Table 6. — Comparison 

 Minnesota, 



of 1936 and 1933 commercial forest areas in 

 by forest type and stand-size class 



Forest type 



Total 



Sawtimber 



Poletimber 



Restocking 



1936 



1953 



1936 



1953 



1936 



1953 



1936 



1953 



Softwoods: 



White pine 



Red pine 



Jack pine 



Spruce-fir 



Black spruce 



Tamarack 



Cedar . 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 224 

 167 

 1,219 

 1,053 

 1,475 

 655 

 378 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 125 

 166 

 986 

 1,233 

 1,169 

 482 

 284 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 114 

 60 

 269 

 153 

 19 

 9 

 20 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 92 

 102 

 199 

 109 

 8 

 9 

 29 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 88 

 77 

 505 

 479 

 598 

 145 

 185 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 23 

 37 

 447 

 528 

 468 

 215 

 137 



Thou. 



sand 



acres 



22 



30 



445 



421 



858 



501 



173 



Thou- 

 sand 

 acres 

 10 

 27 

 340 

 596 

 693 

 258 

 118 







Total. .. 



5,171 



4,445 



644 



548 



2,077 



1,855 



2,450 



2,042 







Hardwoods: 



Oak-hickory 



El m-ash-cotton- 



988 



607 



886 



6,680 



1,182 



1,145 



846 



5,997 



111 



106 

 281 

 378 



493 



411 

 296 

 269 



547 



199 



248 



1,346 



420 



480 



293 



2,233 



330 



302 



357 



4,956 



269 

 254 



Maple-birch 



Aspen-birch 



257 

 3,495 



Total 



9,161 



9,170 



876 



1,469 



2,340 



3,426 



5,945 



4,275 





3,768 



4,483 































All tvpes 



18, inn 



is,n98 



1.520 



2,017 



4,417 



5,281 



8,395 



6,317 



PERCENT 

 100 



*■ ■* 



1936 1953 



Softwoods 



Hordwoods 



:■: Nonstocked 



Figure 12. — Comparison of commercial forest areas by major forest 

 type groups, 1936 and 1953. 



low productivity. Changes in type classification are 

 possible also in marginal conditions where forests are 

 made up of mixed hardwoods and softwoods. Over- 

 all, however, indications are that softwood types have 

 been losing ground gradually during the 17-year 

 period between stirveys. 



The proportion of area in the several stand sizes has 

 changed very little for the softwood type group as a 

 whole. Sawtimber area declined from 644,000 acres 

 in 1936 to 548,000 acres in 1953 but still made up a 

 little more than 12 percent of the total. 



Sapling Stands ^'Thickening Up^' 



Although the acreage of seedlings and saplings in 

 softwood types declined from 2,450,000 acres in 1936 

 to 2,042,000 acres in 1953, the stands at the latter 

 date were much better stocked. Whereas about 

 45 percent of the young stands was reported poorly 

 stocked in 1936, only 30 percent was so classified in 

 1953. Improved fire protection is believed to be the 

 chief factor in the change. 



Many of the medium-to-well-stocked sapling stands 

 should be large enough to support thinning operations 

 within the next 10 to 20 years (fig. 13). 



New Hardwood Combinations Evolving 



A number of significant changes occurred in the 

 hardwood types between 1936 and 1953. The elm- 

 ash-cottonwood type gained substantially over the 

 1936 estimate (fig. 14). The maple-birch type de- 

 clined by 9 percent, while the aspen-birch acreage 

 went down by 10 percent. Much of the big increase 

 in elm-ash-cottonwood area probably was made at 

 the expense of spruce-fir and white pine types. Some 

 jack pine has changed to oak. Upon being "high 

 graded" for softwood products, these types commonly 

 revert to the hardwood types. The maple-birch iN'pe 

 probably has lost some area through clearing for 

 pasture or crops. Some aspen has been converted to 

 spruce-fir and other hardwoods through natural suc- 

 cession. Also, more aspen restocking stands may have 

 been classified as "off site" (i. e., nonproductive) in 

 1953 than in 1936, thus reducing the area of com- 

 mercial aspen type. The hardwood types, in addi- 

 tion to enlarging their area, have advanced in average 

 size and density since 1936. 



Minnesota's Forest Resources 



11 



