This resource update provides an overview of forest 

resource attributes for Nebraska based on annual 

inventories conducted by the Forest Inventory and 

Analysis (FIA) Program of the Northern Research Station 

(NRS), U.S. Forest Service. The estimates presented in 

this update are based on field data collected in 2010-2014 

with comparisons made to data collected from 2005-2009. 

In the 2014 inventory, NRS-FIA is now measuring 1/7th 

(14.3 percent) of the plots annually and plans to continue 

this, completing a 7-year cycle in the 2020 inventory. The 

complete set of plots is being retained. All inventory 

estimates (both current and change) will continue being 

based on the most recent measurements taken on these 

plots. As the 7-year cycle is phased in, the difference 

between the report year and average date of the recent 

data will increase from 2 to 3 years. The difference 

between the report year and the average midpoint year for 

change will increase from 4.5 to 6.5 years. For the 2014 

report, these differences are 2.3 and 4.8 years, 

respectively.

Overview

Nebraska is home to nearly 1.6 million acres of forest 

land, a gain of 4 percent since 2009 (Table 1). Timberland 

accounts for 92 percent of all forest land, while the 

remaining 8 percent of forest land is reserved or 

unproductive. The area of forest land, the number of 

trees, and the net volume of live trees increased since 

2009; however, net growth has decreased as a result of 

increased mortality. The recent increase in mortality is 

mainly attributed to severe weather events, such as 

flooding and drought, as well as disease and fire. Disease 

primarily affected American elm and slippery elm while 

fire was responsible for 73 percent of the ponderosa pine 

morality. 

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-XXX

United States Department of Agriculture

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-50

Forests of Nebraska, 2014 

Forest Service | July 2015

1

Table 1.—Nebraska’s forest statistics, change between 2009 and 2014

2009 

Estimate

Sampling 

error

(percent)

2014

estimate

Sampling 

error

(percent)

Change

since 2009

(percent)

Forest Land

Area (1,000 acres) 1,498 4.3 1,560 4.0 4.1

Number of live trees ≥1 in diameter (million trees) 391 6.5 417 6.7 6.7

Net volume of live trees ≥5 in diameter (million ft3) 2,011 7.1 2,142 6.5 6.5

Live-tree aboveground biomass (thousand oven-dry tons) 44,170 6.5 47,749 5.8 8.1

Net growth of live trees ≥5 in (thousand ft3/yr) 58,427 16.6 38,345 24.3 -34.4

Annual harvest removals of live trees ≥5 in (thousand ft3/yr) 11,430 43.3 14,870 49.9 30.1

Annual other removals of live trees ≥5 in (thousand ft3/yr) 2,741 51.7 1,218 96.7 -55.6

Annual mortality of live trees ≥5 in (thousand ft3/yr) 26,586 18.3 43,566 16.6 63.9

Timberland

Area (thousand acres) 1,385 4.5 1,429 4.3 3.1

Number of live trees ≥1 in diameter (million trees) 361 6.8 383 7.2 6.0

Net volume of live trees ≥5 in diameter (million ft3) 1,900 7.4 2,015 6.9 6.1

Net volume of growing-stock trees ≥5 in diameter (million ft3) 1,142 10.4 932 11.5 -18.4

Live-tree aboveground biomass (thousand oven-dry tons) 41,478 6.7 44,700 6.2 7.8

Net growth of growing-stock trees (thousand ft3/yr) 20,143 28.6 4,029 177.1 -80.0

Annual harvest removals of growing-stock trees (thousand ft3/yr) 6,725 58.9 10,560 66.3 57.0

Annual other removals of growing-stock trees (thousand ft3/yr) 3,034 48.5 215 94.8 -92.9

Annual mortality of growing-stock trees (thousand ft3/yr) 14,665 27.5 24,336 25.7 65.9
Forest land in Nebraska had increased steadily since the 1980s but recently has fluctuated (Fig. 1). Most forest land 

area is associated with riparian systems (Fig. 2). Hardwoods are more common in the eastern half of the State while 

ponderosa pine forests are dominant in the west. Overall, hardwood forest types occupy 60 percent of all forest land 

while softwoods comprise 32 percent; the remaining 8 percent is nonstocked. Eighty-nine percent, or nearly 1.4 

million acres of forest land is privately owned. Private forest lands are dominated by hardwoods (61 percent) while 

publicly-owned forest land is more evenly distributed amongst hardwoods (50 percent) and softwoods (41 percent); 

the remaining areas are nonstocked. 

Eastern redcedar is the most prevalent forest type in Nebraska (Fig. 3) and when combined with the eastern 

redcedar/hardwood, these two forest types occupy nearly one-fourth (23%) of all forest land area. Most forest land is 

made up of medium- and large-diameter trees. Only half of the top 10 forest types have any area in the small-diameter 

stand-size class, most of which is the eastern redcedar forest type. Furthermore, eastern redcedar is the only softwood 

forest type with any area dominated by small-diameter trees (i.e., those less than 5.0 inches d.b.h.). The top hardwood 

forest types in terms of regeneration are the sugarberry/hackberry/elm/green ash (nearly 13,000 acres) and the 

elm/ash/black locust and willow types with nearly 11,000 acres each in the small-diameter class. 

Forest Area

2 

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-50

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

1,100

1,200

1,300

1,400

1,500

1,600

1950 1970 1990 2010

Area (1,000 acres) 

Year

Timberland

Forest land

0 50 100 150 200 250

Eastern redcedar

Ponderosa pine

Sugarberry/hackberry/elm/green ash

Bur oak

Cottonwood

Eastern redcedar/hardwood

Elm/ash/black locust

Mixed upland hardwoods

White oak/red oak/hickory

Other exotic hardwoods

Area of Forest Land (1,000 acres)

Large

Medium

Small

Figure 1.—Area of timberland and forest land by year, 

Nebraska.

Figure 2.—Distribution of forest land, Nebraska.

Figure 3.—Area of forest land by stand-size class by forest type, Nebraska, 2014. 
Nebraska’s forests contain approximately 417 million live trees according to the 2014 inventory, or an 

average of 267 trees per acre of forest land. Forty percent of this live-tree resource are eastern redcedar trees, 

an increase of about 2percent since 2013. 

The top five species (Table 2) in terms of volume are cottonwood, bur oak, ponderosa pine, eastern redcedar, 

and green ash; collectively, they make up 73 percent of net volume of live trees (≥5 inches d.b.h) on forest 

land. Cottonwood remains at the top for volume and biomass, comprising more than one-fourth (28 percent) 

of total net volume and nearly one-fourth (23 percent) of aboveground biomass, which is about the same 

amount of biomass as ponderosa pine and eastern redcedar combined. Ponderosa pine contains 93 percent of 

the total net volume of softwood sawtimber trees on timberland. The remaining volume is found in eastern 

redcedar (5 percent) and jack pine (2 percent). Cottonwood and bur oak make up nearly three-fourths of the 

total net volume of hardwood sawtimber trees at 63 and 10 percent, respectively. 

Eastern redcedar has the highest net growth rate and has low mortality and removal rates. Ponderosa pine 

continues to have negative net growth and has the highest rate of mortality which was nearly equivalent to 

that of cottonwood. Cottonwood had the highest rate of removals in 2014 followed by ponderosa pine and 

American basswood.

Volume, Biomass, and Trends

3 

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-50

Common name Latin name Million 

treesa

Net volumeb

(million ft3)

Aboveground

biomassa

(thousand 

dry tons)

Average annual

net growthb

(thousand ft3)

Average 

annual

mortalityb

(thousand ft3)

Average 

annual

harvest 

removalsb

(thousand ft3)

Eastern redcedar

Juniperus

virginiana 165.02 223.21 5108.73 13061.17 648.4 339.74

Ponderosa pine

Pinus

ponderosa 53.95 288.63 5323.08 -10254.54 11141.76 2344.91

Green ash

Fraxinus 

pennsylvanica 35.73 126.99 3625.03 736.65 4019.42 534.58

Hackberry

Celtis

occidentalis 30.94 80.06 2039.88 4538.55 1086.85 349.2

Bur oak

Quercus

macrocarpa 25.45 317.38 8834.41 7913.55 2745.53 486.15

Red mulberry Morus rubra 25.42 85.43 2547.31 4421.83 887.65 117.62

American elm

Ulmus

americana 15.35 70.82 1634.69 3506.56 2000.18 63.75

Eastern 

cottonwood

Populus

deltoides 9.69 602.59 10812.42 6112.23 11051.71 7602.49

Siberian elm

Ulmus

pumila 6.78 47.02 1220.42 3297.16 218.77 --

Honeylocust

Gleditsia 

triacanthos 5.17 28.89 902.35 673.06 249.70 --

American 

basswood

Tilia

americana 3.62 87.87 1323.89 1174.9 1041.47 1108.78

Black walnut

Juglans

nigra 1.76 29.21 670.46 1462.23 978.38 755.28

a Trees ≥1-inch diameter

b Trees ≥5-inches diameter

Note: Table cells without data are indicated by --

Table 2.—Number, volume, biomass, growth, mortality, and removals of live trees on forest land for 

the top 12 tree species by net volume, Nebraska, 2010-2014.
Emerald Ash Borer and the Ash Resource in Nebraska 

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-50

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis; 

EAB), an exotic wood-boring beetle, was first 

detected in North America near Detroit, 

Michigan, in 2002 (Poland and McCullough 

2006). Since then it has been found in nearly 

every state in the eastern half of the U.S. and 

also in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and 

Quebec. This nonnative insect has been found 

in Nebraska’s neighbors of Iowa, Missouri, 

Kansas, and Colorado. EAB is a pest of all 

North American ash (Fraxinus spp.) and has 

recently been found to colonize white 

fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) (Poland 

and McCullough 2006; Cipollini 2015). 

Overall, Nebraska's forests contain nearly 36 

million ash trees (≥1-inch diameter) , or an 

average of 23 trees per acre of forest land, and 

38 percent of those trees are 5-inches diameter 

or larger, which is an average density of 9 

trees per acre of forest land. Ash accounts for 

nearly 127 million ft3 of volume, or 6 percent 

of total net volume of live trees (≥ 5-inches 

diameter) on forest land. Most of the ash 

resource (82 percent) is located on privately 

owned forest lands and is distributed mainly 

in the eastern and southern portions of the 

state (Figs. 4 and 5). 

4

Literature Cited

Cipollini, D. 2015. White fringetree as a novel larval host for emerald ash borer. Journal of Economic Entomology. 108(1): 370-375.

Poland, T.M.; McCullough, D.G. 2006. Emerald ash borer: invasion of the urban forest and the threat to North America’s ash resource. Journal 

 of Forestry. 104(3): 118-124.

 

Figure 4.—FIA field plots with ash trees present, Nebraska 2014. 

Depicted plot locations are approximate. 

Figure 5.—Aboveground live biomass of ash on forest land by 

county, Nebraska, 2014. 

In addition to forest land, trees are often found in nonforest settings, such as agroforestry plantings and in 

municipal areas. A special inventory known as the Great Plains Tree and Forest Invasives Initiative, or 

GPI, was conducted in 2008-2009 to gather data about this additional tree resource to prepare for the 

spread of EAB. According to the GPI data for Nebraska, there are nearly 12 million additional ash trees 

outside forested areas, most of which (91 percent) are found on rural lands and are often present in 

windbreaks. The remaining 9 percent (approximately 1 million trees) are located in urban areas. 

Average annual mortality of ash has increased from about 1.6 million cubic feet per year to 4 million cubic 

feet per year. Despite this, the ash resource still is still growing at an average rate of approximately 

737,000 cubic feet per year. The average annual rate of mortality across all species has increased by 67 

percent since 2010. Green ash, ponderosa pine, and cottonwood all had similar increases in mortality rates. 

An examination of plot records revealed that weather events, such as severe winds, flooding, and drought, 

were responsible for nearly three-fourths of all recent green ash mortality. Disease was recorded as the 

cause of mortality for about 8 percent of ash mortality; this should be monitored continuously. 
RESOURCE UPDATE FS-50

The published report is available online at http://treesearch.fs.fed.us

How to Cite This Publication

Meneguzzo, Dacia M.; Crocker, Susan J. 2015 

Forests of Nebraska, 2014. 

Resource Update FS-50. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 

Northern Research Station. 5 p.

Northern FIA: http://nrs.fs.fed.us/fia/

National FIA: http://fia.fs.fed.us

Contact Information

Dacia Meneguzzo Research Forester

USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station

1992 Folwell Ave.

St. Paul, MN 55108

Ph: 651-649-5129 / Fax: 651-649-5140 

dmeneguzzo@fs.fed.us 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer

5

Definitions

Average annual mortality — The average cubic foot volume of sound wood in growing-stock trees that died in 1year.

Average annual removals — The average net growing-stock volume in growing-stock trees removed annually for 

roundwood forest products, in addition to the volume of logging residues and the volume of other removals. 

Biomass — The aboveground weight of wood and bark in live trees 1.0 inch (2.5 cm) d.b.h. and larger from the ground 

to the tip of the tree, excluding all foliage. The weight of wood and bark in lateral limbs, secondary limbs, and twigs 

under 0.5 inch (1.3 cm) in diameter at the point of occurrence on sampling-size trees is included but is excluded on 

poletimber and sawtimber-size trees. Biomass is typically expressed as green or oven-dry weight and the units are tons.

Forest land — Land that has at least 10 percent canopy cover of live trees of any size or formerly having had such tree 

cover and is not currently developed for nonforest uses. The area with trees must be at least 1 acre in size and at least 120

feet wide.

Forest type — A classification of forest land based upon and named for the tree species that forms the plurality of livetree stocking. A forest type classification for a field location indicates the predominant live-tree species cover for the 

field location; hardwoods and softwoods are the first group to be determine predominant group, and forest type is 

selected from the predominant group.

Net annual growth — The average annual net increase in the volume of trees during the period between 

inventories. Components include the increment in net volume of trees at the beginning of the specific year surviving to 

its end, plus the net volume of trees reaching the minimum size class during the year, minus the volume of trees that died 

during the year, and minus the net volume of trees that became cull trees during the year. 

Net volume in cubic feet — The gross volume in cubic feet less deductions for rot, roughness, and poor form. Volume is 

computed for the central stem from a 1-foot stump to a minimum 4.0-inch top diameter outside bark, or to the point 

where the central stem breaks into limbs. 

Physiographic class — A measure of soil and water conditions that affect tree growth on a site.

Reserved forest land — Land permanently reserved from wood products utilization through statute or administrative 

designation. Examples include National Forest wilderness areas and National Parks and Monuments.

Timberland — Forest land that is producing or is capable of producing in excess of 20 cubic feet per acre per year of 

industrial wood in natural stands and is not withdrawn from timber utilization by statute or administrative regulation. 

Additional Inventory Sources

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.

Meneguzzo, D.M.; Crocker, S.J.; Nelson, M.D.; Barnett, C.J.; Butler, B.J. [et al.]. 2012. Nebraska’s Forests 2010. Resour. Bull. NRS-68. Newtown

 Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 47 p.