Growth, Cut, and the Timber Supply 



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rTTHE STABILITY of Tennessee's timber indus- 

 tries depends, among other factors, upon an 

 assured supply of raw material. To bring the 

 problem of timber supply into focus, it is necessary to 

 examine the current growth and annual cut of timber, 

 and to appraise the State's long-range timber needs. 



Timber Growth 



Current net annual growth of the present timber 

 stands totals 286 million cubic feet for growing stock 

 and 877 million board-feet for sawtimber (table 5). 

 Firm-textured hardwoods — oaks, hickories, and the 

 like — contribute 57 percent of the total growth, soft- 

 textured hardwoods such as gums and yellow-poplar 

 21 percent, southern pines 17 percent, and other soft- 

 woods 5 percent. Species distribution of growth on 

 sawtimber alone is similar to that of total growth. 



Table 5. — Net annual growth in Tennessee, by Survey region, 1949 





Growing stock 



Sawtimber 



Survey region 



All 

 species 



Soft- 

 wood 



Hard- 

 wood 



All 

 species 



Soft- 

 wood 



Hard- 

 wood 



West 



Million 

 cu. ft. 

 54.5 

 40.6 

 48.6 

 65.9 

 75.9 



Million 

 cu. ft. 

 4.1 

 2.9 

 2.2 

 14.3 

 30.4 



Million 

 cu. ft. 

 50.4 

 37.7 

 46.4 

 51.6 

 45.5 



Million 

 bd.-ft. 

 196.8 

 114.8 

 135.3 

 187.3 

 242.8 



Million 



bd.-ft. 



16.4 



8.5 



3.5 



47.6 



111.4 



Million 

 bd.-ft. 

 180.4 



West-central 



106.3 

 131.8 





139.7 





131.4 







State ... 



285.5 



53.9 



231.6 



877.0 



187.4 



689.6 



These growth estimates represent net volumes that 

 include allowances for the advance of small trees into 

 poletimber and sawtimber sizes, and deductions for 

 mortality due to such causes as suppression, fire, 

 disease, insects, and windthrow. Annual mortality 

 totals 41.1 million cubic feet (0.72 percent) of growing 

 stock; 97.4 million board-feet (0.60 percent) of saw- 

 timber. Much of this heavy annual timber loss can 

 be reduced to a large extent through improved forest 

 management practices. 



Tennessee's Timber Economy 



The importance of small timber in replenishing the 

 available sawlog supply is reflected in the large board- 

 foot growth attributable to recruited volume — that is, 

 the volume of under-savvlog-size trees that annually 

 reach minimum sawtimber specifications. About 57 

 percent of the net sawtimber growth in Tennessee 

 results from recruited volume. The remainder occurs 

 on trees already of sawtimber size at the beginning of 

 the inventory year. 



On a per-acre basis, net annual growth for all stand 

 conditions averages 23 cubic feet (about % cord) 

 for all growing stock trees and 71 board-feet for saw- 

 timber trees alone. In sawtimber stands, net growth 

 averages 151 board-feet per acre, ranging from 126 

 board-feet in the Plateau region to 208 in west 

 Tennessee. The variance in growth per acre en- 

 countered among Survey regions is indicative of the 

 considerable difference in site qualities, stand volumes, 

 and other factors. Nevertheless, current growth in all 

 regions falls far below the full potentiality of the 

 forest lands. If stand volumes were built up, saw- 

 timber growth could be increased to about 300 

 board-feet per acre annually. 



Timber Cut 



The net volume removed from the growing stock 

 through cutting of timber commodities plus attendant 

 logging residue, was 252 million cubic feet in 1949 

 (table 6). Four-fifths of the total cut came from trees 

 of sawtimber size. 



In proportion to the growing stock, softwoods are 

 more heavily cut than hardwoods. Twenty-five per- 

 cent of the total cut is from softwoods although they 

 comprise but 16 percent of the growing stock. Oaks 

 furnished 46 percent of the total cut, other firm- 

 textured hardwoods 17 percent, and soft-textured 

 hardwoods the remaining 12 percent. 



Nearly 30 percent of the total annual cut is from 

 eastern Tennessee. The west and Plateau regions 

 each supply 20 percent of the total, while the west- 

 central and central regions furnish 12 and 18 percent 



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