'IM JO STACIU 



; FOREST SERVICE RESEARCH NOTE NE-249 



>t£ 1977 IK ri;^PT.0F AeRieutWRB 



>^rthea8tern Torest 

 Txperiment St 



FOREST SERVICE, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE, 6816 MARKET STREET. UPPER DARBY, PA. 19082 



A PREVIEW OF WEST VIRGINIA'S FOREST RESOURCE 



by JOSEPH E. BARNARD 

 Research Forester 

 and TERESA M. BOWERS 

 Statistical Assistant 



USDA Forest Service 

 Northeastern Forest Experiment Station 

 Resources Evaluation 



A 6s frocf.— Forest land occupies 75 percent of the total land area of West 

 Virginia. Sixty percent of the forest land is classified in the oak-hickory 

 forest type and only 6 percent in all the softwood forest types. Since 1961, 

 growing-stock volume increased 24 percent. Yellow-poplar increased 39 

 percent in volume and is now the prevalent species in the State. 



Keywords: Forest surveys (West Virginia), forest area, resources 

 (timber), statistics (forestry). 



Forest is the dominant land use of the rugged 

 West Virginia landscape. Inventories of this 

 resource have been made by the Forest Service 

 three times in the past quarter century. Each 

 survey was designed to provide a reliable es- 

 timate of the extent and condition of the forest 

 resource and to indicate what changes were oc- 

 curring. A detailed statistical and analytical 

 report of the most recent inventory is being 

 prepared for publication. It will give a com- 

 prehensive analysis of the current situation and 

 trends in the forest resource. This is a preview 

 of that report. 



Forest Land Area 

 Continues to Increase 



In 1949 forest occupied 64 percent of the total 

 land area of West Virginia. The second inven- 

 tory in 1961 showed a dramatic increase of 

 forest area to 74 percent of the land area. The 

 most recent inventory shows that this trend has 

 continued although the rate has declined. In 

 1975 the forest area was 11.6 million acres— 75 

 percent of the total land area. Considering the 

 area of land affected since 1961 by the construc- 

 tion of major segments of the Interstate 



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