Table 2.B — Rangeland area in the contiguous States by ecosystem and section, region, 



and State, 7976 — continued 



\ (Thousand acres) 





Total 



rangeland 



and other 



forest 



land 



Grasslands 



Section, region, 

 and State 



Total 

 grass- 

 lands 



Mountain 

 grass- 

 lands 



Mountain 

 meadow 



Plains 

 grass- 

 lands 



Prairie 



Desert 

 grass- 

 lands 



Annual 

 grass- 

 lands 



Wet 

 grass- 

 lands 



Alpine 



Great Plains: 

 Kansas 

 Nebraska 

 North Dakota 

 South Dakota 



16,278.2 

 24,274.4 

 12.295.9 

 23,402.1 



16,278.2 

 24,272.0 

 12,295.9 

 23,396.8 



.0 



.0 



.0 



63.6 



.0 

 .0 

 .0 

 .0 



8.196.1 



9.746.9 



12.089.8 



■ 21.922.4 



8,082.1 



14,525.1 



206.1 



1,410.8 



.0 

 .0 

 .0 

 .0 



.0 

 .0 

 .0 

 .0 



.0 

 .0 

 .0 



.0 



.0 

 .0 

 .0 

 .0 



Total, Great Plains 



76,250.6 



76,242.9 



63.6 



.0 



51.955.2 



24.224.1 



.0 



.0 



.0 



.0 



Total, Rocky Mountain 

 and Great Plains 



458,429.7 



209,839.9 



16,938.2 



1.856.6 



138,984.6 



25,947.5 



21,993.8 



.0 



475.2 



3.644.0 



Pacific Coast: 

 Pacific Northwest: 

 Oregon 

 Washington 



24,803.7 

 7,895.0 



3,861.4 

 3.813.2 



2,958.3 

 2,780.2 



123.5 

 73.6 



.0 

 .0 



,0 

 .0 



.0 

 .0 



.0 

 .0 



.0 

 2.2 



779.6 

 957.2 



Total 



32,698.7 



7.674.6 



5,738.5 



197.1 



.0 



.0 



.0 



.0 



2.2 



1,736.8 



Pacific Southwest: 

 California 



53,289.7 



17,074.6 



4,194.2 



1.230.2 



.0 



.0 



.0 



10,153.5 



102.9 



1,393.8 



Total 



53,289.7 



17,074.6 



4,194.2 



1.230,2 



.0 



.0 



.0 



10,153.5 



102.9 



1,393.8 



Total, Pacific Coast 



85,988.4 



24,749.2 



9,932.7 



1.427.3 



.0 



.0 



.0 



10,153.5 



105.1 



3,130.6 



Total, contiguous 

 States 



650,344.7 



292,662.5 



26.870.9 



3.283.9 



175,238.6 



41,186.3 



24,743.7 



10,153.5 



4,411.0 



6,774.6 



'Less than 05 thousand acres. 



Forest Land 



Nearly 141 million acres, 19 percent of the total 

 land area of the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains 

 section, is forested (table 2.1). Forests of the Rocky 

 Mountain States total over 136 million acres, and are 

 predominantly softwood species (table 2.9). The most 

 heavily forested States, and the land areas occupied 

 by forest, are: Idaho, 41 percent; Colorado, 34 per- 

 cent; Utah, 30 percent; Arizona, 23 percent; Mon- 

 tana, 24 percent and New Mexico. 23 percent (fig. 

 2.3). Three States — Montana, Idaho, and Colorado 

 — have nearly half the total forest land in the Rocky 

 Mountains. Forests of the Plains States, which total 

 only 4.5 million acres, are largely of hardwood 

 species. 



Two eastern hardwood ecosystems are found in the 

 Plains States: elm-ash-cottonwood in major river 

 bottoms, and oak-hickory, an upland forest type. The 

 five largest forest ecosystems in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, totaling some 1 1 1 million acres, are pinyon- 

 juniper, ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, fir-spruce, and 

 lodgepole pine. Together these ecosystems account 

 for roughly 80 percent of the forest area in this sec- 

 tion of the country. All except pinyon-juniper are 

 important producers of wood products. 



The pinyon-juniper ecosystem occupies over 42 

 million acres, principally in the arid regions of Ari- 

 zona, New Mexico, western Colorado. Utah, and 

 Nevada. In Arizona and New Mexico, it is the pre- 

 dominant forest ecosystem. This rather uniform type 

 with few tree species occupies an elevation zone 

 below ponderosa pine and above the desert shrubs. 

 The species composition, however, changes geograph- 

 ically and can vary from pure pinyon to pure juniper. 



The ponderosa pine ecosystem is found in all the 

 Rocky Mountain and Plains States except Kansas 

 and North Dakota. It occupies some 18 million acres, 

 nearly half of which is in Arizona and New Mexico. 

 Found primarily in the arid transition zone, it is the 

 first forest ecosystem of importance for wood pro- 

 duction encountered above the desert floor, and also 

 the most important in this section of the country in 

 terms of timber output. Ponderosa pine often consists 

 of pure stands, especially in Arizona, New Mexico, 

 and the Black Hills of South Dakota, In Idaho and 

 Montana, ponderosa is often associated with Douglas- 

 fir, larch, and other species requiring more moisture. 



The Douglas-fir ecosystem in this section occupies 

 the area immediately above the ponderosa pine zone 

 and below the fir-spruce ecosystem. Over 12 million 

 of the total 17.5 million acres of this ecosystem are in 



38 



