40 



THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER IN THE UNITED STATES 



Table 28.— Areas planted and direct seeded by section and ownership class, 1950-71 



[Thousand acres] 



Fiscal year 



Total 

 United 

 States 



Section 



Ownership class 



North 



South 



Rocky 

 Mountains 



Pacific 



National 

 Forest 



Other 

 public 



Forest 

 industry 



Farm and 

 miscellane- 

 ous private 



1950 



488 

 453 

 520 

 710 



808 



779 

 886 



1, 138 

 1,533 



2, 117 



2, 100 

 1, 761 

 1,366 

 1, 325 

 1,313 



1,285 

 1, 281 

 1,373 

 1,439 

 1, 431 



1,577 

 1,667 



137 



164 

 191 

 212 

 236 



242 

 235 

 258 

 285 

 283 



308 

 302 

 270 

 270 

 269 



268 

 265 

 245 

 281 

 250 



225 



271 



285 

 245 

 250 

 420 

 506 



482 



574 



782 



1, 080 



1,642 



1,567 



1,205 



816 



798 



756 



708 

 696 

 769 

 795 

 808 



925 

 1,002 



15 

 15 

 15 

 17 

 17 



5 



7 



7 



7 



13 



14 

 18 

 27 

 37 



42 



64 

 69 

 65 

 69 

 73 



70 

 84 



52 

 29 

 63 

 60 

 49 



51 



70 



91 



161 



179 



212 

 235 

 253 

 221 

 246 



245 

 251 

 294 

 294 

 300 



357 

 310 



45 

 46 

 50 

 53 

 54 



56 

 61 

 85 

 89 

 112 



134 

 163 



198 

 221 

 208 



233 

 237 

 257 

 269 

 257 



261 

 267 



54 

 49 

 67 

 89 

 70 



72 



84 



86 



119 



123 



130 

 140 

 151 

 151 

 161 



136 

 144 

 132 

 128 

 127 



131 

 124 



153 



106 

 143 

 217 

 265 



239 

 257 

 311 

 370 

 417 



521 



588 

 443 

 467 

 485 



455 

 475 

 527 

 604 

 681 



763 

 895 





1951 



237 



1952 



253 



1953 



260 



1954 



352 



1955 



419 



1956 



413 



1957 



484 



1958 



657 



1959 



955 



1960 



1, 465 



1961 



1, 315 



1962 



870 



1963 



573 



1964 



486 



1965 



460 



1966 



461 



1967 



425 



1968 



457 



1969 



437 



1970 



367 



1971 



422 





381 



1960-70 Average. 



1,477 



268 



895 



50 



264 



222 



140 



545 



570 



Percent of total- 



100 



18 



61 



3 



18 



15 



9 



37 



39 



Note: Data may not add to totals because of rounding. 



Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and cooperating agencies. 



lands. In many areas planting of abandoned 

 fields no longer used for crops or pastures made up 

 a major part of the total planting effort. Thus in 

 South Carolina roughly half of the area planted in 

 the 1960's was estimated to be on former crop or 

 pasture land. On the other hand, on National 

 Forests and other ownerships in the West a major 

 portion of the planting has been on recent cutovers, 

 with some limited planting of old burns and cut- 

 overs and some replanting of areas difficult to 

 regenerate. 



The scale of current planting efforts may be 

 further illustrated by comparison with the total 

 area of commercial timberland. Thus for the 

 decade of the 1960's, areas planted comprised 

 about 8.3 percent of the commercial timberland 

 owned by forest industries, 3.1 percent of non- 

 mdustrial private ownerships, 2.3 percent of 

 National Forest lands, and 1.9 percent of other 

 public holdings. 



For many years practically all artificial reforest- 

 ation involved planting of seedlings raised in 



nurseries. In recent years, however, effective 

 methods have been developed for direct seeding of 

 species such as longleaf pine and Douglas-fir. 

 Direct seeding consequently increased from 8 

 percent of the total area planted in 1960 to 15 

 percent in 1971, that is, about 243 thousand acres. 

 Almost half of the direct seeding effort in 1971 was 

 in the South, about 40 percent in the Pacific 

 Coast States, and one-tenth in other sections. 

 Three-fourths of the area direct seeded was on 

 forest industry lands and the remainder on public 

 ownerships. 



Environmental constraints on use of persistent 

 pesticides could result in some decline in future 

 direct seeding programs unless more effective 

 means of controlling rodents and other pests can 

 be developed. 



Reforestation costs. — Costs of planting and seed- 

 ing approximately doubled during the 1960's, 

 according to data for the National Forests. Such 

 increases in costs weie attributable to such factors 

 as higher labor costs, the increasing need for site 



