projection period. The hardwood inventory on corporate 
ownerships does not decline until after 2020. The farmer- 
owned hardwood inventory declines from 1990 onward. 
Since 1952, hardwood growing stock volume has nearly 
doubled for the upland hardwood type, and increased by 
22 percent for bottomland hardwoods (fig. 3.44). Hardwood 
volume has also increased for the mixed pine—hardwood 
and pine types. 
Projections by management type show hardwood volume 
peaking near 2000 for both upland and bottomland hard- 
wood types, then declining to levels somewhat below those 
in 1984. The hardwood volume in natural pine stands 
declines through the period, while in plantations, hardwood 
volume increases. In mixed pine—hardwood stands, hard- 
wood inventory declines until 2010 and then increases 
slightly. Some of these differences correspond with acreage 
trends. Since pine plantations carry much less hardwood 
volume, on the average, than natural pine stands, an increase 
in this type would not have much effect on the overall 
hardwood inventory. 
There are important regional and local differences in the 
hardwood timber resource. Factors that vary with locality 
and management type include stand history, site quality, and 
cull-tree stocking. Species composition, timber quality and 
dimensions, and site factors that may limit timber availability 
are also quite variable across the South. Thus, despite an 
overall favorable growth-to-removals balance, the hardwood 
inventory situation may be critical for some users of high- 
quality timber of preferred species and adequate for others 
who use small, lower quality trees. 
In general, more of the hardwood inventory is in large trees 
when compared to the softwood inventory. For example, 
more than 35 percent of the volume of hardwood growing 
stock in the South is in trees 15.0 inches and larger in 
diameter at breast height. Only 25 percent of the softwood 
inventory is in these larger trees. With the aging of the 
hardwood stands, there is also a trend toward larger trees 
in the inventory (fig. 3.45). 
In contrast to the softwood inventory volume, where a single 
species, loblolly pine, accounts for almost half the volume, 
the inventory of hardwood is more evenly distributed among 
a number of species (fig. 3.46). Collectively, the oaks 
account for about 43 percent of the hardwood inventory, and 
gums account for another 22 percent. 
186 
Trends in the Southeast 
Although nearly all of the intensive timber management in 
the Southeast has been targeted toward growing more soft- 
wood, the increase in hardwood inventories has exceeded 
that of softwood. Since 1952, the inventory of hardwood 
growing stock has increased from 37.6 billion to 63.0 billion 
cubic feet, or by 67 percent (app. tables 3.49 and 3.63). 
In the absence of intervention by humans, the natural 
successional trend over most of the region is toward hard- 
wood. Most concerns about hardwood inventories are not 
about quantity but about quality and availability. 
About 20 percent of the hardwood timber in the region 
occurs on sites with year-round water problems or on slopes 
of 40 percent or steeper. In addition to the difficulty and 
high cost of logging these sites, there are many environ- 
mental concerns associated with these areas. Another factor 
affecting hardwood availability is the mixture of so many 
different species in many hardwood stands. Hardwood pro- 
ducers are often faced with the problem of harvesting and 
marketing large quantities of less desirable species in the 
process of harvesting certain select species. Many of the 
older hardwood stands reflect a history of periodic 
highgrading. 
The rapid increase in hardwood inventories over the past 30 
years is not expected to continue. Because of the low use 
of hardwoods relative to softwoods, the age distribution of 
hardwood stands is skewed toward the older classes. Recent 
forest surveys in North Carolina, Virginia, and South 
Carolina measured reductions in the number of small- 
diameter hardwoods. Eventually, reductions will be noted in 
hardwoods of larger diameters. While some analysts believe 
hardwood substitution is the answer to softwood scarcities 
encountered in the region, others are skeptical of this idea. 
A permanent shift to greater dependence upon hardwoods 
would certainly require better management of the hardwood 
stands than periodically mining the best of the available 
timber. 
By ownership, 75 percent of the inventory of hardwood 
growing stock is on other private land. The remaining 
inventory is roughly evenly divided between forest industry 
holdings and public lands. By forest management type, 63 
percent of the hardwood inventory is in upland hardwood 
and mixed pine-hardwood stands. In 1952, only about half 
of the hardwood inventory was in these types, and almost 
40 percent was in bottomland hardwood stands. Currently, 
about 6 percent of the hardwood inventory is in hardwood 
trees scattered among the pine types. 
