RESOURCE UPDATE FS-XXX

Forest Service | October 2014

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This publication provides an overview of the forest resources 

in West Virginia based upon inventories conducted by the 

U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) 

program of the Northern Research Station. Information about 

the FIA program is available online at http://fia.fs.fed.us. 

Since 2004, FIA has implemented an annual inventory in 

West Virginia. For the 2013 inventory, estimates for current 

variables, such as forest area, volume, and biomass, are based 

on 2,370 plots (both forested and nonforest) inventoried from 

2009-2013. Change variables, such as net growth, removals, 

and mortality, are based on 2,096 plots collected in 2004-

2008 and resampled in 2009-2013. Estimates from earlier 

annual and periodic inventories are shown for comparison. 

See Bechtold and Patterson (2005) and O’Connell et al. 

(2013) for definitions and technical details. 

Overview

West Virginias’s forest land area totals 12.2 million 

acres and occupies 79 percent of the State’s land area 

(Table 1). Since 2008, there has been a 1.8 percent 

increase in forest land. Ninety-six percent of West 

Virginia’s forest land, 11.8 million acres, is classified 

as timberland, 304,000 acres is classified as reserved, 

and 74,000 acres as forest land low in productivity. The 

most recent inventory shows that the net volume of 

trees continued to increase, and the annual net growth 

in volume continued to outpace annual removals. 

Average annual removals on timberland over the 

current 5-year period decreased by nearly a third from 

the previous 5-year average, reflecting the downturn in 

the economy that occurred after 2008. 

United States Department of Agriculture

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-22

Forests of 

West Virginia, 2013

Table 1.—West Virginia forest statistics, 2013 and 2008. Volumes are for 5-inch and larger diameter trees. Numbers of trees 

and biomass are for 1-inch and larger diameter trees. Sampling errors and error bars shown in tables and figures in this 

report represent 68 percent confidence intervals.

 

2013 

Estimate

Sampling 

error 

(percent)

2008 

Estimate

Sampling 

error 

(percent)

Change 

since 2008 

(percent)

Forest Land

Area (thousand acres) 12,186 0.6 11,974 0.7 1.8

Number of live trees (million trees) 6,315 1.6 6,196 1.6 1.9

Aboveground biomass of live trees (thousand oven-dry tons) 823,829 1.1 785,496 1.1 4.9

Net volume of live trees (million ft3

) 28,434 1.1 27,103 1.2 4.9

Annual net growth of live trees (thousand ft3

/yr) 578,102 3.8 693,366 2.4 -16.6

Annual mortality of live trees (thousand ft3

/yr) 263,065 5.1 219,451 4.5 19.9

Annual harvest removals of live trees (thousand ft3/yr) 226,540 12.1 332,203 8.5 -31.8

Annual other removals of live trees (thousand ft3/yr) 13,421 41.5 13,906 27.2 -3.5

Timberland 0.0 0 0.0 0.0

Area (thousand acres) 11,807 0.7 11,626 0.8 1.6

Number of live trees (million trees) 6,107 1.6 6,001 1.7 1.8

Aboveground biomass of live trees (thousand oven-dry tons) 793,627 1.1 758,805 1.2 4.6

Net volume of live trees (million ft3

) 27,330 1.2 26,150 1.3 4.5

Net volume of growing-stock trees (million ft3) 25,404 1.3 24,799 1.3 2.4

Annual net growth of growing-stock (thousand ft3/yr) 518,651 3.5 602,252 2.3 -13.9

Annual mortality of growing-stock trees (thousand ft3/yr) 190,502 5.8 166,528 4.8 14.4

Annual harvest removals of growing-stock trees (thousand ft3/yr) 193,202 12.2 283,459 8.6 -31.8

Annual other removals of growing-stock trees (thousand ft3/yr) 48,121 24.7 55,285 21.4 -13.0
Forest Area

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RESOURCE UPDATE FS-22

Successive annual inventories have shown forest land area 

increasing, although since 1989 there has been only a 

slight increase in forest land (Fig.1). Across the State, 

losses of forest land due to development have been more 

than offset by gains in forest land because of abandoned 

farmland and reclaimed surface mines reverting to forest. 

Because of ongoing development and a slowing in 

farmland losses, recent changes in total forest land have 

been small. These trends may indicate that the area of 

forest land in West Virginia is near a peak. Future changes 

in forest land will depend on the pace of land development 

and to a great extent on the economics of farming and 

mining. Because forests cover much of the State, much of 

the development that does occur is likely to affect forest 

land area. 

Eighty-seven percent of West Virginia’s forests are 

privately owned (10.6 million acres; Fig. 2). These 

ownerships include families and individuals, corporations, 

and other private entities. The remaining 13 percent (1.6 

million acres) is in public ownership. The largest public 

ownership is National Forest which holds over 1 million 

acres of forest land, followed by the State and local 

government with 369,000 acres.

West Virginia’s forests have been maturing as can be seen 

in the distribution of timberland by stand-size classes (Fig. 

3). Since the 1975 inventory, acreage of large-diameter 

stands has been increasing while the area of small and 

medium diameter stands has been decreasing. Acreage in 

large diameter stands now accounts for 78 percent of 

timberland whereas the area in medium diameter is 15 

percent and small diameter stands is 7 percent.

Oak/hickory is the most the abundant forest-type group, 

occupying 74 percent of forest land (Fig. 4). Since the 

Figure 1.—Forest land and timberland by year, West Virginia

Figure 3.—Timberland area by stand-size class and year, 

West Virginia. Error bars represent 68-percent 

confidence intervals. 

Figure 4.—Forest land area by stand-size class (based on 

small, medium, and large trees) for the top seven forest-type 

groups by acres, West Virginia, 2013.

Figure 2.—Forest land ownership, West Virginia, 2013

2008 inventory, the proportions of forest land occupied 

by the oak/hickory and maple/beech/birch forest-type 

groups by the oak/hickory and maple/beech/birch foresttype groups have changed by less than 1 percent.
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RESOURCE UPDATE FS-22

Volume, Biomass, and Trends

Across all forest land, the net volume of trees increased 

by 4.9 percent since 2008, to 28.4 billion cubic feet. 

Yellow-poplar continued to be the most voluminous 

species followed by chestnut oak, red maple, and white 

oak (Table 2). Changes in volume since 2008 differed 

between species. The top three species exhibited 

increases in net volume larger than the average increase 

for all species. Chestnut oak, red maple, and yellowpoplar, increased by 9.6, 8.0, and 6.7 percent 

respectively; while beech increased by only 0.9 percent 

and black oak decreased by 0.4 percent.

Sawtimber volume on timberland increased by 5.9 

percent to 92.2 billion board feet. Yellow-poplar is the 

leading sawtimber species by volume, followed by 

northern red oak, white oak, and chestnut oak. Since 

2008, sawtimber volume of chestnut oak, black cherry, 

and red maple, increased by 13.2, 12.8 and 10.8 percent, 

respectively.

There was 824 million dry tons of aboveground biomass 

of live tress on forest. This was a 4.9 percent increase 

since 2008. Seventy-one percent of the live tree biomass 

is in the merchantable boles of timber species trees on 

timberland. Aboveground biomass on timberland 

averaged 67 dry tons per acre.

In terms of average annual growth and removals on 

timberland, yellow-poplar and red maple experienced the 

largest annual growth in volume since 2008, and yellowpoplar followed by white oak had the largest removals 

(Fig. 5). Yellow-poplar alone accounts for 21 percent of 

the growth and 22 percent of removals. 

Annual growth outpaced total removals by a ratio of 

2.1:1 from 2008 to 2013 Ratios varied considerably 

between species: red maple and ash species had a 

growth to removals ratio of 4.5:1, whereas the ratio for 

white oak was 1.6:1 and black/scarlet oak 0.8:1. As a 

percentage of current volume, annual mortality averaged 

0.9 percent on timberland. Black/scarlet oak and beech 

had the highest mortality rates, averaging 1.6 and 1.3 

percent per year; red maple, chestnut oak, and yellowpoplar had low rates of mortality, each averaging 0.5 

percent per year.

Table 2.—Net volume, and percent change in net volume on forest land; sawtimber volume and percent change on timberland, 

and biomass on forest land, West Virginia, 2013, (top ten species by net volume). 

Species

Volume of live 

trees on forest 

land (million ft3)

Sampling 

error 

(percent)

Percent 

change 

since 2008

Volume of 

sawtimber 

trees on 

timberland 

(million 

bd.ft.)

Sampling 

error 

(percent)

Percent 

change 

since 2008

Aboveground 

biomass on 

forest land 

(million tons)

Sampling 

error 

(percent)

Yellow-poplar 4,156 4.2 6.7 16,846 4.8 7.1 87 4.1

Chestnut oak 2,639 4.5 9.6 8,497 5.3 13.2 85 4.5

Red maple 2,637 3.6 8.0 6,387 5.0 10.8 74 3.3

White oak 2,377 4.6 1.2 8,771 5.5 3.5 77 4.6

Northern red oak 2,242 4.9 4.7 9,667 5.8 6.4 72 4.9

Sugar maple 2,012 4.4 6.3 5,316 6.2 4.9 68 4.2

Black oak 1,195 5.8 -4.2 4,713 7.1 -6.3 37 5.8

Black cherry 1,142 7.3 11.7 3,589 9.8 12.8 29 7.0

American beech 1,072 6.4 0.9 3,427 8.8 0.2 34 6.0

Pignut hickory 831 6.0 5.4 2,541 7.6 8.5 30 5.9

Softwood species 1,539 5.9 8.8 4,378 7.7 6.2 31 5.7

Other hardwoods 6,591 2.3 2.3 18,070 3.4 4.2 201 2.2

All species 28,434 1.1 4.9 92,201 1.7 5.9 824 1.1

Figure 5.—Average annual net growth, removals, and mortality 

of net sound volume on timberland, and growth-to-removals 

ratio (G/R), West Virginia, 2008-2013. Error bars represent 68-

percent confidence intervals.
Characteristics of West Virginia’s Family Forest Owners 

RESOURCE UPDATE FS-22

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

How to Cite This Publication

Widmann, Richard H. 2014. Forests of West Virginia, 2013. 

Resource Update FS-22. Newtown Square, 

PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 4 p.

.

Contact Information

Richard H. Widmann, Forester

USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station

11 Campus Blvd. Suite 200.

Newtown Square, PA 19073

Ph: 610-557-4051 / Fax: 610-557-4250 

rwidmann@fs.fed.us

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

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

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer

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The National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS), 

conducted by the USDA Forest Service’s Forest 

Inventory and Analysis program, studies private forest 

landowners’ attitudes, management objectives, and 

concerns (Butler 2008). The NWOS has most recently 

focused on family forest owners with 10 acres or more 

of forest land. The NWOS (2011-2013) found that 

there are an estimated 101,000 family forest owners 

holding 10 acres or more of forest land, totaling 6.1 

million acres of forest land in West Virginia. This 

represents 58 percent of privately owned forest land in 

the State. Focusing on these 101,000 family forest 

ownerships with 10+ acres, the NWOS found they have 

the following characteristics listed in Table 3. The low 

priority given by landowners to timber production does 

not mean that landowners will not harvest trees. The 

relatively high number of owners that actually harvest 

trees means that when conditions are right, many 

landowners will harvest trees, although the low priority 

and lack of written management plans suggests that 

these harvests are not part of a long-term management 

plan. Owners tended to be fairly old and many have 

owned their land for decades.

Table 3.—Summary of responses to the National Woodland 

Owner Survey, family forest land ownerships with 10+ acres in 

West Virginia, 2011-2012

Because over half of West Virginia’s forest land is held 

by thousands of private landowners, decisions by these 

owners will have a great influence on West Virginia’s 

future forest. More information on the NWOS can be 

found at: http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/nwos/

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.

O’Connell, B.M.; LaPoint, E.B.; Turner, J.A.: et al. 2013. The Forest 

Inventory and Analysis database: database description and users 

manual version 5.16 for Phase 2. Washington, DC: U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Forest Service. 

(http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/library/database-documentation/)

Butler, B.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.

Widmann, R.H.; Cook, G.W.; et al. 2014. West Virginia’s forests 

2008. Resour. Bull. NRS-61. Newtown Square, Pa: U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 68 p.

Owner:

Owners 

(percent)

Acres 

(percent)

Uses woodland property as primary residence. 62 57

Is retired. 57 58

Is 55 years old or older. 78 82

Is 65 years old or older. 46 50

Has owned land for more than 25 years. 42 49

Has an annual income below $100,000. 82 76

Receives no annual income from woodland owned. 91 81

Has posted land to restrict public access. 61 72

Plans to improve wildlife habitat in next 5 years. 40 48

Wants their wooded land to stay wooded. 79 81

Is likely or extremely likely to give away land in the

 next 5 years. * 12 14

Felt getting advice on how to transfer land to next

 generation would be helpful or very helpful .* 42 44

Felt that timber production was an important or very

 important reason for owning forest land.* 24 32

Has cut trees for commercial reasons. 38 48

Has cut trees for personal use. 51 55

Has cut or removed trees for sale in past 5 years. 10 20

Has cut or removed trees for own use in past 5 years. 35 35

Plans to cut trees for sale in next 5 years. 13 21

Plans to cut trees for own use in next 5 years. 39 38

Has not received forest management advice. 88 82

Has a written management plan. 13 20

Is not familiar with cost share programs. 76 67

Is not familiar with forestry related tax programs. 86 76

Felt getting advice on woodland management would

 be helpful or very helpful. * 46 45

Felt getting advice on more favorable tax policies

 would be helpful or very helpful.* 59 62

*includes two highest responses on a five-point Likert scale.