| |LOBLOLLY PINE 
| |SHORTLEAF PINE 
OTHER SOFTWOODS TOTAL VALUE 
$128 898,000 
| |REO @ WHITE OAKS 
| JOTHER HARDWOODS 
which modern naval stores are extracted, so the naval 
stores industry never assumed the importance it did 
farther south. 
| Present Importance 
Her present forest resource is one of Virginia’s most 
| valuable assets. The 1940 stumpage value‘ of the 
| saw timber was about 129 million dollars, of. which 
_ 72 million dollars was in softwoods and 57 million dol- 
lars in hardwoods (fig. 12). Loblolly pine provided 
35 percent of the total and the oaks 21 percent. The 
current value is probably almost double that of 1940, 
because of marked increases in stumpage prices, and 
'} the slight increase in total saw-timber volume. As 
|} indicated previously, the value of farm-forest products 
sold and used on farms is about 15 million dollars 
| per year. 
SPECIES GROUP 
SWEETGUM & TUPELO 
YELLOW-POPLAR 
20 30 
MILLION DOLLARS 
FIGURE 12 Phevstumpage value of saw timber, 1940. 
In 1942, about 2,750 primary wood-using plants 
obtained their raw material from the forests. In 
1944 the primary forest industries employed 21,000 
wage earners, and an additional 18,500 workers in 
the woods getting out the raw material for these 
plants. 
Virginia’s forests are also a valuable part of the re- 
gional and national economy. ‘The State has 8 per- 
cent of the commercial forest area and 8 percent of the 
total volume of wood in the South. Virginia has 3 
percent of the Nation’s commercial forest area, and 
produces 5 percent of the total net annual growth of 
saw timber in the Nation. In 1944 the State ranked 
sixth in the South and eighth in the Nation in lumber 
production, and was exceeded only by North Carolina 
in the number of operating sawmills. 
Forest Description 
Except for a few small tracts in the Coastal Plain 
(fig. 13, A) and mountains (fig. 13, B), largely in 
* Based on stumpage value per thousand board feet and 
volume of species composing total saw-timber volume, both as 
of 1940. 
Virginia Forest Resources and Industries 
825098°—49 3 
Ce 
private estates or public preserves, this State’s forests 
are now second-growth timber. As is to be expected 
in a State covering 25.5 million acres, ranging in 
elevation from sea level to 6,000 feet, her forests con- 
tain a wide variety of species, some extending from the 
ocean to the mountains, others confined to limited 
areas peculiarly adapted to that one species. Each 
physiographic province has a definite pattern of forest 
cover, each differing distinctly and characteristically 
with respect to predominant forest types, age, volume 
per acre, and cutting history. 
Species ° 
Loblolly pine makes up 18 percent of the total cubic- 
foot volume, followed by shortleaf pine, white oak, 
“other red oaks,” Virginia pine, and yellow-poplar. 
In the Coastal Plain loblolly pine is the most preva- 
lent species, growing both in pure stands and in mix- 
ture with other pines and hardwoods. In total cubic- 
foot volume, it is four times greater than sweetgum, the 
next commonest species. Sweetgum grows best in the 
river bottoms but also grows, though to smaller size, 
on some of the better sandy loams of the flatwoods and 
middle Coastal Plain. Blackgum, third most impor- 
tant single species, occurs in both swamps and bottom 
lands throughout the province. The red oaks as a 
group are more prevalent than blackgum, as is the 
white oak group. Both are widespread. throughout 
all parts of the Coastal Plain, growing with pines or 
with other hardwoods. 
Originally the oaks and hickories were the domi- 
nant species in the Piedmont. Over the years prob- 
ably three-fifths of the Piedmont was farmed and 
eventually abandoned. Scattered shortleaf and Vir- 
ginia pines reseeded these abandoned fields more 
quickly and completely than the hardwoods, and the 
Piedmont forest was gradually transformed from 
hardwoods to pine, chiefly shortleaf and Virginia. In 
recent years, the increased demand for pine pulpwood, 
saw timber, stave bolts, and excelsior bolts has halted 
the transformation. The cutting out of the pine 
from old-field and natural stands has led to a hard- 
wood invasion which may in time, if present cutting 
practices continue, again make the Piedmont a pre- 
dominantly hardwood area. ‘The red and white oaks 
are the most prevalent hardwood species. ‘They make 
up a third of the total cubic-foot volume in the prov- 
ince, slightly exceeding the volume of shortleaf and 
Virginia pines combined. Yellow-poplar, gums, and 
°For a list of species with their common and scientific 
names, see Appendix, p. 58. 
13 
bn gre a nee ater 
