Reforestation activities after clear-cut harvest 
of natural pine stands on other private timberlands 
in the South, 1971-81 
(based on information from Fecso and others 1982) 
Reforestation activity Percent of total 
acres clearcut 
Planted pine 36 
Seeded pine 1 
Left seed trees 9 
No active reforestation 54 
Part of the land going out of crop and pasture use in the 
1950’s and early 1960’s came back naturally to mixed 
pine—hardwoods and hardwoods. Conversely, part of the de- 
cline in the area of mixed pine—hardwood since 1970 
reflects conversion to cropland and pasture. Part of it also 
reflects conversion, mostly after harvest of mixed pine— 
hardwood stands, to pine plantations. 
The area of bottomland hardwoods dropped rapidly in the 
1960’s, largely because of clearing the land for soybeans. 
Since 1970, the acreage in this type has continued a slow 
decline. The reduction in bottomland hardwoods has been 
concentrated in those States in the Mississippi River basin 
having large areas of bottomlands. 
The changes in the other management types described 
above have taken place all across the South. Changes in 
each State generally resemble the Southwide changes. 
The distribution of timberland by management type is not 
uniform across the South. In general, pine and mixed pine— 
hardwood types make up the highest proportion of timber- 
land in the Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Ouachita Moun- 
tains (figs. 3.13 and 3.14). Hardwood types are most 
common in coastal lowland areas, the Mississippi River 
Delta, the central upland regions, and the southern 
Appalachian Mountains (figs. 3.15 and 3.16). 
The projected changes in the area of the forest management 
types are consistent with recent historical trends. The larg- 
est area changes are projected for the pine types. The area 
in pine plantations is projected to go up by approximately 
27 million acres, more than doubling by 2030. In contrast, 
natural pine area is projected to drop by 18 million acres, 
or nearly half. The net change in southern pine area is an 
increase of approximately 9 million acres by 2030. 
The projected doubling of planted pine area is largely due 
to the addition of pine plantations on forest industry lands. 
Table 3.14—Area of timberland with evidence of artificial re- 
generation in the South, by State and forest management type’ 
Thousand acres 
Forest 
management 
type 
State Oak—pine Hardwood Total 
Southeast 
Florida 136 57 193 
Georgia 165 106 271 
North Carolina 82 36 118 
South Carolina 126 37 163 
Virginia 228 112 340 
Total 737 348 1,085 
South Central 
Alabama 447 218 665 
Araknsas 307 194 501 
Louisiana 237 280 517 
Mississippi 393 306 699 
Oklahoma 173 80 253 
Tennessee 52 78 130 
Texas 344 270 614 
Total 1,953 1,426 3,379 
Total South 2,690 1,774 4,464 
' Based on the most recent surveys on forest resources in each 
State. 
With management intensification on these industrial lands, 
many harvested natural pine stands are being artificially 
regenerated. This conversion to planted pine allows geneti- 
cally improved stock to be introduced on many acres and 
trees to be spaced in a manner that reduces the cost of 
subsequent industrial operations. Some of this increase in 
pine plantation area will result from the transition of young 
stands currently classified as oak—pine and hardwood types, 
but which have evidence of artificial regeneration, to the 
planted pine type (table 3.14). 
The projected drop in natural pine area is also due to an 
assumed continuation of trends in substantial hardwood en- 
croachment after harvest of pine stands on the lands in 
other private ownerships. The other private ownerships con- 
tain the bulk of the natural pine area, and the projections 
assume that current trends in reforestation (Fecso and oth- 
ers 1982, Royer 1985) will largely continue, i.e., these own- 
ers often do not invest in reforestation. Royer suggested that 
the reforestation decisions of such owners are governed 
largely by public programs of financial and technical 
assistance. 
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