54 



THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER IN THE UNITED STATE© 



Table 39. — Area of commercial timberland in the South, by owner class, 1952, 1962, and 1970, with 



projections to 2020 



[Million acres] 



Owner class 



1952 



1962 



1970 





Projections 







19?0 



1990 



2000 



2020 



National Forest. ... _____ 



10. 4 



6.4 



32. 1 



143. 2 



10.7 



6.5 



34. 1 



148. 7 



10.8 



6.5 



35.3 



139. 9 



10. 7 



6.4 



36. 



138. 



10.6 



6.4 



36.6 



136. 1 



lO. 4 



6.3 



37.3 



134. 3 



10 2 



Other public. ... ._ . ... 



Forest industry . ...... .. 



6.2 

 38 6 



Farm and miscellaneous private . 



130. 5 



All owners . ... 



192. 1 



199. 9 



192.5 



191. 1 



189. 7 



188.3 



185. 5 



in the 1960's. During the next 50 years projected 

 areas of commercial timberland decline an average 

 of about 140 thousand acres annually. 



It is also estimated that a major part of the loss 

 in commercial timberland will take place on farm 

 and miscellaneous private ownerships — which 

 make up the bulk of the commercial timberlands 

 in this region. For the most part, these holdings 

 of farmers and a wide variety of other owners are 

 in small tracts and many are adjacent to areas 

 likely to experience further urban or other devel- 

 opment. In keeping with recent trends, the area 

 in this owner class is assumed to decrease about 7 

 percent by 2020. 



On the other hand, the upward trend in forest 

 area owned by forest industries is assumed to 

 continue. Moderate declines are assumed in areas 

 of commercial timberland in National Forests and 

 other public ownerships, although in view of 

 growing demands for nontimber uses, reductions 

 could be greater than assumed in these projections. 



Timber Removals 



Removals of softwood growing stock in the 

 South increased substantially in the period 1952- 

 70, while removals of hardwoods showed little 

 change (table 40 and fig. 24). 



Under the assumptions of 1970 management 

 levels and a rise in removals to equal net growth 

 by 2000, projected softwood removals increase 

 about 45 percent between 1970 and 2020, compared 

 to 44 percent for hardwoods. These estimates 

 reflect a general emphasis on management of 

 forests for softwoods rather than hardwoods. 

 Many stands tend to revert to hardwoods follow- 

 ing harvesting of pine, and hence without such 

 management hardwoods would increase faster 

 than softwoods. 



Sawtimber removals. — Removals of softwood 

 sawtimber are estimated to increase from 15 

 billion board feet in 1970 to 24 billion feet by 

 2000 (table 41 and fig. 25). This would represent 

 a rise of 59 percent, compared to 47 percent for 

 projected removals from softwood growing stock, 



Net growth and removals of growing stock 

 in the South 



1952 1962 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 



Figure 24 



Net growth and removals of sawtimber 

 in the South 



1952 1962 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 



Figure 25 



largely as a result of widespread development 

 of sawtimber in both natural stands and 

 plantations. 



