communities, the bluestem prairie and the cedar 

 glades, dominate. The bluestem prairie, a rich and 

 productive mixture of grasses and forbs, was once a 

 sea of tall grasses between the eastern deciduous 

 forests and the shorter grasses of the plains grassland 

 ecosystem. Only vestiges remain now, as most of it 

 was converted to high-yielding croplands. Big and 

 little bluestem, switchgrass, and Indian grass are 

 major components of this once-extensive grassland 

 which also includes a large variety of forbs such as 

 leadplant, sunflower, blazing star, and surfpea. The 

 cedar glades, more common in Missouri than the 

 other States in the region, are less productive than the 

 bluestem communities. They have a very rich mixture 

 of grasses, forbs, and small trees: Hackberry, juniper 

 (redcedar), post oak and winged elm are common 

 trees. Grasses provide a good supply of forage for 

 grazing animals. Many of the forbs characteristic of 

 the bluestem prairies are also important plants in the 

 glades. Locally, shrubs such as coralberry and such 

 trees as blackjack oak, chinkapin, and black oak 

 become important members of the community. 



Ownership — Private landowners and non-Federal 

 public agencies control 1.5 million acres, or 84 per- 

 cent, of the rangeland, in the North (table 2.3). Of the 

 294,000 acres of Federal rangelands, the Forest Ser- 

 vice administers 175,000, all in Missouri. 



Productivity — The wet grasslands found in several 

 States in the North are the most productive ecosys- 

 tem of all those identified in this Assessment; produc- 

 tion ranges up to 10,000 pounds of herbage per acre 

 per year on the most productive sites. The prairie 

 ecosystem is the second most productive grassland 

 ecosystem, producing more than 3 tons of herbage 

 annually on a per acre basis. 



Water Areas 



The North has over half of the Nation's water area 

 (table 2.1). Large and small inland lakes and streams 

 are found in every State in this section of the country. 

 About 60 percent of the 13.5 million acres of inland 



30 



