percent is administered by the Forest Service. These 

 Forest Service lands are found in each of the South's 

 13 States; the greatest concentration is in Arkansas, 

 with 2.5 milUon acres. Of the other Federal forest 

 land, 5 million acres are scattered throughout this 

 section — primarily in National Parks and Monu- 

 ments, and Department of Defense facilities. 



Productivity — The South's forest lands have the 

 highest average potential for timber production of 

 any section of the country. Over 76 percent of the 219 

 million acres of forest are capable of producing 50 

 cubic feet or more per acre each year (table 2.4). 



The South's most productive forest lands, which 

 can produce over 120 cubic feet of wood per acre per 

 year, total 13.6 million acres. Most of this highly pro- 

 ductive land is situated in the South Central region. 

 This same region also accounts for over two-thirds of 

 the South's 50.9 million acres capable of producing 

 85 to 120 cubic feet of wood per year. 



Forest lands of moderately productive capacity — 

 50 to 85 cubic feet — account for almost half of the 

 South's forest land total, and are almost evenly dis- 

 tributed between the South Central and Southeast 

 regions. The same even distribution between regions 

 is true for the 32 million acres in the 20-50 cubic foot 

 class. 



In addition, almost 17 million acres of Southern 

 forest land have a productive capacity of less than 20 

 cubic feet per acre. About three-fourths of the total is 

 in west and central Texas and Oklahoma, mostly in 

 the pinyon-juniper and oak-hickory ecosystems. 

 Most of the remainder is in lowland sites in the Flor- 

 ida Panhandle. 



Rangelands 



Of the 323.2 million acres of forest and range land 

 in the South, one-third is rangeland, 97 percent of 

 which is in Texas and Oklahoma (table 2.8). 



Nine rangeland ecosystems are represented in the 

 South. Scattered along the coastline from Virginia to 

 Texas are the northern and southern cordgrass prai- 

 ries, both part of the highly productive wet grasslands 

 ecosystem. Plants of the Virginia and Carolina coasts 

 are similar to those of the coastal prairies of the 

 North. On the southern cordgrass prairie, smooth 

 cordgrass, reed, seashore saltgrass, panic grasses, and 

 several species of bulrushes grow up to 8 feet in 

 height. In Florida, which accounts for most of the 

 Southeast's 2.2 million acres of rangeland, the most 

 important communities of the wet grasslands ecosys- 

 tem are the palmetto prairie, with its wiregrass and 

 saw palmetto, and the Everglades dominated by saw- 

 grass and sweet and red bog. 



Wet grasslands — a common range type along the 

 coastal areas of the South. 



The South's 13.6 million acres of prairie ecosystem, 

 centered in Oklahoma and Texas, are similar to the 

 prairie ecosystem in Missouri, but have some typi- 

 cally southern species such as Texas needlegrass. In 

 southern Texas, the prairie ecosystem may include 

 groves of oak-hickory forest. Typically, however, the 

 trees are short and branchy and generally considered 

 noncommercial. Further to the West, the 31.5 million 

 acres of shinnery and Texas savanna — mixed grass, 

 shrub and small tree lands — give way to more arid 

 shrub and grassland ecosystems. 



The plains grassland ecosystem, the largest eco- 

 system in the contiguous States, totals 36.2 million 

 acres in the South, dominating western Oklahoma 

 and northern Texas. Once termed "The Great Ameri- 

 can Desert" because of its lack of trees, the ecosystem 

 provided pastureland for millions of buffalo, elk, and 

 antelope. Though the large herds of wild animals are 

 gone, the medium and short grasses still remain to 

 provide forage for cattle and sheep as well as remnant 

 populations of wild ungulates. The plains grassland is 

 a mosaic of grass species whose distribution is 

 affected by local soil conditions. Blue, hairy, and 

 sideoats gramas, threeawn, and squirreltails are 

 common on well-drained sites. 



Ownership — As in the north, the bulk of the range- 

 lands of the South are owned by private individuals 

 or corporations. States, counties, and local munici- 

 palities. The Forest Service administers almost a 



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