A Forested Tract-Size Profile 

of South Carolina's NIPF Landowners 

Michael T. Thompson 

Abstract 

Information gathered from 3,078 permanent forest survey 

sample plots showed that nearly 0.9 million acres, or 10 

percent of the nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) timberland in 

South Carolina is in forested tracts 10 acres or less. Forested 

tracts ranging from 1 1 to 100 acres accounted for the largest 

proportion of NIPF timberland. Forested tract size varied 

significantly by NIPF-ownership group. By NIPF-ownership 

group, the other corporate group recorded the highest average 

forested tract size of 3,802 acres. Volume of softwood 

growing stock was significantly higher in the larger tract-size 

categories. Hardwood growing-stock volume per acre was 

significantly higher in the largest and smallest forested tractsize classes. Softwood growing-stock removals exceeded 

growth across all forested-parcel categories, whereas 

hardwood growing-stock growth surpassed hardwood 

removals in two tract-size classes. 

Keywords: Forest ownership, forested tract size, timber 

growth, timber removals, timber volume, timberland. 

Introduction 

Future demands for timber products are expected to 

increase. As a group consisting of farmers, private 

individuals, and corporations that do not manufacture 

forest products, nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners in South Carolina have the potential to meet 

some of this increasing demand for three reasons. First, 

these owners control vast quantities of forest land and 

timber volume. Second, public forests will probably play 

a smaller role in timber production as constraints in 

budgets continue and environmental groups pressure to 

reduce levels of timber harvesting increases. And third, 

substantial amounts of forest industry land are shifting 

to corporate and individual ownership (Conner 1993). 

In South Carolina, NIPF landowners control 72 percent 

of the State's 12.4 million acres of timberland (Conner 

1993). In a recent study of private forest landowners 

in the United States (Birch 1996), results for South 

Carolina indicate large numbers of individual private 

owners own relatively small amounts of forest acreages. This finding reveals that managing timber on 

small, privately owned tracts is important. 

Tract size affects timber management decisions. Hodge 

and Southard (1 992) found a relationship between size 

class of ownership and willingness to prepare a written 

forestry plan. In addition, they determined that intention to harvest is closely linked to whether a written 

plan exists. The high costs of managing tracts less 

than 50 to 100 acres in size must be considered by 

landowners when evaluating management alternatives 

(Society of American Forests 1 979). Cost sharing and 

technical assistance programs, such as the Soil Bank 

Program of the 1950's and the Conservation Reserve 

Program of 1985, are more appealing to forest landowners who either own large acreages or already 

actively manage their lands for timber production 

(Kingsley and Birch 1 977). The Forestry Incentives 

Program adopted in the 1 970's established a 1 0-acre 

minimum as a guideline for assistance to NIPF owners. 

Because increasing numbers of landowners control 

smaller tracts and because incentive and cost-sharing 

programs continue to benefit owners of large tracts, 

the Forest Inventory and Analysis Research Work Unit 

(FIA) began collecting new information in South 

Carolina's seventh inventory (1 993). This information 

consists of tract size and the proportion of forested 

acreage in each tract. In this paper I summarize 

forested tract-size acreage distribution of NIPF-owned 

lands in South Carolina by specific owner group, 

region, broad management class, and stand age. I also 

examine the differences among these variables. Finally, 

I review the relationship between forested tract size 

and volume, growth, and removals of growing stock. 

The Procedure 

The sampling scheme for this study follows the sampling 

design used by FIA at the Southern Research Station. 

lnformation was gathered from a subsample containing 

3,078 permanent forest survey sample plots visited 

periodically by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service inventory crews in South Carolina. Field crews 

used county courthouse records and tax maps to 

collect ownership information for each timberland 

sample. Only those sample plots classified in the NIPFowner category were used in this study. 

For each NIPF-inventory plot, the acreage of the entire 

individual tract is recorded. The boundary survey used 

in South Carolina is the metes and bounds method in 

which each segment of a boundary is individually 

described in terms of bearings and distances. The 

entire parcel is described on cadastral or blue line 

maps, or the boundaries are drawn directly onto aerial 

photographs. Parcel acreage is readily available on the 

tax maps and is recorded for each sample plot location. 
The proportion of the individual tract covered by forest Results 

is then determined and applied to the total tract 

acreage to calculate the acreage of forest on the 

particular tract. This proportion of forested acreage is 

usually determined in one of two ways: (1) if the tax 

maps are aerial photographs, the forested acreage proportion is estimated directly from the aerial photography in the county courthouse; or (21 if the tax maps 

are blue line maps, the tract boundaries are transposed 

onto the field crew's aerial photographs to determine 

the forested acreage proportion. This acreage, referred 

to as forested tract size or forested parcel, was used 

Of the 8.9 million acres of NIPF timberland in South 

Carolina, nearly 0.9 million acres, or 10 percent, were 

concentrated in forested tracts 10 acres or less (table 1 ). 

Forested tracts exceeding 500 acres totaled almost 1.5 

million acres, or 16 percent, of all NIPF timberland in 

the State. Forested parcels ranging from 1 1 to 100 

acres accounted for the largest proportion (43 percent) 

of privately owned timberland; tracts 101 to 500 acres 

the remaining 31 percent. 

for analysis in this study. For many comparisons, 

forested tract size was grouped into six discrete classes; 

0-1 0 acres, 1 1-50 acres, 5 1 -1 00 acres, 101 -200 acres, Ownership Group 

201 -500 acres, and > 500 acres. Forested tract differences among stand area variables, volume, growth, and 

removals were determined using the General Linear 

Model test (SAS Institute 1988). 

The collection of forested tract size is limited to the 

forested acreage contained in the tracts sampled and 

does not include the total acreage the individual or 

corporation may own elsewhere in the county, State, 

or outside the State. Because trend information is 

unavailable until the next inventory of South Carolina, 

the present examination of the timberland resource will 

be confined primarily to the current estimate sf timberland area and volume. No tract-size data were collected 

from previous periods, therefore, comparisons of 

timber removals and harvest activities are confounded 

Within the NlPF group, three owner categories are 

recognized: (1) farmer-owned land, owned by farm 

operators, excluding incorporated farm ownerships; 

(2) other private-individual land, owned by individuals 

other than farm operators; and (3) other corporate 

land, owned by corporations that do not manufacture 

forest products, including incorporated farm ownerships. Across all owner categories, forested tract size 

averaged 920 acres. Mean forested tract size varied 

significantly among the three owner categories (table 1 ). 

Farmer-owned land recorded the smallest average 

parcel size (1 38 acres), and the other private-individual 

category indicated an average parcel size of 353 acres. 

Forested tract size averaged 3,802 acres for the other 

corporate category. 

by timber harvesting on larger parcels that have been 

subsequently subdivided. Once trends have been The large, average forested tract size for other 

established, forested tract size will provide a measure corporate ownership occurs for two reasons. First, 

of resource fragmentation and may establish a connec- forest industry has sold a substantial amount of land to 

tion between tract size and the NlPF landowner's other corporations. Of the 1.6 million acres of other 

attitude about timber management. Forested tract size, corporate timberland in South Carolina (Conner 1993), 

and many other stand variables may also serve as over 16 percent was classified as forest industry 

additional timber availability screening tools. acreage in 1986. Much of this land was in very large 

Table I -Acreage by forested tract-size class and NIPF-ownership group, 

South Carolina, 1993 

MIPF-ownership group - - 

Forested tract- All Farmer- Other Other 

size class classes owned corporate private-individual 

Acres 

All classes 8,946,685 2,7 1 1,543 1,63 1,825 4,603,3 1 7 

Mean' 919.7 138.5 3801.6 352.9 
individual parcels typical of industry holdings. Second, 

because other corporations often control large parcels 

of land, the mean forested tract size in this NlPF 

category is large. 

Examination of forested tract-size classes among owner 

categories indicated variations in acreage distribution. 

Most noteworthy were differences in the acreage 

proportion in the smallest and largest tract-size class. 

Almost 1 5 percent of other private-individual land was 

in forested parcels < 11 acres (table 1 ). Only 3 percent 

of other corporate land and 6 percent of farmer-owned 

land resided in forested parcels < 1 1 acres. Nearly 48 

percent of corporate-owned land was in forested tracts 

> 500 acres, compared to 12 and 5 percent for the 

other private-individual and farmer-owned categories, 

respectively. 

Region 

When forested tract size was compared on a regional 

basis, results indicated the Piedmont contained the 

highest proportion of tracts smaller than 1 1 acres 

(fig. 1). The Coastal Plain units contained the largest 

amount of timberland in tracts larger than 500 acres, 

primarily as a result of other corporate holdings. Over 

Pie 

73 percent of the total timberland acreage in these 

large forested tracts was located in the northern and 

southern Coastal Plain units, Figure 1 displays average 

forested tract size by individual county. 

Mean forested tract size indicated considerable regional 

van'ation among the three NIPF-owner categories (table 1). 

Mean forested tract size for farmer-ovvned timberland 

ranged from 1 19 acres in the Piedmont region to 180 

acres in the southern Coastal Plain. Mean tract size for 

other private-individual land ranged from 146 acres in 

the Piedmont region t o 4 9 0 acres in the southern 

Coastal Plain, and for the other corporate category 

from 1,396 acres in the northern Coastal Plain to 

5,458 acres in the Piedmont. 

Broad Management Class and Stand Age 

Comparisons of forested tract size were based on five 

broad management classes: (1) pine plantation, (2) 

natural pine, (3) oak-pine, (4) upland hardwood, and 

(5) lowland hardwood. Examination of mean forested 

parcel size indicated no significant difference between 

broad forest types (F = I .TI, P = 0.1 445). Planted 

pine stands were contained in forested parcels averaging 1,292 acres-the highest recorded mean of the five 

'lain 

Figure I -Average forested tract size for NlPF lands by county in South Carolina, 1993. 
types (fig. 2). lowland hardwood types were found in When these planted stands are displayed in 10-year 

forested tracts averaging 624 acres, the lowest mean. age classes, 73 percent are in stands <20 years old. 

Pine plantations on NIPF fand occupied about 1.2 Of these plantations under 20 years, 2 percent were 

million acres, with <3 percent of this acreage in forested parcels < 1 1 acres and 18 percent were 

forested tracts < 1 1 acres (table 2). Nearly 20 percent forested parcels > 500 acres. 

of the NIPF land planted in pine was in tracts larger 

than 500 acres with the remaining 78 percent some- These findings showed that dew pine plantations were 

what evenly distributed in tracts 1 1 to 500 acres. in very smail tracts, Noticeable differences appeared in 

0 - 

Planted Natural Oa k-pine Upland Lowland 

pine pine hardwood hardwood 

Broad forest type 

Figure 2-Average forested tract size by broad forest type, South Carolina, 1993 

(error bars represent one standard error). 

Table 2--Area of planted pine stands by forested tract-size and stand-age classes for 

NlPF lands in South Carolina, 1993 

No Stand-age class (years) 

Forested tract- All manageable 

size class classes stand 0- 9 10-19 20-29 30 + 

Acres 

0- 10 32,447 2,504 13,922 5,312 2,089 8,620 

11 - 50 187,580 1 1,660 99,687 43,595 5,208 27,430 

51 - 100 270,783 - 169,160 50,777 19,181 3 1,665 

101 - 200 261,571 10,331 1 26,5 14 66,920 24,197 33,609 

201 - 500 246,OI 5 4,681 103,995 66,865 28,848 41,626 

501 i- 241,166 - 92,377 71,232 33,001 44,556 

All classes 1,239,562 29,176 605,655 304,701 1 12,524 187,506 
the distribution of planted stands between NIPF-owner 

categories. Other corporations had a much greater 

proportion of pine plantations in larger tracts than other 

private individuals and farmers. Almost 47 percent of 

planted pine stands on other corporate land were in 

forested tracts larger than 500 acres compared to 11 

percent on other private-individual land and 4 percent 

on farmer-owned land. 

Natural pine stands controlled by NIPF owners occupied almost 2.2 million acres and 10 percent of this 

area resided in forested tracts of < 10 acres (table 3). 

Eighteen percent of natural pine acreage was concentrated in forested tracts > 500 acres. The higher 

proportion of natural pine acreage in the smallest tractsize category compared to planted pine acreage 

indicates that natural pine stands are more fragmented. 

The forested tract-size category containing the largest 

amount of natural pine acreage was the I I -50-acres 

class, accounting for 24 percent of the total area. By 

NIPF-owner category, other corporate land recorded 

over 50 percent of natural pine acreage in tracts 500 

acres and larger and only 3 percent in tracts under 11 

acres. In contrast, other private-individual land recorded 15 percent of natural pine acreage in tracts 500 

acres and larger and 15 percent in tracts under 1 1 acres. 

Oak-pine is a transitory forest type in which hardwoods 

comprise a piurality of all live-tree stocking, but softwoods comprise 25 to 50 percent of the stocking. The 

distribution of acreage classified as an oak-pine forest 

type generally follows the same overall pattern as 

natural pine. On timberland controlled by NIPF owners, 

oak-pine stands covered about 1.6 million acres. Ten 

percent of oak-pine stands were concentrated in 

forested tracts < 1 1 acres and 13 percent were in 

tracts > 500 acres (table 4). About 46 percent of the 

oak-pine area was in tracts 1 1-1 00 acres; and the 

remaining 31 percent were in forested parcels 101 to 

500 acres. 

Nonindustrial private forest owners held almost 2.2 

million acres of timberland classified as upland hardwood forest type. Of the five broad forest-type classes, 

upland hardwood types had the highest pro-portion of 

acreage in the smaller forested tract-size categories. 

Sixteen percent of upland hardwood stands were in 

tracts < 1 1 acres in size and 29 percent were in tracts 

I I to 50 acres (table 5). Only I I percent of upland 

hardwood acreage was contained in forested tracts 

> 500 acres. The high percentage of fragmented 

upland hardwood stands was especially pronounced in 

the other private-individual owner group where 25 

percent was recorded in the smallest tract-size category 

and 5 percent was recorded in the largest tract-size 

category. The other private-individual owner group 

controls nearly 52 percent of the NIPF-owned upland 

hardwood acreage in South Carolina (Conner 19933. 

Table 3-Area of natural pine stands by forested tract-size and stand-age classes for NlPF lands in South Carolina, 1993 

No Stand-age class (years) 

Forested tract- All manageable 

size class classes stand 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 + 

Acres 

0- 10 21 2,675 17,433 26,167 33,758 14,308 25,486 38,239 33,696 23,588 

11 - 50 517,510 41,343 86,142 87,294 66,847 77,176 81,074 52,567 25,067 

51 - 100 391,093 27,673 59,350 60,495 64,564 74,635 44,446 27,935 31,995 

101 - 200 357,209 30,817 65,928 29,424 34,307 56,903 58,620 32,724 48,486 

201 - 500 322,420 17,218 54,161 41,697 52,777 43,855 62,483 22,098 28,131 

501 + 395,515 30,848 65,966 40,781 43,452 36,312 73,655 48,392 56,109 

All classes 2,196,422 165,332 357,714 293,449 276,255 31 4,367 358,517 21 7,412 21 3,376 

Table 4-Area of oak-pine stands by forested tract-dzer and stand-age classes for NIPF lands in South Carolina, 1993 

No Stand-age class (years) 

Forested tract- Ail manageable 

size class classes stand 0-9 10-1 9 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 + 

Acres 

0- 10 156,526 48,6 14 40,383 22,648 6,283 4,284 6,545 8,557 19,212 

11 - 50 441,919 81,875 1 19,466 93,209 28,133 12,643 43,223 29,455 3331 5 

51 - 100 279,065 49,478 63,927 37,847 39,311 18,245 18,234 17,975 34,048 

107 - 200 242,609 26,046 84,814 25,786 21,091 21,569 25,481 19,618 18,204 

201 - 500 229,876 43,578 70,165 36,105 13,912 17,218 2,859 14,029 32,010 

501 + 208,877 40,140 53,107 28,972 3,465 30,880 8,490 16,826 26,997 

All classes 1,558,872 289,731 431,862 244,567 1 12,195 104,839 104,832 106,460 164,386 
Table 5-Area of upland hardwood stands by forested tract-size and stand-age classes for NIPF lands in South Carolina, 1993 

No Stand-age class (yearsf 

Forested tract- All manageable 

size class classes stand 0-9 10-1 9 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 + 

Acres 

0- 10 343,976 66,535 43,034 9,874 24,884 23,474 48,934 60,754 66,487 

11 - 50 630,917 1 19,201 103,155 68,381 23,952 29,550 72,580 107,034 107,064 

51 - 100 369,403 107,701 46,295 41,210 15,771 19,212 37,593 40,427 61 ,I 94 

101 - 200 359,221 92,111 47,483 44,554 21,589 12,242 22,655 44,272 74,315 

201 - 500 21 9,098 70,320 36,375 23,412 21,922 9,402 8,239 31,598 17,830 

501 + 231,292 72,065 19,027 4,959 19,164 20,281 12,875 24,500 58,421 

All classes 2,153,907 527,933 295,369 192,390 127,282 114,161 202,876 308,585 385'31 1 

Some I .8 million acres of timberland on NIPF land 

were classified as lowland hardwood forest type. The 

distribution of lowland hardwood acreage differed 

considerably from that of upland hardwood acreage by 

forested tract-size category. Eight percent of lowland 

hardwood stands were in forested parcels < 1 1 acres 

and 2 1 percent were in forested parcels > 500 acres 

(table 6). Regional variation is the primary reason for 

differences in forested tract-size acreage distribution 

between the upland and lowland hardwood-type 

classes. Almost 91 percent of lowland hardw~~d 

acreage is contained in the Coastal Plain survey units, 

where larger forested parcels abound. Nearly 60 percent 

of upland hardwood stands are in the Piedmont region, 

where the number of small, forested tracts is large. 

Volume, Growth, and Removals 

Examination of growing-stock volume indicated 

considerable variation by forested-tract size. Average 

softwood growing-stock volume varied significantly by 

forested parcel size (F = 6.27, P = 0.0001 ). Softwood volume per acre was significantly lower in the 

smaller tract-size categories than in the larger tract-size 

categories. Average softwood growing-stock volume 

per acre averaged 51 0 cubic feet in tracts under 1 1 

acres and 469 cubic feet in the I 1-50-acre category 

(fig. 3). Average softwood volume per acre averaged 

638 cubic feet in the 201 -500-acre category and 71 7 

cubic feet in tracts > 500 acres. 

The variation in softwood growth per acre by forested 

tract size was not significant (F = 1.40, P = 0.2201 1. 

Lower average softwood growth per acre occurred in 

the smaller forested parcels and higher softwood 

growth occurred in the larger tracts (fig. 4). The lowest 

average softwood growth per acre was recorded in 

forested parcels under 11 acres, averaging 13.1 cubic 

feet. The highest average softwood growth per acre 

was recorded in the 201 -500-acre category, averaging 

26.1 cubic feet. 

Softwood removals followed a pattern similar to softwood growth across all tract-size categories, ranging 

from 23.2 cubic feet in the 0-1 0-acre category to over 

44 cubic feet in the 201-500-acre category (fig. 4). No 

significant differences in softwood removals per 

acre were observed by forested tract-size category 

(F = 1.84, P = 0.1 008). Softwood removals exceeded 

growth across all forested tract-size categories. The 

largest margin of softwood removals over growth was 

recorded in the 1 I -50-acre category, where softwood 

removals exceeded growth by a margin of 2.1 0 to I. 

Tebte 6---Area of lowland hardwood stands by forested tract-size and stand-age ciesses for NIPF lands in South Carolina, 3993 

No Stand-age class (years) 

Forested tract- All manageable 

size class classes stand 0-9 10-1 9 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 + 

Acres 

All classes 1,797,922 383,286 
Forested tract-size category 

Figure 3-Average softwood volume per acre by forested tract-size category, South 

Carolina, 1993 (error bars represent one standard error). 

I Growtl 

40 ,. - - - - - - - - - - . - 

7 O Removals 

Forested tract-size category 

Figure 4-Average softwood growing-stock growth and removals per acre by forested 

tract-size category, South Carolina, 1993 (error bars represent one standard error). 
Average hardwood growing-stock volume varied 

significantly by forested-parcel size (F = 3.68, 

P = 0.0026). Average hardwood volume per acre was 

significantly higher in the smallest and largest tract-size 

categories compared to the other categories. Hardwood growing-stock volume per acre averaged over 

91 2 cubic feet in parcels under 11 acres and 835 

cubic feet in parcels > 500 acres (fig. 5). Hardwood 

growth also indicated significant variation by forested 

tract size (F = 2.86, P = 0.01 41 ). The highest 

average hardwood growth per acre of 23 cubic feet 

was recorded in the 0-1 0-acre forested tract-size 

category and the lowest hardwood growth of 11 cubic 

feet occurred in the 51 -1 00-acre category. The level of 

hardwood removals indicated some variation by 

forested-parcel category, but this variation was not 

significant (F = 1.95, P = 0.0837). Hardwood growth 

exceeded removals in the two smallest forested tractsize categories and removals surpassed hardwood 

growth in the remaining categories (fig. 6). Hardwood 

growth more than doubled removals in forested parcels 

under 1 1 acres and hardwood removals exceeded 

growth by a ratio of 1.62 to 1 in forested tracts > 500 

acres. A large inventory of hardwood and a healthy 

margin of growth exceeding removals in forested tracts 

under 1 1 acres suggests that small, forested parcels 

may offer promise in meeting demands for hardwood 

timber. However, a host of factors affect the amount 

of the hardwood resource that is actually available for 

commercial logging. Terrain, environmental concerns, 

public policy, landowner attitudes and objectives, and 

the physical attributes of the resource restricting the 

availability of the resource must also be considered 

when evaluating the hardwood resource for adequate 

quantities of timber products. 

Comparisons of volume, growth, and removals by 

forested tract size are somewhat confounded because 

Hurricane Hugo inflicted severe damage, primarily in 

the northern Coastal Plain. This region's forests 

incurred heavy losses in inventory volumes and 

suffered unusually high mortality (Conner 1993). The 

primary impact was unusually low net growth. Many of 

the large, forested parcels controlled by the other 

corporate category in the northern Coastal Plain 

undoubtedly sustained severe damage from the storm 

that resulted in low inventory growth and high removal 

rates from storm-related salvage activity. 

Forested tract-size category 

Figure 5-Average hardwood volume per acre by forested tract-size category, South 

Carolina, 1993 (error bars represent one standard error). 
I D Grovvth C3 Removals I I 

0-1 0 1 1-50 51-100 101 -200 201 -500 501 t- 

~orested tract-size category 

Figure 6-Average hardwood growing-stock growth and removals per acre by forested 

tract-size category, South Carolina, 1993 (error bars represent one standard error). 

Summary and Conclusion Literature Cited 

Examination of forested tract size in South Carolina 

indicated that 43 percent of the timberland area 

controlled by NlPF owners was concentrated in 1 1 - to 

100-acre tracts. Most forested tracts under 1 1 acres 

were controlled by the other private-individual category. 

Comparison of softwood growing-stock volume per 

acre indicated significantly higher volumes occur in the 

larger tract-size categories. Softwood removals 

exceeded growth across all forested-parcel categories. 

Hardwood growing-stock volume per acre was significantly higher in the largest and smallest forested parcelsize classes. In addition, a large margin of hardwood 

growth exceeding removals was recorded in forested 

tracts under 1 1 acres. 

Anticipated demands for increasing timber production 

in South Carolina and elsewhere in the Southeast will 

shift more attention to the timber resource on NlPF 

land. By monitoring forested tract size over successive 

periods of time throughout the South, we will learn 

Birch, Thomas W. 1996. The forest-land owners of the 

United States, 1994. Resour. Bull. NE-134. Radnor, 

PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 

Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 90 p. 

Conner, Roger C. 1 993. Forest statistics for South 

Carolina, 1993. Resour. Bull. SE-141. Asheville, NC: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 52 p. 

Hodge, Sandra S.; Southard, Lou. 1992. A profile of 

Virginia's NlPF landowners: results of a 1991 

survey. Virginia's Forests. Richmond, VA. 4 p. 

Kingsley, Neal P.; Birch, Thomas W. 1977. The forestland owners of New Hampshire and Vermont. 

Resour. Bull. NE-51. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern 

Forest Experiment Station. 47 p. 

how the diverse NIPF-ownership group behaves in 

terms of land and timber management. Trend informa- SAS Institute Inc. 1988. SASfSTAT user's guide. 

tion by forested tract size will enable accurate monitor- Version 6. 4th ed. Cary, NC: SAS lnstitute Inc. 

ing and evaluation of resource fragmentation and the 1686 p. Vol. 2. 

level of timber removals from small parcels. With this 

information, we will be able to identify factors affect- Society of American Foresters. 1 979, Improving 

ing timber availability and production on NlPF lands in outputs from nonindustrial private forests. Study 

the Southern United States. report. Washington, DC: Society of American 

Foresters. 1 1 p. 
The Forest Service, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, is dedicated to the principle 

multiple use management of the Nation's forest resources 

for sustained yields of wood, water, forage, vvildlife, and 

recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the 

States and private forest owners, and management of the 

National Forests and National Grasslands, it strives-as 

directed by Congress-to provide increasingly greater service 

to a growing Nation. 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits 

discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, 

national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and 

marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all 

programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative 

means of communication of program information (braille, large 

print, audiotape, ete.) should contact the USDA office of 

Communications at (202) 720-5881. To file a complaint, write 

the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Washington, DC 20250, or call 1-800-245-6340. USDA is an 

equal employment opportunity employer. 

Thompson, Michael T. 1997. A forested tract-size profile of South Carolina's 

NIPF landowners. Res. Pap. SRS-2. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 9 p. 

Information gathered from 3,078 permanent forest survey sample plots showed that 

nearly 0.9 million acres, or 10 percent of the nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) 

timberland in South Carolina is in forested tracts 10 acres or less. Forested tracts 

ranging from 1 1 to 100 acres accounted for the largest proportion of NIPF timberland. Forested tract size varied significantly by NIPF-ownership group. By NIPFownership group, the other corporate group recorded the highest average forested 

tract size of 3,802 acres. Volume of softwood growing stock was significantly 

higher in the larger tract-size categories. Hardwood growing-stock volume per acre 

was significantly higher in the largest and smallest forested tract-size classes. 

Softwood growing-stock removals exceeded growth across all forested-parcel 

categories, whereas hardwood growing-stock growth surpassed hardwood removals 

in two tract-size classes. 

Keywords: Forest ownership, forested tract size, timber growth, timber removals, 

timber volume, timberland.