8

9

10

11

12

13

1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015

Area (1,000,000 acres)

Year

Timberland

All forest land

Figure 2. – Forest land area by stand-size class* top for 

seven forest type groups, 2010.

West Virginia’s Forest Resources, 2010 Research Note NRS-127

This publication provides an overview of forest 

resource attributes for West Virginia based on an 

annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory 

and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research 

Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These estimates, 

along with web-posted core tables, will be updated 

annually. For more information please refer to page 4 

of this report.

1

Note: When available, sampling errors/bars provided in 

figures and tables represent 68 percent confidence 

intervals.

Table 1 - Annual estimates and uncertainty.

Estimate 

2010

Sampling 

error

(%)

Area (1,000 acres) 12,135 0.7 1.3

Annual mortality of live trees 

(1,000 ft3

/year) 218,579 9.5 NA

Timberland Estimates

Area (1,000 acres) 11,853 0.7 1.1

Annual mortality of growing-stock 

trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 159,106 11.0 NA

Annual harvest removals of 

growing-stock trees (1,000 

ft3

/year) 210,660 19.2 NA

Annual other removals of growingstock trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 37,413 48.4 NA

Annual net growth of growingstock trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 608,485 6.5 NA

Net volume of growing-stock 

trees (1,000,000 ft3

) 25,272 1.3 0.9

Net volume in live trees 

(1,000,000 ft3

) 26,813 1.2 1.5

Dry biomass of live trees 1-inch 

diameter or larger (1,000 tons) 778,195 1.2 1.6

Number of live trees 1-inch 

diameter or larger (million trees) 6,161 1.7 1.6

Annual other removals of live 

trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 10,400 87.2 NA

Annual harvest removals of live 

trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 247,284 19.0 NA

Annual net growth of live trees 

(1,000 ft3

/year) 689,108 5.8 NA

Net volume in live trees 

(1,000,000 ft3

) 27,571 1.2 1.7

Dry biomass of live trees 1-inch 

diameter or larger (1,000 tons) 799,215 1.1 1.7

Number of live trees 1-inch 

diameter or larger (million trees) 6,305 1.7 1.8

Forest Land Estimates

Change 

since 

2008 (%)

Figure 1. – Area of timberland and forest land by year.

* Small: dominated by trees less than 5.0 inches d.b.h.; Medium: 

5.0 to 8.9 inches d.b.h. for softwoods and 5.0 to 10.9 inches d.b.h. 

for hardwoods; Large:≥ 9.0 inches for softwoods and 11.0 d.b.h. for 

hardwoods.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015

Area (1,000,000 acres)

Year

Large diameter

Medium diameter

Small diameter

Stand-size Class

Figure 3. – Area of timberland by stand-size class* and 

year.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Oak/hickory

Maple/beech/birch

Oak/pine

Pitch/Virginia pine

Elm/ash/cottonwood

White/red/jack pine

Spruce/fir 

Forest land (1,000,000 acres)

Forest-type Groups

Large

Medium

Small

Stand-size 
Table 2. – Top 10 tree species by statewide volume estimates, 2010.

Figure 4. – Area of forest land by major owner group (2010) and size of private family forest landholding (2006). Error 

bars represent 68 percent confidence intervals.

2

Private forest land – 87 percent of all forest land 

Public forest land – 13 percent of all forest land

(Of the 10.4 million acres of privately owned forest 

land, 7.2 million acres is held by family forest owners 

with the remainder held by a combination of 

corporations, partnerships, and other forms of 

ownership.)

Species Sampling Sampling 

error error

(%) (%)

Yellow-poplar 3,960 4.2 1.6 16,050 4.7 2.0

Red maple 2,467 3.8 1.1 5,949 5.3 2.2

Chestnut oak 2,455 4.6 2.0 7,900 5.4 3.8

White oak 2,409 4.4 2.5 8,783 5.2 2.9

Northern red oak 2,171 5.1 1.4 9,304 6.0 1.6

Sugar maple 1,954 4.6 3.2 5,253 6.4 1.9

Black oak 1,203 5.6 -3.6 4,780 6.8 -5.0

American beech 1,105 6.4 4.0 3,699 8.6 6.9

Black cherry 1,024 7.7 0.1 3,258 10.1 -0.3

Pignut hickory 808 6.1 2.6 2,392 7.9 2.1

Other softwoods 1,462 6.3 3.4 4,256 8.0 2.0

Other hardwoods 6,553 2.3 1.8 17,994 3.4 2.0

All Species 27,571 1.2 1.7 89,616 1.7 1.9

Change since 

2008 (%)

Volume of live trees 

on forest land 

(million ft3

)

Change since 

2008 (%)

Volume of sawtimber 

trees on timberland 

(million bdft)

-

200 

400 

600 

800 

1,000 

1,200 

1,400 

1,600 

1,800 

2,000 

Family Forest Land (1,000 acres) 

Landholding Size (acres)
3

Are West Virginia’s forests being managed sustainably?

Changes in timber volume (growing stock) can be explained by examining growth, removals and mortality of trees. 

Comparing net growth to removals addresses one aspect of forest sustainability: when net growth exceeds removals, 

total growing stock volume increases. Removals include trees harvested on land that remains in timberland, trees on 

timberland that has been reclassified to reserved forest land, and trees lost because the forest was developed for a 

nonforest use. The volume of trees that die from natural causes such as insects, diseases, wind, and suppression 

from other trees is reported as mortality. The data presented in Figures 5-7 are estimates of annual change in 

growing-stock volume on private land and unreserved public timberland in West Virginia. These data are based on 

remeasurement of plots first measure during 2004-2006 and represent 40 percent of a full measurement cycle. 

Analysis of these individual components can help us better understand what is influencing net change in volume.

Figure 5. – Average annual components of change in growingstock volume on timberland, West Virginia, 2010.

Figure 6. – Average annual net growth and removals 

of growing-stock, and growth-to-removals (G/R) ratio 

for major species on timberland, West Virginia, 2010.

Figure 7. – Average annual net change, in growingstock volume, as a percent of current inventory, by 

major species on timberland, West Virginia, 2010.

The growth of trees has greatly outpaced their 

mortality and removals. The most recent 

inventory revealed that as a percentage of the 

total current inventory, gross growth was 3.0 

percent; mortality: -0.6 percent; net growth: 

+2.4 percent; and removals: -1.0 percent. This 

results in an overall net change of 1.4 percent 

annually. 

Total growth outpace removals by a ratio of 

2.5:1. Individually, growth for all major species 

also exceeded removals. Yellow-poplar had 

the largest amount of growth followed by red, 

and sugar maple. Yellow-poplar also had the 

largest amount of removals. Red maple is 

increasing at an annual rate of 2.4 percent, 

exceeding the State average for all species. Of 

the major species American beech had the 

lowest annual increase in volume. 

767

-159

608

-248

360

-400

-200

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Gross Growth Mortality Net Growth Removals Net Change

Volume (million cubic feet)

Components of Change

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

American beech

Black oak

Black cherry

Hickory

Chestnut oak

White oak

Northern red oak

Sugar maple

Red maple

Yellow-poplar

Growing-stock Volume (million cubic feet)

Net growth

Removals

1.7:1

5.8:1

1.9:1

3.4:1

1.8:1

12:1

4.7:1

2.2:1

2.3:1

1.7:1

State G/R = 2.5:1

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.3

1.4

1.7

1.7

1.7

2.2

2.4

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0

American beech

White oak

Black oak

Yellow-poplar

Sugar maple

Chestnut oak

Northern red oak

Hickory

Black cherry

Red maple

Average Annual Percent Change in Growing-stock Volume

State avg.= 1.4
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.

Smith, W.B. 2002. Forest Inventory and Analysis: a national inventory and monitoring program. Environmental 

Pollution. 116: 233-242.

USDA Forest Service. 2005. Forest Inventory and Analysis national core field guide, Vol. 1, field data collection 

procedures for phase 2 plots, Ver. 3.0. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Available at 

http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/field-guides-methods-proc/ (verified Aug. 1, 2008). 

FIA Program Information

Additional West Virginia Inventory Information

Widmann, R.H.; Cook, G.W. 2011. West Virginia’s forest resources, 2010. Res. Note NRS-127. Newtown Square, PA: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.

Citation for this Publication

4

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, 

color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual 

orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any 

public assistance program (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternate 

means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center 

at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 

Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800)795-3272 (voice) or (202)720-6382 (TDD). USDA is 

an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Contact Information

Bones, J.T. 1978. The forest resources of West Virginia. Resour. Bull. NE-56. Broomall, PA: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 105 p.

DiGiovanni, D.M. 1990. Forest statistics for West Virginia—1975 and 1989, Resour. Bull. NE-114. Radnor, PA: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest , Service, Northeastern Research Station. 172 p.

Ferguson, R.H. 1964. The timber resources of West Virginia. Resour. Bull. NE-2. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 123 p.

Griffith, D.M.; Widmann, R.H. 2003. Forest statistics for West Virginia: 1989 and 2000. Resour. Bull. NE-157. 

Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 119 p.

Widmann, R.H.; Dye, C.R.; Cook, G.W. 2007. Forests of the Mountain State. Resour. Bull. NRS-17. Newtown 

Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 28 p.

Lead Analyst: Richard Widmann, (610) 557-4051, rwidmanne@fs.fed.us

Data processing/access: Charles Barnett, (610) 557-4031, cjbarnett@fs.fed.us

Field data collection: Mike Effinger (304) 285-1593, meffinger@fs.fed.us

Estimates, tabular data, and maps from report may be generated at: www.fia.fs.fed.us/tools-data