8 



THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER IN THE UNITED STATES 



This chapter presents information on recent 

 trends in the area and condition of commercial 

 timberlands by classes of ownership ; timber growth 

 and mortalitjr; the volume, quality, location, and 

 ownership of standing timber; the output of 

 roundwood timber products; and output and use 

 of plant residues. 1 



This presentation is primarily concerned with 

 national trends, although considerable information 

 is also presented for the major sections of the 

 country — North, South, Rocky Mountains, and 

 Pacific Coast (fig. 1). Detailed regional and State 

 statistics on forest land and timber resources as of 

 1970 are presented in Appendix I ; these data have 

 been updated from statistical information pub- 

 fished by the Forest Service in Forest Survey 

 reports for individual States. 



FOREST LAND AREAS 



Some 754 million acres, or one-third of the 2.3 

 billion acres of land in the United States, were 

 classified as forest lands in 1970 (table 1). These 

 vary from highly productive forest areas inten- 

 sively managed for timber production to areas 



1 For definitions of terms used in this report, see 

 Glossary. 



incapable of yielding industrial wood because of 

 adverse conditions of climate, soil, or elevation. 



Commercial Timberland 



Two-thirds of the Nation's forest land in 1970, 

 or about 500 million acres, was classed as com- 

 mercial timberland — i.e., both available and suita- 

 ble for growing continuous crops of saw logs or 

 other industrial timber products (fig. 2). These 

 areas also provide recreation, wildlife habitat, 

 watershed protection, and some forage for livestock. 



Areas classed as commercial timberland vary 

 widely in timber producing potentials, but all are 

 judged capable of growing at least 20 cubic feet 

 of timber per year, and suitable now or prospec- 

 tively for timber harvesting. Although landowner 

 intentions have a major bearing on use of land for 

 timber production, forest areas were excluded 

 from the commercial category only when of low 

 productivity or actually reserved or developed for 

 non timber uses. 



Nearly three-quarters of the commercial timber- 

 land is located in the eastern half of the United 

 States, about equally divided between the North 

 and South sections (fig. 3). These forests cover 

 80 percent of the total land area in New England, 

 and more than hah of the area along the Atlantic 



Sections and Regions of the 

 United States 



V 



PACIFIC 

 COAST 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN 



NORTH 



_ p 4C/f, c 



sou 



T Hty< 



fsr 



SOUTH 



Figure 1 



