28 THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER IN THE UNITED STATES 



Table 18. — Timber inventories on commercial timberlands, by class of material and species group, 1970 





All. species 



Softwoods 



Hard- 



Class of timber 



Volume 



Pro- 

 portion 



Total 



Eastern 



Western 



woods 



Sawtimber trees : 



Saw-log portions _.__ 



Million 

 cu.ft. 



1 410, 774 

 44, 602 



Percent 

 57.5 

 6.2 



Million 

 cu. ft. 



317, 280 

 23, 753 



Million 

 cu. ft. 



66, 219 

 10, 039 



Million 

 cu. ft. 



251, 062 

 13, 714 



Million 

 cu.ft. 



93, 493 



Upper stems _ .. -- 



20, 849 







Total 



455, 376 

 193, 504 



63. 7 

 27. 1 



341, 033 

 90, 840 



76, 258 

 41,261 



264, 776 

 49, 579 



114, 342 



Poletimber trees. .. _ 



102, 664 







Total growing stock 



648, 879 

 12, 035 

 33, 921 

 19, 711 



90.8 

 1.7 

 4.7 

 2.8 



431, 874 



11, 361 



6,910 



5,022 



117,519 

 173 



3,773 

 1,281 



314, 355 



11, 189 



3, 138 



3,742 



217, 005 



Salvable dead trees __ ___ 



673 



Sound cull trees 



27, 010 



Rotten cull trees - 



14, 689 







All classes _ - 



2 714, 546 



100.0 



455, 168 



122, 746 



332, 423 



259, 378 







1 This portion is also expressed in board feet of saw- 

 timber, i.e., 2,420,767 million board feet, or an average of 

 5.9 board feet per cubic foot of the saw-log portion. 



2 Additional timber volumes not inventoried by the 

 Forest Survey, but providing some timber products, include 



Timber inventories, 1970 



SOFTWOODS HARDWOODS 



sawtimber 

 trees 



pole timber 

 trees 



rough and 

 rotten trees 



salvable 

 dead trees 



200 300 400 100 



BILLION CUBIC FEET 



Figure 1 3 



pine, and other western softwoods comprised 

 another 54 percent of U.S. softwood inventories. 



These western softwoods provided about three- 

 quarters of the timber used in the manufacture of 

 softwood plywood in 1970, and two-thirds of the 

 logs used for softwood lumber. This was of course 

 related to the concentration of softwood inven- 

 tories in the West and the predominance of rela- 

 tively large-size high-quality trees (table 21). As 

 old-growth stands are harvested, the geographical 

 distribution of timber inventories and available 

 harvests will of necessity conform more and more 

 closely to areas of commercial timberlands. 



Eastern softwoods, including mainly southern 

 pines, made up 18 percent of the Nation's growing 

 stock in 1970, and about 15 percent of softwood 

 sawtimber volumes. 



wood in limbs and stumps, trees on noncommercial forest 

 lands, and trees on other areas such as parks and fence 

 rows. 



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



Most southern pine timber in 1970 was relatively 

 small, with four-fifths of the total inventory in 

 trees less than 15 inches in diameter. Nonetheless, 

 the South was the source of about a quarter of the 

 softwood lumber and plywood, and three-fourths 

 of the softwood pulpwood produced in 1970. 

 Inventories of fir, white and red pine, hemlock, 

 cypress, and other eastern softwoods also were 

 concentrated in the smaller sizes. 



Hardwood Inventories 



Hardwoods made up about 36 percent of all 

 classes of standing timber in 1970, and about 25 

 percent of all sawtimber (table 18). More than 

 half of all hardwood growing stock was in the 

 North (table 19). 



More than a third of hardwood sawtimber 

 volumes in 1970 was in select species — that is, 

 select white and red oaks, 3 hard maple, yellow 

 birch, sweetgum, yellow-poplar, ash, black walnut, 

 and black cherry (table 20). These are the species 

 preferred for cabinet work, paneling, furniture, 

 and other uses where quality and/or surface ap- 

 pearance are important considerations. 



Nearly two-thirds of the hardwood sawtimber 

 inventory in 1970 was composed of upland oaks, 

 hickory, beech, cottonwood, and various other 

 species that have more limited potentials for high- 

 quality hardwood products. However, most of this 

 timber is suitable for the manufacture of products 



3 Select white oaks include Quercus alba, Q. michauxii, 

 Q. muehlenbergii, Q. durandii, Q. bicolor, and Q. rnacrocarpa. 

 Select red oaks include Q. rubra, Q.falcata var. pagodaefolia, 

 and Q. shumardii. 



