West Virginia, 2019

Forests of

77% forested*

West Virginia has an estimated 12,017,822 acres of forest land. * Percent forest is forest area/total area. Percent forest with water removed from total area is 78%.

This resource update is a brief look at some of the basic

metrics that describe the status of and changes to forest

resources in West Virginia. This information is based on field

data collected using the USDA Forest Service Forest

Inventory and Analysis (FIA) annualized sample design, and

it is updated yearly.

Area of forest land

(million acres)

Number of live trees

on forest land

(billion trees)

Volume of live trees

on forest land

(billion cubic feet)

2014

West Virginia has 2,412 sample plots across the State, of

which 2,075 are currently forested. Each year, about 10-20

percent of these plots are visited and measured by field

crews. Data used in this update were accessed from the FIA

database on 09/17/2020.

Federal

10.24%

12.12 State and

12.02

6.29

6.08

28.54

29.61

2019

Local

3.23%

Private

86.53%

Forest land ownership

Annual Net Change 254

Annual Removals 213

Annual Mortality 310

Annual Gross Growth 778

All live (million cubic feet)

17,168 acres of nonforest

revert back to forest annually*

34,678 acres of forest land

convert annually* to nonforest

106,267 acres of forest land

are treated by cutting

(harvest, thinning, etc.) annually*

7,434 acres of forest land

are disturbed annually* by fire

24,382 acres of forest land

are disturbed annually* by weather events

USDA Forest Service - Forest Inventory & Analysis

The estimates presented are based on data retrieved from the FIA database (09/17/2020) and may not reflect the most recent data available from the FIA

program. Note – this publication does not include estimates of uncertainty. The most current data and sampling error for the estimates above can be found

by visiting https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/.

*Average annual estimates are based on data collected across 5-10 years and may not be indicative of the nominal year presented in the title by itself.
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

West	 	 Virginia, 2019

Forests of

How to cite this publication

USDA Forest Service. 2020. Forests of West Virginia, 2019. Resource Update FS-245. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service. 2p. https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-245 .

Archived Versions

This report and archived past versions can be found on the USDA Forest Service publication database, Treesearch using keywords "Forest

Inventory" and "West Virginia" here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/.

National Woodland Owner Survey

The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) collects and reports on multiple attributes of forest land ownership. Details of the NWOS program can be

found here: https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos/.

The most recent NWOS Factsheet for West Virginia can be found here: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/52399/.

Additional Resources

The application that produced this resource update was developed using data from the USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis database

(FIADB): https://apps.fs.usda.gov/fia/datamart/datamart_excel.html .

Tables for West Virginia, 2019 can be found here: https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-245-Tables

The FIA one-click application can be found here: https://doi.org/10.2737/FIA-One-Click-State-Report-v1.2

Bechtold, W.A.; Patterson, P.L., eds. 2005. The enhanced Forest Inventory and Analysis program—national sampling design and estimation procedures.

Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–80. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 85 p.

https://doi.org/10.2737/SRS-GTR-80 .

NOTE: Some of the above links will not be active until the resource update has been approved for official publication.

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