PROJECTED TIMBER SUPPLIES — 1970 LEVEL OF MANAGEMENT 



53 



Table 38. — Supplies of sawhmber products from U.S. forests, 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 Forest: 

 Softwoods. . . - . . . . 



5,564 

 217 



10, 402 

 332 



12, 548 

 359 



14, 163 

 634 



14, 672 

 910 



15, 228 

 1, 193 



14, 812 



Hardwoods.. . 



1, 194 







Total 



5,781 



10, 734 



12, 906 



14, 797 



15, 582 



16. 421 



16, 006 



Other public: 

 Softwoods . 



2, 323 

 365 



3,348 

 339 



4,236 

 497 



4,594 

 879 



5, 140 

 1,273 



5,790 

 1,679 



5, 907 



Hardwoods. .. .. 



1, 666 







Total ..... ... 



2,688 



3,687 



4, 733 



5,473 



6,413 



7,469 



7, 573 







Forest industry : 



Softwoods.. .... .. 



16, 003 

 1, 572 



12, 914 

 1, 724 



16, 352 

 1,774 



14, 001 

 1,967 



12, 896 

 2,213 



13, 321 

 2,456 



13, 865 



Hardwoods . .. .... . .. 



2, 615 







Total . ... 



17, 575 



14, 688 



18, 126 



15, 968 



15, 109 



15,777 



16, 480 







Farm and miscellaneous private: 



Softwoods. . ...... 



14. 910 

 9,973 



10, 796 

 8,393 



13, 801 

 9, 701 



16, 068 

 12, 025 



18. 158 

 13, 786 



19, 851 

 15, 228 



19, 360 



Hardwoods . . 



15, 043 







Total . . ... 



24, 883 



19, 189 



23, 502 



28, 093 



31, 944 



35, 079 



34, 403 







Total United States : 



Softwoods ... 



38, 800 

 12, 127 



37, 510 

 10, 788 



46, 936 

 12, 331 



48, 825 

 15, 505 



50, 867 

 18, 182 



54, 191 

 20, 556 



53, 945 



Hardwoods . .. . 



20, 518 







Total ... 



50. 927 



48, 298 



59, 267 



64, 330 



69, 049 



74, 747 



74, 463 







Supplies of softwood sawtimber products in 

 the United States, by owner class 



^ Ml 



other public 

 forest industry 



farm and misc. private 



1952 1962 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 



Figure 23 



Trends in Forest Area 



Recent trends in forest areas and changing 

 land-use patterns in the South point to a smaller 

 area of forest land available for timber production 

 in the future. 



Between 1952 and 1962, gains in commercial 

 timberland exceeded losses by some 7.8 million 

 acres, but during the 1962-70 period this trend 

 was reversed, with a net loss of some 7.4 million 

 acres (table 39). Half of the southern States 

 showed decreases in commercial timberland in 

 this recent period, most notably in the Delta States 

 of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Large 

 areas of forest land in these areas have been 

 cleared for agriculture. Reservoirs have inundated 

 sizable areas of choice hardwood lands capable of 

 producing sweetgum, tupelo, and other soft- 

 textured hardwoods. In contrast, most lands re- 

 verting to forests have been eroded uplands. 



While additional shifts from forest to nonforest 

 uses can be expected, a large portion of the idle 

 farm land left in the wake of rural-to-urban migra- 

 tion has now either reverted to trees or has been 

 planted to pine. With a continuation of the trend 

 toward a larger and more stable agricultural land 

 base in the South, additional reversions of agri- 

 cultural land to forest do not appear likely to be 

 significant. 



In these base projections it has therefore been 

 assumed that commercial timberland will continue 

 to decrease, although at a much slower rate than 



