to store water for irrigation, electric power genera- 

 tion, and flood control. 



The area in small streams less than 1/8 mile in 

 width and lakes and ponds between 2 and 40 acres in 

 size amounts to 8.1 million acres, or about 8 percent 

 of the total water area. The geographic distribution of 

 these small water areas is similar to that for the large 

 water areas, and generally for the same reasons, 

 primarily rainfall and land form. A significant part of 

 these small water areas in nearly all States is man- 

 made, largely the product of Federal and State pro- 

 grams concerned with watershed protection and 

 flood prevention. 



The remaining water area, 47.6 million acres, 

 includes the Great Lakes; bays such as the Chesa- 

 peake, Delaware, and San Francisco; sound such as 

 Long Island and Puget; harbors such as New York; 

 Straits of Juan de Fuca and Georgia and other coastal 

 waters along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Coasts 

 except those in Alaska and Hawaii. As a result of the 

 inclusion of the Great Lakes, three-quarters of this 

 other water area is in the North Central region. Most 

 of the rest is in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast States and 

 in Washington. 



Land and Water Areas 

 of the United States 



Total Land and 



Water Area 

 2.3 Billion Acres 



Rangeland 



0.8 Billion 



Acres 





Forest Land 



0.7 Billion 



Acres 



Other Land 



0.7 Billion 



Acres 



Water 



0.1 Billion 



Acres 



(5) The bulk of the forest and range land 

 is privately owned 



The great bulk of the Nation's forest and range 

 land is in private ownerships. In 1977, the area in 

 these ownerships, plus relatively small areas in State, 

 county and municipal ownerships, amounted to 832 

 million acres — about 53 percent of the total forest 

 and range land area. 



Some 381 million acres or 46 percent of the range- 

 land area in 1977 was in non-Federal ownership, 

 nearly all private (fig. 4). These lands are concen- 

 trated in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains 

 States and in Oregon and California. There are large 

 acreages of rangelands in Federal ownership in such 

 Rocky Mountain States as Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, 

 and Colorado. In addition, in Alaska nearly all of the 

 rangeland — some 23 1 million acres — was in Federal 

 ownership. 



Approximately 451 million acres, or 61 percent of 

 the Nation's forest land, was in non-Federal owner- 

 ships in 1977 (fig. 5). Much of this area is in produc- 

 tive sites and close to markets for timber products. 

 These ownerships, consequently, have long been of 

 major importance as a source of timber supplies for 

 the wood-using industries. Forty-five percent of these 

 forests are in the South, with most of the remainder 

 in the North. 



The 286 million acres of forest land in public 

 ownership, largely Federal, is concentrated in the 

 Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast sections. Most 

 lands are of relatively low site quality and located at 

 higher elevations. Because a substantial part of these 

 forests has never been harvested, they contain a large 

 part of the Nation's timber inventory — somewhat 

 more than half of the softwood sawtimber. 



(6) Production on forest and range lands 

 is below potential 



The output of nearly all renewable resource prod- 

 ucts from forest and range lands varies widely as a 

 result of differences in climate, soils, elevation, and 

 latitude. In general, however, it is much below what 

 can be attained. In 1976, for example, range grazing 

 in the contiguous United States amounted to 217 mil- 

 Hon animal unit months, which is only a little over a 

 third of the biological potential. 



The situation on commercial timberland is similar 

 to that on rangeland. Average net annual timber 

 growth per acre in 1976 was 49 cubic feet. This is 

 three-fifths of what can be attained in fully stocked 

 natural stands and far below what can be achieved 

 with intensive management practices such as spacing 



XI 



