Table 1. - Annual estimates, uncertainty, and change.

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

Figure 2. - Area of forest land of the top six forest 

types/by stand-size class.

Pennsylvania’s Forest Resources, 2008 Research Note NRS-89

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Pennsylvania 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 annual 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 

interval.

Estimate 

(2008)

Sampling 

error (%)

Change(%) 

since 2004

Area (1,000 acres) 16,652 0.7 0.5

Number of live trees > 1-inch 

diameter (million trees) 8,349 1.7 -1.3

Dry biomass of live trees > 

1-inch diameter (1,000 tons) 1,014,815 1.0 4.5

Net volume of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000,000 ft3

) 35,388 1.1 4.8

Annual net growth of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000 ft3

/year) 854,459 3.0 N/A

Annual mortality of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000 ft3

/year) 325,704 4.6 N/A

Harvest removals of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000 ft3

/year) 426,564 7.9 N/A

Other removals of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000 ft3

/year) 21,720 43.2 N/A

Timberland Estimates

Area (1,000 acres) 16,097 0.8 0.4

Number of growing-stock trees 

> 5-inch diameter (million trees) 6,933 1.8 -5.0

Dry Biomass of live trees > 

1-inch diameter (1,000 tons) 979,986 1.1 4.2

Net volume of live trees > 

5-inch diameter (1,000,000 ft3

) 34,160 1.2 4.4

Net volume of growing-stock 

trees (1,000,000 ft3

) 32,026 1.2 3.6

Annual net growth of growingstock trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 742,597 2.7 N/A

Annual mortality of growingstock trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 237,388 5.1 N/A

Harvest removals of growingstock trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 360,157 7.9 N/A

Other removals of growing-stock 

trees (1,000 ft3

/year) 53,900 30.7 N/A

Forest Land Estimates
Table 2. - Top 10 species by statewide volume estimates 2008.

2

Figure. 3. - Area of forest land by major owner group (2007) and size of family forest landholding (2006).

Private forest land - 71 percent of all forest land. 

Public forest land - 29 percent of all forest land. 

Nonforest

1 Red maple 6,572 2.6 5.6 15,632 3.8 11.2

2 Black cherry 3,602 4.0 2.1 11,138 5.3 2.4

3 Northern red oak 3,446 3.9 8.8 13,249 4.7 10.4

4 Chestnut oak 2,670 4.1 8.3 7,040 4.9 14.4

5 Sugar maple 2,545 4.8 1.6 7,206 6.1 4.5

6 Eastern hemlock 1,752 5.9 1.6 4,901 6.9 2.9

7 White ash 1,722 5.2 6.9 5,318 7.0 9.6

8 White oak 1,648 5.1 2.0 5,369 6.6 4.7

9 Yellow-poplar 1,598 7.6 12.0 6,612 8.8 16.6

10 Sweet birch 1,462 4.7 5.1 2,729 6.6 10.8

Other hardwoods 6,797 2.4 1.6 18,077 3.4 6.1

Other softwoods 1,574 6.6 10.2 4,990 7.6 14.6

All species 35,388 1.1 4.8 102,261 1.7 8.5

Change 

(%) 

since 

2004 

Volume of live 

trees on forest 

land 

(1,000,000 ft3

)

Change 

(%) 

since 

2004 

Volume of sawtimber 

trees on timberland 

(1,000,000 bdft)

Rank Sampling 

error 

(%)

Sampling 

error 

(%)

Species
Most of Pennsylvania’s forests are privately owned (Fig. 4) and of this private forest land, most is owned by 

families and individuals. There are an estimated 469,000 family forest owners in Pennsylvania who own a 

total of 8.9 million acres of forest land or 54 percent of the State’s total forested area. Along with an inventory 

of the biophysical characteristics of the forest, the USDA Forest Service conducts the National Woodland 

Owner Survey (NWOS) to assess the forest holding characteristics, ownership histories, ownership 

objectives, forest uses, forest management practices, preferred methods for receiving information, concerns, 

future intentions, and demographics of the people who own forest resources. Below are some of the key 

findings for Pennsylvania. For additional information about Pennsylvania’s family forest owners, see Butler 

(2008) or visit www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos.

3

Age

19% are <45 years old

47% are between 45 and 64

34% are 65 or older

Education

31% have a college degree

Annual Household Income

42% under $50,000

38% $50,000 - $100,000

20% $100,000 or more

New Owners

29% have purchased their forest land 

within last 10 years 

Absentee Owners

22% do not live on or near (within 1 mile)

their land 

Farmers

18% have a farm associated with 

their forest land 

Demographics

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Percentage

Size of Forest Holdings (acres)

Area

Owners

0 20 40 60 80 100

Timber production

Firewood production

Part of farm

Land investment

Family legacy

Recreation (incl. hunting)

Aesthetics/biodiversity

Home/privacy

Percentage

Owners

Area

Figure. 5. - Area by size of forest landholdings and number of 

family forests by percent in Pennsylvania, 2006.

Figure. 6. - Area and number of family forests 

(percent) by reason for owning forest land, 

Pennsylvania, 2006. Numbers include landowners 

who ranked each objective as very important (1) 

or important (2) on a seven-point Likert scale.

Pennsylvania’s Family Forest Owners
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.

Butler, Brett J. 2008. Family forest owners of the United States, 2006. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-27. Newtown Square, PA: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 72 p.

USDA Forest Service. 2009. Forest inventory and analysis national core field guide, Vol. 1, field data collection 

procedures for Phase 2 plots, Ver. 5.0. Available at www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/field-guides-methods-proc(verified July 

2009). 

FIA Program Information

McCaskill, G.L.; McWilliams, W.H.; Butler, B.J.; Meneguzzo, D.M.; Barnett, C. J.; Hansen, M.H. 2011. Pennsylvania’s 

forest resources, 2008. Res. Note NRS-89. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 

Northern Research Station. 4 p.

Citation for this Publication

4

Additional Pennsylvania Inventory Information

Ferguson, Roland H. 1955. The timber resources of Pennsylvania. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 46 p.

Ferguson, Roland H. 1968. The timber resources of Pennsylvania. Res. Bull. NE-8. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 145 p.

Considine, Thomas J.; Powel, Douglas S. 1980. Forest statistics for Pennsylvania,1978. Res. Bull. NE-65. Broomall, 

PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 88p.

Alerich, Carol A. 1993. Forest statistics for Pennsylvania, 1978 and 1989. Res. Bull. NE-126. Radnor, PA: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 244 p.

Widmann, Richard H. 1995. Forest Resources of Pennsylvania . Res. Bull. NE-131. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 41 p.

McWilliams, William H.; Stout, Susan L.; Bowersox, Todd W.; McCormick, Larry H. 1995. Advance tree-seedling 

regeneration and herbaceous cover in Pennsylvania forests. Northern Journal of Applied Forestry. 12(4): 187-191.

McWilliams, William H.; Cassell, Seth P.; Alerich, Carol L.; et al. 2007. Pennsylvania's forest 2004. Res. Bull. NRS-20. 

Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 86 p.

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

Pennsylvania Analyst: Will McWilliams(610) 557-4050 wmcwilliams@fs.fed.us

Data acquisition / web sites: Carol L. Alerich, 610-557-4068, calerich@fs.fed.us

Website: fiatools.fs.fed.us