98 



THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER IN THE UNITED STATES 



ment intensification, based upon a criterion such 

 as 5 percent or more rate of return, are not likely 

 to be realized. This likelihood has been considered, 

 necessarily on a judgment basis, in the studies 

 described below by adjusting estimates of areas 

 "available" for intensified management in non- 

 industrial private ownerships. 



Under these circumstances future timber 

 harvests will depend largely on public programs of 

 fire protection and control of insects and diseases, 

 and natural regeneration of volunteer stands. 

 Because of their widespread importance — 59 

 percent of the total commercial timberland in the 

 United States — future timber supplies will depend 

 to a major degree on what is done on these lands. 



Forest industry ownerships. — There still is a 

 wide range in management intensity on forest 

 industry lands, but the forest industries have made 

 substantial advances in reforestation and other 

 cultural and protection activities in recent decades. 

 Surveys of forest industry holdings in the South, 

 for example, indicated that if recent trends are 

 continued most industry lands in that region will 

 be under relatively intensive management by 

 1980. 2 Continued upward trends in forest manage- 

 ment on industry lands would mean somewhat 

 higher projections for these owners than shown in 

 Chapter II, particularly after the year 2000. 



Public owners. — National Forests and other 

 public forest lands have been managed at variable 

 levels of intensity. These agencies also must 

 increasingly manage forest land with a variety of 

 objectives, including not only timber but recrea- 

 tion, watershed protection, and other uses. The 

 policy of sustained yield under which National 

 Forest and many other public and some private 

 ownerships are managed also limits the rate at 

 which forest areas can be cutover, but management 

 intensification nevertheless will often permit 

 substantial increases in timber harvests on these 

 lands. 



ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS RELATING TO 

 INTENSIFICATION OF FOREST MANAGEMENT 



Environmental considerations are having in- 

 creasing impacts on costs of forest management 

 and processing of timber products. They also 

 affect acceptance of timber-growing and harvest- 

 ing practices by the general public. 



Intensification of forest management by such 

 measures as thinning, timber stand improvement, 

 reforestation, prescribed burning, fertilization, 

 etc., and associated timber cutting, road con- 



2 Guttenberg, Sam. Forestry goals and practices on 

 large ownerships in the South. J. of Forestry 67(7) :456-461. 

 July 1969. 



struction, slash burning, or other disturbances, 

 have varying impacts on forest resources and uses. 

 It is difficult to generalize about the net impacts 

 of intensified forestry practices on nontimber 

 values. Conditions often vary widely, knowledge 

 of specific impacts is generally lacking, and plus 

 and minus factors may be offsetting. 



Water yields, for example, will probably in- 

 crease somewhat if a substantial portion of the 

 timber in a drainage is removed. Excessive stream 

 sedimentation, with a reduction in water quality, 

 also could occur if roads and landings are not 

 carefully planned and constructed. Forest fertil- 

 ization will require careful application to minimize 

 nutrient input to streams and lakes. 



Habitat for some kinds of wildlife is generally 

 improved with thinnings and other measures 

 which open the forest canopy and increase supplies 

 of food plants for game animals such as deer and 

 elk. Conversion of brush fields or poor-quality 

 stands by site preparation and planting, on the 

 other hand, may damage habitat for other species 

 of wildlife, particularly in plantations where 

 complete forest canopies develop. 



Recreational access for hunting and fishing and 

 some other recreation travel is usually improved 

 with road construction for logging and other 

 forestry operations. Adverse recreational impacts 

 are also common, however, as in cases where 

 aesthetic qualities of forest areas for recreational 

 viewing, hiking, or camping are reduced by log- 

 ging operations. Consequently, management of 

 "visual resources," particularly in mountainous 

 areas in public ownership, may limit the extent 

 to which timber management can be acceptably 

 intensified. 



Costs of land management must include careful 

 design and location of roads and cutting areas if 

 erosion or other environmental impacts are to be 

 minimized. Fire control problems and costs like- 

 wise are likely to be increased with greater access 

 to the forest and increases in production of slash 

 or debris from expanded harvesting operations. 

 Conventional slash burning and prescribed burn- 

 ing may be limited by opposition to resulting air 

 pollution effects or other impacts. 



Such environmental impacts from accelerated 

 reforestation, stand improvement, or other forestry 

 operation are likely to be limited at any given time 

 to a small percentage of the total forest area. Thus 

 an accelerated regime of accelerated management 

 practices in the southeastern United States de- 

 scribed below would cover less than 2 million 

 apres annually, or roughly 1 percent of total 

 commercial timberland in that region. 



In West Coast stands under intensive manage- 

 ment, it is estimated that entries into a forest will 

 normally be made with some type of equipment 

 every 10 years or so for such purposes as planting, 



