mixed pine—hardwood acreage in the South is found in the 
South Central region. This forest type covers approximately 
one-fifth of the timberland in the States of Alabama, 
Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas. 
Hardwood forest types occupy over half the timberland area 
in the South, 93 million acres. These forest types are espe- 
cially important for wildlife habitat. Two-thirds of this area 
is classified as upland hardwoods and one-third as 
bottomland hardwoods. A typical upland hardwood associa- 
tion includes oaks and hickories, with gum, yellow-poplar, 
elm, and maple. Although it occurs throughout most of the 
South, the oak—hickory association predominates in highland 
areas, especially the southern Appalachians and Ozark— 
Ouachita Mountains. High-quality sites in these regions, 
such as coves and moist flats, support stands of commer- 
cially valuable species of red and white oaks and yellow- 
poplar. 
Upland hardwoods cover about a third of the timberland in 
both the Southeast and the South Central regions. Upland 
hardwoods constitute over half of the timberland in 
Tennessee, Virginia, and Oklahoma, and over a third in 
Alabama, North Carolina, and Arkansas. 
Bottomland hardwoods are found on the alluvial floodplains 
of the Mississippi and other major rivers in the South. 
Oak—gum-—cypress is the typical association on these sites, 
with such species as willow, water, laurel, swamp 
chestnut, and cherrybark oaks; water tupelo; blackgum and 
sweetgum; and baldcypress. There are 30 million acres of 
bottomland hardwoods in the South, about 17 percent of the 
timberland. Over half of these bottomland forests are lo- 
cated in the States of Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and 
Mississippi. 
Ownership Characteristics 
Private Ownerships—Ninety percent of the timberland in 
the South is privately owned (fig. 1.2). Forest industries 
hold 42 million acres, slightly less than a fourth of the to- 
tal area. This category includes companies or individuals that 
operate primary wood-using plants and either own or hold 
a long-term lease (leased for at least one rotation) on 
timberland. Forest industries own substantial acreages in all 
Southern States, but they own a proportionately larger 
share of the timberland in Florida and Georgia in the South- 
east region and Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas in the 
South Central region. 
Two-thirds of the pine plantations in the South are found on 
forest industry lands. In the Southeast region, over 40 per- 
cent of the 19 million acres owned by forest industry are in 
planted pine. Bottomland hardwoods constitute another 20 
percent. In the South Central region, natural pine types and 
pine plantations each represent about one-fifth of the 24 mil- 
lion acres of industry holdings. Mixed pine—hardwood and 
upland hardwoods cover a larger share of industry holdings 
here than in the Southeast region. 
Approximately 122 million acres of timberland are owned 
by other private individuals or organizations. The ‘‘other 
private’’ category is extremely diverse and includes farmers, 
all other individuals, and corporations that do not also run 
wood-processing plants. Corporate owners include a variety 
of organizations holding timberland property as an 
investment, recreational area, or for other purposes, such as 
utility companies, railroads, realty firms, hunting clubs, in- 
surance companies, and banks. 
Million acres 
Southeast region 
All ownerships 84.9 
Public 
18.7 Forest industry 
Other 
8 [es| ar 10 
SG a eet 
Farmer Corporate Other 
individual 
South Central region 
All ownerships 97.3 
Public 
23.6 Forest industry Other 
private 
Farmer Corporate Other 
individual 
Figure 1.2—Area of timberland in the South, by region and 
forest ownership, 1985 
