Other Primary Timber Manufacturing 



The other primary timber manufacturing industry 

 includes plants making pallets, skids and particle- 

 board; miscellaneous wood products such as lasts, 

 ladders, and picture frames; turned and shaped wood 

 products. It also includes wood preservation plants. 

 In 1972, there were 4,760 establishments in the indus- 

 try (table 6.8). Approximately 119,000 people were 

 employed and the value of shipments was $3 billion. 



There have been slow increases in the number of 

 establishments and in employment in the other pri- 

 mary manufacturing industry in recent years (table 

 6.10). The value of shipments in constant 1972 dollars 

 has increased from $1.5 billion in 1958 to $2.8 billion 

 in 1976. However, growth in the value of shipments 

 has varied greatly among the different types of plants 

 on the industry. Shipments of products such as 

 pallets and particleboard have shown rapid increases. 

 Shipments of some other products have remained 

 about the same or have declined. 



The products of the other primary manufacturing 

 industry are largely made from hardwoods; hence, 

 most plants in the industry are located in the East. 

 More than half of the establishments, employment, 

 and value of shipments was in the North in 1972 and 

 most of the remainder in the South (table 6.11). There 

 were, however, 112 establishments in the Rocky 

 Mountains and 716, or 15 percent of the total, on the 

 Pacific Coast. 



Domestic Timber Resources 



Nearly all of the timber consumed in the primary 

 processing industries comes from domestic forests. 

 These forests are one of the most dominant cover 

 types in the United States. As shown in the Forest 

 and Range Land chapter (table 2.1), about 737 mil- 

 lion acres — 33 percent of the Nation's land area — is 

 classified as forest land. 



Commercial Timberland 



Nearly two-thirds of the forest land, or 482 million 

 acres, is classified as commercial, that is, forest land 

 capable of producing at least 20 cubic feet of indus- 

 trial wood per acre per year and not reserved for uses 

 which are not compatible with timber production. 

 About 25 million acres of timberland — classified as 

 productive reserved and deferred — meets the growth 

 criteria for commercial timberland but has been set 

 aside for parks, wilderness areas, or other uses. The 

 remaining 230 million acres of forest land is incapable 

 of producing a sustained crop of industrial wood. 



These lands are valuable for grazing, watershed pro- 

 tection, and recreation use, however, and are dis- 

 cussed in other chapters of this Assessment. In this 

 chapter, only those acres classified as commercial 

 timberland are considered. 



Nearly three-quarters of the commercial timber- 

 land is located in the humid eastern half of the United 

 States, where it is about equally divided between the 

 North and South (table 6.13).32 jhg commercial tim- 

 berland in the West is concentrated in the Pacific 

 Coast States of Oregon, Washington, and California, 

 and in the Rocky Mountain States of Montana, 

 Idaho, and Colorado. 



There are 7 million acres of commercial timberland 

 in Coastal Alaska and some 8 million acres in interior 

 Alaska that may be classified as commercial timber- 

 land when forest surveys of the region are completed. 



Seventy-two percent of all commercial timberland 

 was privately owned in 1977. The remaining 28 per- 

 cent was in Federal, State, and a variety of other 

 public holdings. 



Ownership of commercial timberland by Federal, 

 State, or local governments reflects a variety of 

 forces. Much of the National Forest System was 

 reserved from the original Federal public domain to 

 provide timber and other resources to meet the coun- 

 try's needs. Much of the State-owned forest land was 

 obtained by the States as part of land grants from the 

 Federal government on entry into statehood. Some 

 forest lands were left in Federal ownership because 

 they were unsuited for farming or other uses under 

 laws that provided for, transfer to private ownership. 

 Still others were obtained by State or local govern- 

 ment as tax-delinquent lands, especially during the 

 1930's. 



Fourteen percent of the commercial timberland is 

 owned by forest industry. The area in these owner- 

 ships has been increasing while that in other private 

 ownerships has declined. Moreover, industry's stew- 

 ardship now extends to substantial acreages of forest 

 land that is under long-term lease from farmer and 

 other private owners. 



The remaining area of commercial timberland, 

 some 278 million acres or 58 percent of the total, was 

 in farmer and other private ownerships — a diverse 

 group that includes housewives, doctors, lawyers, and 

 numerous other occupations and retirees. A substan- 

 tial number of these ownerships are small, some 

 under 10 acres. At any given time, many owners have 

 management objectives that are not compatible with 



32 Detailed statistics on forest area and timber volumes, growth, 

 removals, and mortality by section, region, and State are contained 

 in: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Forest Statis- 

 tics of the U.S., 1977. 133 p. 1978. 



227 



