Criterion 2. Maintenance of Productive Capacity of Forest Ecosystems
National Report on Sustainable Forests—2010
Indicator 2.10.
Area and Percent of Forest Land and Net Area of Forest Land Available for Wood Production
Last Updated June 2011 Acres (millions)
Acres (millions)
Acres (millions)
Acres (millions)
150
200
100
150
50
100
200
150
250
100
200
50
150
0
100
50
0
0
South
Rocky
Pacific
Alaska
Mountain
Coast
Region
Planted timber land
Reserved and other forest
0
South
Rocky
Pacific
Alaska
North
Natural/seminatural
timber
land
Mountain
Coast
Source: USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory
Regionand Analysis
North
50
90
Planted timber land
Reserved and other forest
250
100
Percent
timber land
Figure 10-2.Natural/seminatural
Timber land and
nontimber land forest
area by region, 1953, 1977, and 2007.
Percent
250
200
200
150
80
100
70
90
60
80
50
70
40
60
30
50
20
40
10
30
0
20
10
150
100
0
North
250
2007
2007
1977
1953
Alaska
2007
1977
1977
1953
2007
1977
1953
2007
2007
Region
Pacific
Coast
1953
1977
1977
Timber land
South
1953
Rocky
Mountain
2007
1977
South
1953
2007
1977
1953
2007
North
1953
0
2007
50
0
1977
100
50
1977
Planted forests are most common in the South where 45 million
acres (72 percent) of all such forests in the United States occur.
Planted forests are discussed in more detail in Indicator 2.12.
The total area of timber land in the United States has been
stable during the past 50 years with an overall loss of only
1 percent (fig. 10-2).
250
1953
Forest land in the United States, totaling 751 million acres, is
nearly equally distributed between East and West, with 387
million acres in the East (North and South Regions) and 365
million acres in the West (Rocky Mountain, Pacific Coast, and
Alaska Regions). Timber lands, including natural and seminatural stands and planted forests comprise the largest category of
forest (fig. 10-1) with 514 million acres nationally; 368 million
acres (72 percent) of this total is in the East and 146 million
acres in the West. Planted forests currently comprise 12 percent
(63 million acres) of all U.S. timber land and the area is increasing.
200
1953
What does the indicator show?
250
250
Acres (millions)
Acres (millions)
This indicator provides information fundamental to calculating
the wood production capacity of existing forests and shows
how much forest is potentially available for wood production,
compared with total forest area. The availability and the
capability of forest land to provide desired goods and services
is a critical indicator of the balance of forest ecosystems
relative to potential end uses. The multitemporal nature of the
management objectives and planning guidelines for diverse
U.S. owners, however, make it difficult to summarize the area
of forest available for wood production in a single value at a
single point in time, much less consistently over time. Within
the context of this report, forest available for wood production
will be defined as forest land not precluded by law or regulation
from commercial harvesting of trees or timber land. In practice,
the area available for wood production at any given time will
always be a value less than total timber land. The amount of
the area adjustment required to determine the actual availability
of timber land will depend on the ownership mix and the
management constraints in place at the time of analysis. This
adjustment will affect all other indicators in Criterion 2 as well.
Figure 10-1. Forest land by region and forest class, 2007.
Nontimber land forest
Rocky
Pacific
Alaska
Mountain
Coast
Region
Timber land
Nontimber land forest
Source: USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis
200
250
llions)
Acres (millions)
What is the indicator and why is it important?
150
200
100
150
1
P
tim
P
tim
North
National Report on Sustainable Forests—2010
South
Rocky
Mountain
Pacific
Coast
2007
1977
1953
2007
1977
1953
2007
1977
1953
2007
1977
1953
2007
1977
1953
0
Alaska
Region
Acres (millions)
Acres (millions)
The notion of sustainability of forest available for wood production is linked to the demand for these forests for other uses.
Natural events, and competing societal forces can also affect
availability.
Fire, weather, and insect and disease outbreaks can
250
seriously affect supplies at any given time. Forest productivity
can also
200 be altered by pollution and human-caused degradation.
Consumer preferences, recycling, and investments in the for250
150
estry sector
and availability of workers also play a significant
role in wood production. Sound institutional frameworks that
200
100continuous monitoring of critical aspects of forests are
provide
invaluable. Simply put, wood production relies on the existence
150
50
of available
forest land and all of the factors that influence the
sustainability
of that land.
100
0
South
North
Rocky
Mountain
What50has changed since Region
2003?
Alaska
Pacific
Coast
timber
land
Reserved and
forest acres in Planted
Timber land has increased
byother
7 million
the East
(2 percent)
Natural/seminatural timber land
0
and 3 millionNorth
acres in the
West (2 Rocky
percent) since
2003. Much
Pacific
South
Alaska of
Coast
Mountain of previously
the increase came from the reclassification
marginal
Region
timber250
lands or areas,
particularly in the mid-section
of the country,
Planted timber land
Reserved and other forest
that were previously
classified
as
nonforest.
This
reclassification
Natural/seminatural timber land
is more consistent with national standard definitions, and was
200to areas that tended to be privately owned.
applied
Acres (millions)
200
2007
1977
1953
2007
1977
1953
2007
1977
South
Alaska
Figure 10-4. Timber land in the United States by major
cover type, 1953 and 2007.
250
200
150
250
100
200
50
150
0
100
1953
2007
1953
1953
East
West
Region
Conifer
Broadleaf
Mixed
Source:
0 USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis
1953
2007
1953
1953
100
East
West
90 10-5. Percent of timber
Region
Figure
land area and wood
Conifer
Mixed
removals
by ownership
group.Broadleaf
80
50
100
70
60
90
50
80
40
70
30
60
20
50
10
40
10
0
Percent of
timberland
area
Percent of
wood
removals
Percent of
timberland
area
Public ownership
Percent of
timberland
area
1952
Percent of
wood
removals
Percent of
wood
removals
Private ownership
1976
2006
Percent of
timberland
area
Public ownership
1952
Percent of
wood
removals
Private ownership
1976
2006
2007
1977
1953
2007
Alaska
Nontimber land forest
2007
1953
2007
2
1977
1953
1977
1977
2007
1977
Pacific
Coast
1953
2007
1977
1953
2007
Timber land
Region
1953
1953
2007
1977
1953
Rocky
Mountain
2007
South
Last Updated June 2011 0
1977
North
1977
1953
2007
1977
Source: USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis
1953
0
50
1953
2007
1977
1953
Rocky
Pacific
Mountain
Coast
Region
Public
Private
Source: USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis
20
50
100
2007
North
0
30
100
150
1977
0
Percent
Acres (millions)
Acres (millions)
100
50
250
150
200
150
1953
Private timber lands currently account for 91 percent of U.S.
wood production, compared to 86 percent in 1952 (fig. 10-5).
Although public ownerships have the benefit of very long-term
tenure, recent public land policy shifts toward reducing the
amount of wood harvested from public lands have contributed
to increased pressure on private forests in the United States and
increased imports to meet U.S. wood needs.
250
Acres (millions)
Acres (millions)
Conifer forest types are fairly equally distributed between the
East and West and broadleaf types are dominant in the East
(fig. 10-4).
Nontimber land forest
Figure 10-3. Timber land area by
ownership and region,
1953, 1977, and 2007.
Percent
Ownership also plays a key role in the area available for U.S.
wood production. Timber land is generally concentrated on
private lands in the East (fig. 10-3) and public lands in the
West. Overall, private timber lands account for 356 million
acres, about 69 percent of all forest available for wood production in the United States.
Timber land