lock is found at higher elevations up to timberline in 

 association with whitebark pine, subalpine fir, and 

 Engelmann spruce. Western hemlock is a major com- 

 ponent of the ecosystem at elevations up to 6,000 feet. 

 Where western redcedar is a major associate, the 

 ecosystem may represent a climax forest; where exist- 

 ing areas of the ecosystem have followed fires, less 

 shade-tolerant species such as white pine and 

 Douglas-fir are still retained. About 85 percent of this 

 ecosystem is in Idaho. 



The 1.3 million acres of the elm-ash-cottonwood 

 ecosystem are found along major river drainages in 

 the Plains States: the Red River in North Dakota, the 

 Big Sioux and James Rivers in eastern South 

 Dakota, the Platte and Republican Rivers in 

 Nebraska, and the Kansas River and its tributaries in 

 north-central Kansas. The oak-hickory ecosystem is 

 found in all the Plains States, but the most extensive 

 area is in east and southeast Kansas. North Dakota 

 has a small area of aspen-birch along the Canadian 

 border. The aspen-birch ecosystem is also found in 

 scattered areas throughout the Rocky Mountains. 



The forest ecosystems of the Rocky Mountain 

 States are valued for a number of uses. While an 

 important segment of the Nation's softwood timber 

 industry depends on these forests, some forests are 

 also components of valuable wilderness areas. This 

 section's forests provide dispersed recreation oppor- 

 tunities for millions of people, habitat for big game 

 animals including elk and mule deer, and are among 

 the most valuable watersheds in the Nation. Because 

 much of the region is sparsely settled and relatively 

 inaccessible for logging, only in recent years have 

 conflicts among alternative forest land uses become a 

 matter of widespread concern. However, increased 

 accessibility and the growing demand for outdoor 

 recreation, wilderness protection, and timber have 

 made the forests of this section highly prized by a 

 wide range of interests. 



Trends in area — Historical trends in forest area in 

 the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains section are 

 difficult to evaluate because of lack of early historical 

 data. Some forest land was cleared of trees for early 

 settlement and, in many cases, forests were exploited 

 for railroad ties, mine timbers, and charcoaling for 

 ore reduction. Most areas cleared for these latter uses 

 have reverted back to forest. 



During the past 10 years, total forest land area in 

 the section has declined by 600,000 acres. The bulk of 

 this loss occurred in the southwest in the pinyon- 

 juniper ecosystem, where large areas have been 

 cleared for livestock range. 



Future prospects are for forest land acreage to 

 remain relatively stable. Although some decline in 



area can be expected from water development proj- 

 ects and conversion to range, these reductions should 

 be minor. 



Even though the total area of forest land is not 

 expected to change significantly in the future, alloca- 

 tion of forest land for various uses may change. In the 

 Rocky Mountain States, 3 million acres of roadless 

 areas on the National Forests are being evaluated for 

 suitability for inclusion in the Wilderness System. 

 The forest land associated with those areas selected 

 will not be used to produce timber, although most 

 other resource uses and values would be maintained 

 and available in varying degrees. 



Ownership — About 68 percent of the forest land 

 in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains section is 

 administered by Federal agencies. In the Plains 

 States, 72 percent of the forests are in private and 

 State or county ownership (table 2.3). Most Federal 

 land in this region is in the Black Hills National 

 Forest in South Dakota. 



In the Rocky Mountain States, Federally owned or 

 administered forest land totals 94 million acres, two- 

 thirds of the forest area. No State has less than 51 

 percent of the forest land in Federal ownership; and 

 Idaho has 77 percent, Utah, 74 percent, Montana, 72 

 percent, and Nevada 86 percent. 



The Forest Service administers the majority of 

 Federal forest lands in every Rocky Mountain State 

 except Nevada and Utah, where the Bureau of Land 

 Management has the major holdings. For the section 

 as a whole, the Forest Service manages over 67 mil- 

 lion acres of forest, almost half of all forest lands. 



Non-Federal, mostly private, forest lands are 

 found in every State in the section, but constitute the 

 majority of forest land only in three Plains States — 

 Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota. Most of the 

 small amount of forest land owned by forest indus- 

 tries is in Idaho and Montana; most of that held by 

 nonindustrial private owners is in Idaho, Montana, 

 Colorado, and New Mexico. 



Productivity — Based on the capacity of the land to 

 produce wood fiber, the productivity of the forest 

 land in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains sec- 

 tion is low. About half the forest land cannot produce 

 20 cubic feet of wood per acre per year, the standard 

 below which forest land is generally considered unpro- 

 ductive (table 2.4). Less than 20 percent has the 

 capacity to produce 50 or more cubic feet per acre per 

 year. The most highly productive land is found in 

 northern Idaho and in Montana west of the Conti- 

 nental Divide. In these two States, some 19 million 

 acres are capable of producing in excess of 50 cubic 

 feet per acre per year. 



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