Forest Service | July 2019

Forests of South Dakota, 2018 

This publication provides an overview of forest 

resources in South Dakota based on an inventory 

conducted by the USDA Forest Service, Forest 

Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern 

Research Station (NRS) in cooperation with the South 

Dakota Department of Agriculture, Resource 

Conservation and Forestry Division. Estimates are 

based on field data collected using the FIA annualized 

sample design and are updated yearly. Information 

about the national and regional FIA program is 

available at http://fia.fs.fed.us. For the 2018 inventory, 

estimates for current variables such as area, volume, 

and biomass are based on 8,496 samples (577 forested) 

collected from 2012-2018. Change variables, such as 

net growth, removals, and mortality are based on 8,261 

samples (392 forested) collected in 2009–2013 and 

resampled in 2012–2018.

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-XXX

Estimates from earlier annual and periodic inventories are 

shown for comparison. See Bechtold and Patterson 

(2005), O’Connell et al. (2014), and Gormanson et al. 

(2018) for definitions and technical details. A complete 

set of inventory tables is available at 

https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-199.

Overview

South Dakota is home to 1.95 million acres of forest land. 

Forest area has remained stable since 2013 (Table 1). The 

number of live trees on South Dakota’s forest land in 2018 

was estimated at 601 million, an increase from 2013. 

However, estimates of net volume, biomass, net growth, 

and harvest removals have decreased while mortality 

increased. The increase in number of trees along with a 

decrease in volume is due to a large increase in smalldiameter trees (i.e., <5 inches diameter at breast height 

[d.b.h.] that do not contribute to the volume estimate. 

1

Table 1.—South Dakota forest estimates and changes between 2013 and 2018. Sampling errors represent a 68 

percent confidence interval around the estimate.

Forest Land

2018

estimate

Sampling

error (%)

2013 

estimate

Sampling 

error (%)

Percent change 

since 2013

Area (thousand acres) 1,954 2.7 1,929 2.8 1.3

Number of live trees ≥1 inch diameter (million trees) 601 5.4 561 6.2 7.1

Net volume live trees ≥ 5 inches diameter (million ft3/yr) 2,141 4.1 2,215 4.5 -3.3

Live tree ≥1 inch diameter aboveground biomass (thousand oven-dry 

tons) 43,367 4.1 44,557 4.5 -2.7

Net growth live trees ≥5 inches (thousand ft3/yr) 566 1,566.3 28,743 25.1 -98.0

Gross growth live trees ≥5 inches (thousand ft3/yr) 60,752 4.6 69,015 5.6 -12.0

Annual mortality of live trees ≥5 inches (thousand ft3/yr) 60,186 14.1 40,272 15.1 49.4

Harvest removals of live trees ≥5 inches (thousand ft3/yr) 22,982 24.9 43,487 19.8 -47.2

Timberland

2018

estimate

Sampling

error (%)

2013 

estimate

Sampling 

error (%)

Percent change 

since 2013

Area (thousand acres) 1,802 2.9 1,796 3.0 0.3

Number of live trees ≥1 inch diameter (million trees) 558 5.7 533 6.4 4.8

Net volume live trees ≥5 inches diameter (million ft3/yr) 2,033 4.3 2,122 4.7 -4.2

Live tree aboveground biomass (thousand oven-dry tons) 40,780 4.4 42,258 4.7 -3.5

Net volume growing-stock trees ≥5 inches diameter (million ft3/yr) 1,662 4.5 1,762 5.0 -5.7

Net growth of growing-stock trees ≥5 inches (thousand ft3/yr) -3,522 -226.6 21,612 27.3 -116.3

Gross growth live trees ≥5 inches (thousand ft3/yr) 58,154 4.8 66,014 5.9 -11.9

Annual mortality of growing-stock trees ≥5 inches (thousand ft3/yr) 47,635 16.0 29,980 17.2 58.9

Harvest removals of growing-stock trees ≥5 inches (thousand ft3/yr) 21,494 25.9 42,224 20.1 -49.1

United States Department of Agriculture

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-199
Forest Area

South Dakota’s forest land area is 1.95 million acres, 

roughly 4 percent of total land area in the state. Most 

forest land can be found in the Black Hills, located in 

the western part of the State (Fig. 1). Forest land and 

timberland areas have remained steady since 2015 

(Fig. 2). 

The USDA Forest Service is the largest owner of forest 

land in South Dakota with just over 1 million acres (Fig. 

3). Forty-two percent is privately owned. State and local 

governments, as well as other Federal agencies, own the 

remaining forest land. Ponderosa pine is the most 

common forest type; it accounts for 54 percent of all 

forest land. 

Sixty-five percent of South Dakota’s forest lands 

experienced some sort of disturbance according to the 

2018 inventory. Domestic animals, by far, are the most 

common source of disturbance (72%), followed by 

insects (12%), and wild animals (6%) (Fig. 4). Disease, 

weather, fires, humans, and other causes are responsible 

for the remaining 10 percent of forested areas with 

disturbance. For example, the Legion Lake Fire that 

occurred in late 2017 burned more than 50,000 acres. 

Sixty-four percent of ponderosa pine forest lands were 

impacted by disturbance, most of which (81%) was 

caused by domestic animals (70%) and insects (11%).

2 

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-199

Figure 1.—Area of forest land, South Dakota.

Figure 2.—Area of forest land and timberland by year, South 

Dakota. Error bars represent 68 percent confidence intervals.

Figure 4.—Area of forest land, in thousand acres, by 

Figure 3.—Area of forest land and timberland by owner group, disturbance class, South Dakota, 2018. 

South Dakota, 2018.

1,400

1,600

1,800

2,000

2,200

1995 2005 2010 2015 2018

Area (thousand acres)

Year

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

Forest

Service

Private State and

local

government

Other

federal

Area (thousand acres)

Owner group

Forest land

Timberland

Insects, 

151.4

Disease, 

8.6

Weather, 

37.5

Fire, 55.8

Domestic 

animals, 

913.9

Wild 

animals, 

70.4

Human, 

29.4

Other, 1.5
Volume, Biomass, and Trends

There are an estimated 601 million live trees on South 

Dakota’s forest lands. Ponderosa pine (see Table 2 for 

species Latin names) is the most numerous species with 

nearly 353 million trees at least 1.0 inch d.b.h. or 

larger. The number of ponderosa pine trees less than 

5.0 inches d.b.h. has increased by more than 41 million 

since 2013. Bur oak has the largest number of stems for 

hardwood species.

Ponderosa pine greatly exceeds all other tree species in 

terms of number of trees, live volume, and biomass on 

forest land in South Dakota (Table 2). It makes up 86 

percent of the net sawlog volume in the state. White 

spruce now outranks green ash in net volume. 

Softwood species accounted for 80 percent of live tree 

volume on timberland and 86 percent of salvable dead 

tree volume.

3 

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-199

South Dakota has about 43.4 million oven-dry tons of 

biomass on its forest lands. More than half (25.1 

million dry tons, or 58 percent) of the total biomass is 

on publicly owned forest land, and most of this 

biomass (92 percent) is made up of softwood species. 

Privately owned forest lands contain 42 percent of the 

state’s biomass and hardwood species make up more 

than half (10.2 million dry tons, or 56 percent) of this 

biomass. Ponderosa pine makes up most (90 percent) 

of the softwood biomass, followed by white spruce (6 

percent). Sixty-nine percent of hardwood biomass is 

composed of three species: bur oak (31 percent), 

green ash (21 percent), and eastern cottonwood (17 

percent). 

In 2018, the average annual mortality of net volume was 60.2 

million cubic feet per year (Fig. 5). This was almost equivalent 

to the average annual gross growth volume on forest land (60.8 

million cubic feet per year). This results in a net growth 

estimate of 0.6 million cubic feet per year. So, according to the 

2018 inventory, mortality is consuming nearly all of the 

accumulated gross growth on live trees. When removals are 

factored in, the result is a negative net change in the remaining 

live-tree inventory volume. Insect activity has subsided and 

mountain pine beetle returned to an endemic population in 

2016. As inventory remeasurements continue, we expect to see 

an increase in the live-tree inventory in the future. 

Common Name Latin name

Number of 

treesa

(millions)

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)

Ponderosa pine Pinus ponderosa 352.9 1,502.1 27,927.9 -10,140.5 48,885.6 21,289.1

Bur oak Quercus macrocarpa 39.7 122.1 3,816.1 1,269.1 935.5 0.0

Eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides 1.7 111.3 2,021.4 1,431.7 1,471.8 0.0

White spruce Picea glauca 35.0 100.3 1,823.2 1,039.5 1,869.9 596.6

Green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica 26.7 87.1 2,578.6 1,672.2 1,681.1 --

Rocky Mountain juniper Juniperus scopulorum 29.5 42.2 683.4 820.9 812.2 --

Boxelder Acer negundo 7.3 34.6 768.8 1,291.4 205.4 596.4

American elm Ulmus americana 5.6 33.2 764.0 232.1 1,958.7 203.4

Eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana 19.1 28.4 644.2 1,523.3 0.0 --

Siberian elm Ulmus pumila 2.6 25.0 629.5 1,313.1 132.8 182.8

a Trees ≥1 inch diameter b Trees ≥5 inches diameter

Note: Table cells without observation are indicated by --. A value of 0.0 is due to rounding of a small value.

Figure 5.—Average annual gross growth, mortality, net growth, 

harvest removals and net change of live trees ≥5 inches diameter at 

breast height (d.b.h.) on forest land, South Dakota, 2013 and 2018.

Table 2.—Number, volume, biomass, growth, mortality, and removals of live trees on forest land by species of the top 

10 tree species by net volume, South Dakota, 2018.

-60,000

-40,000

-20,000

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

2018 2013

Volume (1,000 ft3/yr)

Annual gross growth Annual mortality

Annual net growth Annual harvest removals

Annual net change
Ponderosa Pine Resource Update

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-199

4

Ponderosa pine is an important commercial tree species in 

South Dakota, particularly in the western part of the State. 

Increased insect activity, climate-related events, such as 

drought, and wildfire are interrelated factors that have 

impacted the ponderosa pine resource. Here we examine 

the current status of growth and mortality at the state level 

and for the South Dakota portion of the Black Hills 

National Forest (BHNF). 

The current estimate of net live-tree volume (≥5.0 inches 

d.b.h.) on timberland in South Dakota is 2.03 billion cubic 

feet. Ponderosa pine makes up 72 percent (1.47 billion 

cubic feet) of the total volume and most (1.0 billion cubic 

feet) is found on the BHNF. Fifty-eight percent of the 

ponderosa pine volume is contained in the 9- to 15-inch 

diameter classes (Fig. 6). Net growth of trees at least 5.0 

inches d.b.h. is determined by deducting losses in volume 

due to mortality or damage, rot, etc., from gross growth. 

Mortality estimates are higher than those of any previous 

year and net growth is negative at the State level as well as 

on the BHNF (Fig. 7). However, this trend will likely 

reverse because mountain pine beetle activity decreased to 

endemic levels in 2016, which should result in less 

mortality and greater net growth in the future. 

Figure 6.—Net volume of live ponderosa pine (at least 5 inches d.b.h.) 

on timberland, South Dakota, 2018. Figure 7.—Gross growth, mortality, harvest removals, 

and net growth volume of ponderosa pine (at least 5 

inches d.b.h.) on timberland, South Dakota, 2018.

Literature Cited

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.

Gormanson, D.D.; Pugh, S.A.; Barnett, C.J.; Miles, P.D.; Morin, R.S. [et al.]. 2018. Statistics and quality assurance for the Northern Research Station 

Forest Inventory and Analysis Program. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-178. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern 

Research Station. 25 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-178.

O’Connell, B.M.; LaPoint, E.B.; Turner, J.A. [et al.]. 2014. The Forest Inventory and Analysis database: database description and user guide version 

6.0.1 for Phase 2. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 748 p. https://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/database-documentation/.

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250

275

Net volume (million ft3)

Diatmeter class (inches)

Black Hills National Forest South Dakota

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

Black Hills National

Forest

South Dakota

Volume (million ft3)

Gross growth Mortality

Harvest removals Net growth

How to Cite This Publication

Meneguzzo, Dacia M; Paulson, Charles S. 2019.

Forests of South Dakota, 2018. 

Resource Update FS-199. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern 

Research Station. 4 p. https://doi.org/10.2737/FSRU-199.

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

dmeneguzzo@fs.fed.us

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender

The published report is available online at https://doi.org/10.2737/FS-RU-199.