lated. Supplemental industrial studies made it possible 

 to determine the volume of timber cut annually tor indus- 

 trial and domestic uses. 



It was early recognized that there would be a demand 

 for survey information for individual parishes (the Louis- 

 iana equivalent of counties), but the funds provided did 

 not make this possible. Instead, the State was divided 

 into five survey units of 2 to 11 million acres each, delimited 

 principally by the character of the timber stands (fig. 1; 

 also colored map at end of report) and fairly homogeneous 

 as to forest, economic, and industrial conditions. Two 

 of the units (north delta and south delta) consist of alluvial 

 bottom lands ot the Mississippi River, where the forest 

 is almost exclusively hardwoods and cypress.^ The three 

 others are made up for the most part ot coastal flatwoods 

 and rolling uplands, where the forests are characterized 

 chiefly by pines. In the northwest unit (north pine), 

 loblolly and shortleat pines predominate; in the southwest 

 and southeast pine units, longleat pine. Because forest 

 conditions in southeast and southwest Louisiana are similar 

 and because the southeast unit is comparatively small, 

 survey data for the two units have been combined in this 

 report. The forest situation m each ot the units has been 

 discussed in previous reports.^ 



Significant Findings 



Economic Aspects 



Louisiana, once widely known tor its magnificent stands 

 of old-growth timber, still has a goodly portion ot the 

 forest resources of the lower South (fig. 2). The forests 

 of the State now occupy 16.2 million acres, or 56 percent 

 of the total land area of 29.1 million acres. The ratio of 

 forested area to total area is highest (79 percent) in the 

 south pine units, lowest (33 percent) in the south delta 

 unit. Less than one-third of the land area of the State is 

 in agricultural use. 



Louisiana embraces 13 percent ot the productive forest 

 land in the region and is excelled only by Georgia in total 

 volume of saw timber. It has more hardwood timber than 



^ The term "cypress" is used throughout this pubhcation to designate 

 principally baldcypress (Taxodium dislichum) but also pondcypress 

 (T. ascendens). Similarly the term "tupelos" refers to the common 

 "tupelo" of the lumber trade, water tupelo (Nyssa aqualica), and also to 

 black tupelo {N. sylvatica) and swamp tupelo (N. biflora), both of which 

 are known to the lumber trade as "black gum." 



'These reports are: Misc. Pub. 309, Forest Resources of the North 

 Louisiana Delta; U. S. Forest Serv. South. Forest Expt. Sta. Survey 

 Release 31, Forest Resources of Northwest Louisiana [Processed]; Survey 

 Release 39, Forest Resources in the Longleaf Pine Region of Mississippi 

 and East Louisiana [Processed]; Survey Release 42, Forest Resources 

 of the South Louisiana Delta [Processed]; Survey Release 43, Forest 

 Resources of Southwest Louisiana [Processed]. 



any other State in the Nation, amounting to nearly a 

 quarter ot the hardwood timber in the lower South. In 

 1937 Louisiana led the United States in production of 

 hardwood lumber, manufacturing more than 1)^ billion 

 board feet of lumber of all kinds. Its six pulp mills also 

 placed it first among the States of the lower South and 

 fourth in the Nation in consumption of pulpwood. Since 

 then a new pulp mill, the largest in the South, has been 

 constructed at Springhill. 



The forests of Louisiana serve as the foundation of 

 industries normally employing more labor than any other 

 industrial group except farm cropping. One-third of all 

 workers employed in manufacturing receive their income 

 directly from the preparation of forest products for the 

 market. Most ot the forest-industry plants are located in 

 small towns and rural areas, where the majority of the 

 people live. Thus, if the forest resource is properly man- 

 aged and utilized, forest industries can make a direct and 

 telling contribution to the prosperity of local communities. 



The State has many natural advantages that favor 

 timber growing and the manufacture of forest products. 

 Many valuable timber species growing within its bound- 

 aries are readily marketable. Its soils are well adapted 

 to timber growing. Adequate rainfall and long growing 

 seasons prevail. The topography is characterized by level 

 expanses and gentle slopes. Logging can be carried on 

 throughout the year except in the delta and creek bot- 

 toms, where high water may impede it for a few weeks in 

 winter and spring. 



Favorable transportation facilities include an excellent 

 system of hard-surfaced roads, which has reduced the cost 

 of truck logging. The State has also several thousand 

 miles of waterways, navigable during at least part of each 

 year, for barging and rafting forest products. Its proxim- 

 ity to the lumber markets of the Middle West and the 

 plains of Texas and Oklahoma, as well as the excellent 

 facilities for export through New Orleans to world markets, 

 provides ample outlets for these products. 



In many parts of the State cut-over timberlands are 

 being leased for oil development. Although the marsh 

 areas are the main centers for trapping, fishing, and 

 hunting, some forest lands are leased or owned for these 

 purposes. Multiple uses for forest land, wherever they 

 can be developed, may furnish an income to the land- 

 owner while his crop of timber is growing. 



Notwithstanding the advantages possessed by Loui- 

 siana for timber growing and for continued operation of 

 forest industries, the situation has certain unfavorable 

 aspects. Chief among these is the prevalence of forest 

 fires. While considerable progress in fire prevention and 

 control has been made in many parts of the State, the 



