76 



THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER IN THE UNITED STATES 



Table 64. — Supplies of sawtimber products in the Rocky Mountains, by owner class and species group, 



1952, 1962, and 1970, with projections to 2020 



[Million board feet] 



Owner class and species group 



1952 



1962 



1970 



Projections 





1980 



1990 



2000 



2020 



National Forests: 



Softwoods _ _ . 



1,362 

 10 



2,370 

 13 



3,209 

 11 



3,884 

 61 



3,692 



74 



3. 528 

 82 



3,287 



Hardwoods . _ _ 



88 







Total 



1,372 



2,383 



3,220 



3, 945 



3,766 



3,610 



3, 375 







Other public: 



Softwoods _ _ 



451 

 1 



470 

 2 



490 

 1 



396 



11 



537 



17 



752 

 26 



733 



Hardwoods. - 



25 







Total 



452 



472 



491 



407 



554 



778 



758 







Forest industry: 



Softwoods . . . 

 Hardwoods - _ 



606 



1 



760 

 1 



1,047 



801 



5 



624 

 4 



453 

 3 



455 

 3 



Total . 



607 



761 



1,047 



806 



628 



456 



458 







Farm and miscellaneous private: 

 Softwoods. 

 Hardwoods. .__._. 



707 

 3 



589 

 3 



527 

 1 



504 

 31 



796 

 53 



1, 180 

 85 



1,037 



74 



Total 



710 



592 



528 



535 



849 



1,265 



1, 111 



Total Rocky Mountains: 



Softwoods . 



Hardwoods. 



3, 126 

 15 



4, 189 

 19 



5,273 

 13 



5, 585 

 108 



5,648 

 148 



5,914 

 196 



5,511 

 191 



Total 



3, 141 



4,208 



5,286 



5, 693 



5, 796 



6, 110 



5,702 



1 Less than 0.5 million board feet. 



Supplies of softwood sawtimber products in 

 the Rocky Mountains, by owner class 



1952 1962 1970 



national forest 



other public 

 forest industry 



farm and misc. private 

 2000 2010 2020 



Figure 36 



Net Growth and Mortality 



_ Net growth of both growing stock and saw- 

 timber are projected to increase somewhat under 

 the management, cutting, and area assumptions 



adopted in this chapter. Projected growth of 

 growing stock rises from 1.4 billion cubic feet 

 in 1970 to 1.6 billion cubic feet in 2020 — a rise of 

 19 percent (table 60 and fig. 34). Projected net 

 growth of sawtimber rises about 29 percent 

 (table 61 and fig. 35). 



In terms of per acre figures, net growth of 

 growing stock under the specified assumptions 

 rises from about 24 cubic feet in 1970 to 29 cubic 

 feet by 2020 (table 65). Net growth figures vary- 

 rather widely for different classes of ownership, 

 depending on site quality, relative proportions of 

 old-growth timber, and intensity of management. 



A substantial part of the timber growth in the 

 Rocky Mountains in the past has been offset by 

 mortalit}', reflecting the large proportion of old- 

 growth timber and major losses to insects such as 

 bark beetles, diseases such as white pine blister 

 rust, and frequent fires. In 1970, for example, 

 estimated mortality amounted to more than 2.6 

 billion board feet, or more than one-third of the 

 gross growth (tables 60 and 61). Mortality of 

 sawtimber is expected to decline, however, with 

 continued cutting of old-growth timber. 



