38 



THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER IN THE! UNITED STATE'S 



Table 26.— Areas protected from forest fires, and areas burned, 1950-71 



Year 



Area 

 protected 



Area burned 2 



Average, 1950-59. 



1960. 

 1961. 

 1962. 

 1963. 

 1964_ 



1965. 

 1966- 

 1967- 

 1968- 

 1969- 



1970 



1971 3 



Annual average, 

 1960-70 



Million acres 



633 

 688 

 644 

 652 

 863 



883 

 880 

 887 

 890 

 918 



916 

 973 



805 



Total 



Thousand acres 



8,377 



452 

 036 

 050 

 105 

 194 



2,645 

 3,899 

 4,571 

 3, 263 

 2,582 



3, 165 

 3, 232 



3,906 



Protected areas 



Total 



Thousand acres 

 2,930 



2,505 

 1,428 

 1,887 

 3,301 

 1,861 



1,345 

 2,498 

 2, 181 

 1,869 

 1,587 



2, 146 

 2,499 



2,055 



1 Areas under organized public and private programs. 

 Includes some nonforest watershed and other intermingled 

 nonforest areas. Excludes Interior Alaska with protected 

 area in 1971 of 248 million acres. 



2 Excludes areas burned in Interior Alaska; this averaged 

 0.5 million acres annually in the period 1960-70. 



to increase as a result of greater accessibility of 

 forest lands and rapidly increasing public use of 

 forest areas. As an alternative, further develop- 

 ment of technology through continuing research 

 efforts and other measures such as increased pre- 

 scribed burning and closer timber utilization could 

 help offset increases in fire risks. 



The level of area burned is related to the rates 

 of mortality that were used in developing the tim- 

 ber supply projections presented below. In spite 

 of increasing fire risks, it has been assumed for 

 this analysis that improved technology will help 

 avoid an increase in mortality rates with continu- 

 ance of fire control expenditures at 1970 levels. If 

 this is not achieved prospective timber supplies 

 shown by the base level projections in this chapter 

 could be somewhat overstated. 



Insect and Disease Control 



Expenditures for pest control during the period 

 1960-70 averaged about $12 million annually 

 (table 27). About 87 percent of these funds were 

 provided by the Federal Government and 13 

 percent by cooperating States and/or private 

 organizations. 



The major part of the funds provided for pest 

 control have been used to abate epidemic losses in 

 western regions, for example, where attacks of 



Total 

 forest land 



Thousand acres 



2,375 



1,709 



847 

 1,349 

 2,562 

 1,288 



960 

 1,660 

 1,510 

 1, 260 

 1,099 



1,449 

 1,499 



1,427 



Commercial 

 timberland 



Thousand acres 

 n.a. 



n.a. 



n.a. 

 1,254 

 2, 440 

 1, 127 



894 

 1,413 

 1,363 

 1,069 



968 



1, 131 

 1,397 



1,284 



Unprotected 

 areas 



Thousand acres 



5,447 



1,947 

 1,608 



2, 163 



3, 804 

 2, 333 



1,300 

 1, 401 

 2,390 

 1,394 

 995 



1,019 

 753 



1,850 



3 Preliminary. 



Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 

 based on reports from State Foresters and other protec- 

 tion agencies. 



Table 27. — Expenditures for forest pest control, 

 1960-71 



[Million dollars] 











United States 





Na- 





Private 



total 



Year 



tional 

 Forest 



Other 

 Federal 



and other 

 public 



















Current 



1967 











dollars 



dollars 



1960.- 



6. 2 



0.4 



1.5 



8. 1 



9. 9 



1961.. 



6.5 



. 4 



1.5 



8.4 



10. 1 



1962... 



8.0 



. 7 



2. 1 



10.8 



12. 7 



1963-- 



11.6 



.8 



3.4 



15. 8 



18. 2 



1964_._ 



8.9 



1.0 



2. 5 



12. 4 



13. 8 



1965... 



8.6 



1. 2 



2. 2 



12. 



12. 9 



1966-. 



9.9 



1. 2 



2. 6 



13. 7 



14. 2 



1967-_- 



10. 1 



1. 2 



2.8 



14. 1 



14. 1 



1968..- 



10. 



. 8 



2. 9 



13. 7 



13. 



1969.-- 



10. 1 



. 9 



2.9 



13. 9 



12.4 



1970_-_ 



7.7 



. 7 



2.8 



11. 2 



9.3 



1971... 



9.3 



. 7 



3. 7 



13. 7 



10. 5 



Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service 

 and cooperating agencies. 



bark beetles, spruce budworm, the Tussock moth, 

 and other pests are often heavy in old-growth 

 stands of that area. Major expenditures were 



