United States

Department of

Agriculture

Forest Service

Recent Area Changes

in Southern Forest ’

Ownerships and Cover Types

Southeastern Forest

Experiment Station

Research Paper

SE-260

Ralph J. Alig

Herbert A. Knight

Richard A. Birdsey
December 1986

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station

P.O. Box 2680

Asheville, North Carolina 28802
Recent Area Changes in Southern

Forest Ownerships and Cover Types

Ralph J. Alig, Project Leader

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

Herbert A. Knight, Resource Analyst

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station

Asheville, North Carolina

Richard A. Birdsey, Research Forester

Southern Forest Experiment Station

New Orleans, Louisiana

AEEXRACT

Forest area data were examined from the most

recent surveys of the 12 Southern States by the

Forest Inventory and Analysis units of the USDA

Forest Service. Prom 1977 to 1985. forest

industry acreage in the South has continued to

increase, miscellaneous private acreage has

increased at a slower rate, and farm forest acreage has continued to drop sharply. During the

same period. the largest area changes among cover

types have occurred in pine types. Area in natural pine has decreased 18 percent. and planted

pine area has increased by 41 percent.

Keywords : Forest area, timber supply, forest

ownership.

-

The South is an increasingly important source of timber. Currently,

southern timberland provides two-thirds

of the domestic roundwood used in the

pulp industry, one-third of the timber

used in the lumber industry, about twofifths of the timber used in the veneer

and plywood industry, and a large portion of that used in producing other

miscellaneous timber products in the

United States. Further, most of the

expansion in the timber products industry in the United States over the next

few decades is likely to be based on

southern timber resources (USDA Forest

Service 1982).

This Paper describes recent changes

in the area of southern timberland,

including changes by ownership and cover

type. The discussion also highlights

other significant regional changes, such

as timberland leasing and land acquisition by miscellaneous private corporate owners. Historical changes in the

area of southern timberland are discussed elsewhere (e.g., USDA Forest

Service 1982). The focus here is on

recent changes.

Land Use Changes

Land use competition among several

sectors of the economy is expected to

be particularly intense over the next

decade or so in the South. Key economic

sectors that are dependent on land

include crop agriculture, livestock

agriculture (grazing), and forestry.

Timberland currently occupies about

three-fifths of the land in the South,

but this proportion could rise or fall in

the years ahead. A USDA study (1983)

estimated that some 17 million acres now

in cropland and pasture in nine Southern

States could yield higher average annual

net returns per acre in pine plantations.

An earlier study of potential cropland,

however, estimated that approximately 20

million acres of timberland in 12

Southern States had medium or high

Potential as cropland (Dideriksen and

others 1977).
High interest rates and declining

export markets have created uncertainty

about the financial position of many

farmers. Unattractive returns from

farming ventures could cause an

increased rate of reversion of marginal

cropland to forest. Overall, the

potential for shifts in land use is

large, and the net effect on forest

acreage is hard to predict.

A key aspect of timber availability

in the South is the large proportion of

forest acreage that is controlled by

nonindustrial private forest (NIPF)

owners. Forest industry owns or leases

about 23 percent of the timberland in

the South, and various levels of

government control another 10 percent.

NIPF owners of various sorts control the

remainder. Thus, decisions about

management of the majority of the

southern forests are made neither by

government officials nor by corporate

officials. They are made by hundreds of

thousands of individuals pursuing their

own interests, guided by market and

nonmarket objectives. Changes are

tracked after the fact by analyzing the

results of forest surveys, as we do in

this Paper.

Recent Forest Acreage Changes

Forest acreages of individual States

are estimated periodically in Forest

Inventory and Analysis (FIA) surveys by

the USDA Forest Service (e.g., Knight

1973) l The entire South is resurveyed

in approximately lo-year cycles. The

area is divided between two subregions:

the Southeast, including Florida,

Georgia, ,North Carolina, South Carolina,

and Virginia: and the Midsouth,

including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana,

Mississippi, east Oklahoma, Tennessee,

and east Texas.

For an ongoing Forest Service study

of the southern timber resource, the

State FIA surveys were updated to 1985

by FIA experts. The previous update for

the southern FIA surveys was for the

year 1977 (USDA Forest Service 1982).

Land Base

Recent FIA surveys indicate that

timberland's share of the land base has

been decreasing for a decade or more in

all the Southern States except Alabama

and Tennessee, where timberland's share

has increased slightly. Regionwide,

forest area has dropped by 4.5 million

acres since 1977.

Net changes in forest area for the

Southern States result in part from

shifts among cropland, pasture, and

forest. Periodic surveys by the Census

of Agriculture suggest that some of the

diverted forest land was planted to

crops. Between 1974 and 1982, the area

of cropland (harvested, crop failure,

and cultivated summer fallow) in the

South increased by approximately 7

million acres. During the same period,

pasture and rangeland decreased by about

2 million acres in the two forest survey

regions (which exclude large parts of

Texas and Oklahoma). These shifts

reflect trends in relative income

obtainable from the alternative uses.

Generally, real crop incomes per acre

have risen since the 1960’s. whereas

real livestock income indices have

declined (Alig 1984). Comparable

standardized indices for income from

forest land are not available.

Forest area has also been reduced by

continued clearing for urban and related

developed uses. Urban expansion has

been driven in part by a population

increase of more than 40 percent in the

South from 1960 to 1980. Over that same

time period, per-capita real personal

income in the South has approximately

doubled, creating additional pressure to

develop land (Alig 1985).

Conversions to built-up uses

represent very long-term removals from

the forest land base. Shifts of forest

land to urban and other built-up uses

also differ from shifts to agricultural

uses in that urbanization often

restricts cultural operations on nearby

or adjoining rural land.

2
The extent to which land that is

urbanized comes out of forest rather

than agricultural uses cannot be

suitably answered with current data.

Analysis of one data set by Healy (1984)

indicated that high-quality rather than

low-quality forest land was converted

(to both urban and agricultural uses),

while analysis of another data set

indicated just the opposite. Other

studies indicate that urban and built-up

uses occur disproportionately on prime

agricultural land (Cousins and Dillman

1982; Ramsey and Corty 1982). Overall,

these studies suggest that land in the

South is not converted to urban uses in

a given locality in proportion to the

relative acreage in each rural use,

which is about 60 percent for forest

land.

Land Productivity

Statistical analysis of FIA data

first assembled around the mid-1960's

indicates no significant changes at the

regional level in the distribution of

timberland by site for owner classes.

The last two forest surveys in the

Southeast indicate relatively minor

shifts toward the higher site classes

(table 1).

Net changes in the distribution of

site classes by forest type have also

been relatively small, except for the

lowland hardwood class. Data for the

Southeast indicate a large drop in the

lowland hardwood area in the upper site

class. A major cause is conversion of

high-quality timberland to agriculture,

including soybean production.

Forest Ownership

Since 1977, the largest area changes

for forest ownerships in the South have

occurred on forest industry and NIPF

land (fig. 1). Forest industry acquired

more than a million acres of southern

timberland. The expansion was about'

equally divided between the two

subregions.

Over an extended period, many forest

products manufacturing companies have

found it advantageous to own large

amounts of forest land. Perceived

advantages include an assured wood

supply for mills that represent very

large investments, augmented supplies of

low-cost timber, an inflationary hedge,

and certain tax advantages (Clephane

1978; Clephane 1980; O'Laughlin and

Ellefson 1982). While the specific

Table 1. --Changes in the percentage distribution of southeastern timberland, by

site class in each ownership category, between last two surveys

High site class Medium site class Low site class

Ownership Previous Latest Previous Latest Previous Latest

class survey survey survey survey survey survey

National Forest 1 7 18 54 50 29 32

Other public 16 21 54 50 30 29

Forest industry 23 22 63 64 14 1 4

Nonindustrial

private 22 22 58 6 1 20 1 7

All owners 21 22 59 6 1 20 17

3
1985

NATIONAL FOREST

OTHER PUBLIC

---

----

El

---- FOREST INDUSTRY

---- -AI

OTHER CORPORATE

EmI

FARM

MISC. PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS

Figure l---Timberland area by ownership

in 1977 and 1985.

gains may be difficult to identify in

individual cases, advantages must exist,

because the top 20 forest products

manufacturing companies in the United

States all own significant amounts of

timberland (O'Laughlin and Ellefson 1982)

The latest survey data do not

indicate that purchase of timberland by

forest industry in the South has

slackened, but future surveys might.

Today, such ownership is under attack in

many companies that are experiencing

cash-flow problems. Investments other

than land could, in some instances,

provide more attractive returns. As a

result, large amounts of forest industry

land have been reported for sale,

although few transactions appear to have

actually occurred. In addition, forest

industry in some cases is substituting

intensive forestry practices for

increased land acquisition.

Two attractive substitutes for

direct ownership of forest land for

forest products manufacturers are

long-term land leases and long-term

cutting rights. According to FIA

statistics, long-term leasing (one

timber rotation or longer) of NIPF land

by forest industry (excluding land under

cutting contracts) increased by

approximately one-half million acres

over the last FIA remeasurement cycle.

About 4 million acres are under lease to

forest industry; this area represents

more than 10 percent of industry's fee

simple ownership. Forest industry

manages about one-third of the southern

pine acreage in the region either

through outright ownership or long-term

lease. Two-thirds of the land under

long-term lease to forest industry is

occupied by pine. According to surveys

by Siegel (1973) and Meyer and Klemperer

UW+), nonindustrial private acreage

under long-term (10 years or more) land

lease and cutting contracts by forest

industry decreased by approximately 2

million acres between 1970 and 1983, and

forest industry is favoring landowner

assistance programs over long-term

contracts.

The increase in forest industry

acreage has been largely at the expense

of NIPF land. We have divided the NIPF

land into three categories: (1) farm,

(2) other individual, and (3) other

corporate (corporations other than

forest industry). The acreage of NIPF

land has decreased by 5 percent since

1977 because of changes in land

ownership and use.

4
The acreage of farm woodland in the

South has decreased by 1.8 percent since

1977 l At the same time, the forest area

controlled by corporations that do not

manufacture forest products has

increased by 20 percent, or 3 million

acres. The additional acres acquired by

corporations since 1977 are spread

across all of the major forest types:

planted southern pine, 32 percent;

natural southern pine, 7 percent;

oak-pine, 16 percent; upland hardwoods,

34 percent; and lowland hardwoods, 16

percent.

Clephane and Carroll (1981)gave two

major reasons why timberland ownership

has appealed to corporate and individual

investors in recent years: (1)

increasing value of timber assets and

(2) the U.S. low-cost position in world

markets. To what degree such owners

will invest in intensified management or

how much land they will sell after

harvest are open questions. For these

owners, timberland investments compete

with other, more diverse investment

opportunities than they do for

traditional wood-based companies

(O'Laughlin and Ellefson 1982).

+$ 4.

2

4NAmRAL PINE

s

$ 30 LOWLAND ‘1 /

/ \

/

HARDWOODS I ’

0

/

4

0

PLANTED PINE

I I I I

PLANTED PINE

i

c c--

2 or”

*Lo-

-- ----

I I I I

1952 1962 1970 1977 1985 Q 1982

YEARS

Figure 2.--Distribution of forest types on

forest industry land in the South from 1952

to 1985.

Area of public timberland in the

South has changed little since 1977, and

still accounts for about 10 percent of

southern timberland. Additions to

public timberland have been spread

across all cover types except natural

pine. About three-fifths of public

timberland is National Forest.

Forest Cover Types

The regional distribution of cover

types on southern timberland has been

relatively stable except for substitution of planted pine for natural pine

and an increase in NIPF upland hardwood

acreage (figs. 2, 3). The area in pine

plantations has increased at an annual

rate of approximately 0.9 million acres

since 1977. An annual reduction of 1.2

million acres in the natural pine area,

however, has resulted in an overall net

loss of more than 2 million acres since

1977 *

About three-fourths of the increase

in area of planted pine since 1977 has

occurred on forest industry land. The

annual rate of area increase for

industry plantations has risen from

UPLAND

HARDWOODS \

0.2

1962 1970 1977 1985

c

YEARS

Figure 3.--Distribution of forest types on

nonindustrial private forest land in the

South from 1952 to 1985.

5
million acres in the 1950's to 0.7

million acres in the late 1970's and

early 1980’s. A large proportion of the

area from which natural pine stands were

removed has been planted to pine.

Total acreage of upland hardwoods in

the South has slowly expanded. This

trend is the reverse of that for lowland

hardwoods. Clearing of bottom-land

hardwood forest has continued, but at a

declining rate. In contrast, the

increase in upland hardwood acreage,

particularly on NIPF land, is principally the result of successional forces.

The oak-pine type has slowly declined

since a peak in 1970.

Changes in the distribution of

forest types reflect the combined

influences of vegetation dynamics and

shifts in land use. The interaction of

successional forces, forest management

practices, and natural disturbances

significantly affects the region's

composition of forest types. On a

regional scale, data are insufficient

for estimating the percentage of forest

acres by cover type that have changed

over time to a particular nonforest use.

Several patterns have been observed,

however. Pine area greatly increased as

a result of depressed conditions in

agriculture in the 1950's and 1960’s,

both through natural seeding and tree

planting programs. A recent study (USDA

1983) suggests that substantial amounts

of marginal cropland again exist under

current economic conditions.

Cropland reversions have also

contributed to recent increases in the

upland hardwood area. The probability

of cropland reversion to lowland

hardwoods is much lower, especially on

fertile bottom lands.

Lack of effort to regenerate pine

after harvest also has helped to expand

the hardwood area. Using FIA survey

data, Boyce and Knight (1979) showed

that there is substantial hardwood

encroachment onto pine sites in the

South, particularly after harvest or

other disturbance of pine stands on NIPF

land.

Pine is the forest type most

frequently disturbed, regardless of the

ownership type. According to FIA

statistics, pine stands are disturbed

about twice as often as hardwood stands

(table 2). Hardwood stands are

typically unmanaged or managed on much

longer rotations than pine stands. In

each major forest type, forest industry

Table 2.-- Percentage distribution of timberland management practices between

the last two survey remeasurements in Florida (1970-80), Georgia (1972-82),

North Carolina (1974-84), and South Carolina (1967-77), by ownership and forest

type

Pine Oak-pine Hardwood

Final Final Final

Ownership None harvest Othera None harvest Other8 None harvest Othera

Forest

industry 33.3 30.3 36.4 49.1 28.6 22.3 58.9 17.9 23.2

Farm 33.3 22.7 44.0 48.3 lg.8 31.9 58.0 14.7 27.3

Miscellaneous

private 36.8 22.4 40.8 51.9 18.0 30.1 63.1 11.6 25.3

a "Other" management practices include thinning and other intermediate

treatments, as well as natural disturbances.

6
appears to have shorter rotations (i.e.,

more frequent final harvests) than other

types of ownership, but the difference

is not statistically significant.

What is clear from available data is

that the area of pine plantation is

increasing rapidly on forest industry

land (fig. 2) and rather slowly on NIPF

land (fig. 3). From 1977 to 1981, 65

percent of all the tree planting in the

South was on forest industry land.

Projections of Area ChaIlgC?S

Area changes by forest ownership and

cover type were projected to year 2030

in the Forest Service study of the

southern timber situation. This distant

date was necessary because of the longterm effects of area changes on the

supply of timber in the South and on

other renewable resources and the

natural environment. Existing timber

stands will be the primary source of

timber over the next 20 to 30 years.

Over a longer period, the supply of

timber can be influenced to an

increasing extent by land management

actions.

The area projections were prepared

in two phases: (1) area changes by use

or ownership, and (2) area changes by

forest type and forest ownerships (Alig

WX) l The projections indicate that

the major ownership changes will occur

the NIPF categories (fig. 4). By

70 c

/MISCELLANEOUS PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS

60 -

OTHER CORPORATE ----- 20 --- I -- ___-----

____----

“l9kk 2&m

I I I.

2010 2020 2030

YEAR

Figure 4.--Projection of timberland area

changes by ownerehip. 1985-2030.

2030, corporate and other individual

owners together are projected to own

half of the timberland. Conversely, the

percentage of total timberland owned by

farmers is projected to drop from 22

percent in 1985 to 14 percent in 2030.

Forest industry's share of the timberland base is projected to increase only

slightly, in contrast to more rapid

expansion in recent decades. Area in

public ownership is projected to

increase slowly, but to only 11 percent

of total timberland in 2030.

A 6-percent or 11-million-acre

decrease in total timberland area is

projected by 2030. Timberland area is

expected to drop by 5 million acres in

the Southeast and by 6 million acres in

the Midsouth. General trends for projected area changes by State are similar

to the regional trends.

A large part of the projected

reduction in total timberland area is

due to conversion to urban and built-up

uses. Urban and related uses are projected to increase by 13 million acres

between 1985 and 2030. Population in

the South is projected by the U.S.

Bureau of the Census to increase by over

30 million people by the year 2030.

Real income is likewise projected to

increase substantially, more than

doubling over the projection period.

A key step in making the projections

was a decision about future changes in

cropland area. Some forecasts are for

increases in the area of cropland (USDA

1984). These projections depend largely

on high agricultural exports, and

exports have been declining in recent

years. In addition, the 1985 Farm Bill

instituted a Conservation Reserve

designed to promote the conversion of

highly erodible cropland to forest or

grass cover.

Significance of the area in cropland

related to the area in forest in the

South is obvious. Figure 5 shows some

of the possibilities. One is that 16

million acres currently in forest might

be converted to cropland. Another is

that 12 million acres now classed as

marginal cropland could revert to forest.

7
In this analysis, we assumed that

the area in cropland would not rise

above the current cropland area before

2030. We also projected a drop in

southern pasture and rangeland of 8

million acres by 2030. We based this

drop on an assumed continuation of the

current decline in red meat consumption

in the United States.

Projected area changes for the major

forest types largely reflect recent

historical trends (figs. 6, 7). The

major area changes are projected to

occur between the natural pine and

planted pine types. Planted pine area

doubles by 2030, while natural pine area

is projected to be halved by 2030.

Thus, the projected area in each in 2030

is roughly the reverse of the 1985

situation.

19OL

MARGINAL CROPLAND TO FOREST

180 --4

=aQ

.\\lJ BASELINE PROJECTION

170 - . . . -- ---

e

-\

2 160 - +. --.

5

5

150 - POTENTIAL CROPLAND TO CROPS 7--

-$ 140 -

130 -

120 I I 1 I I

1985 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

YEAR

Figure 5.--Alternative projections of

total timberland area in the South.

30 -

- -

25 -

PLANTED PINE

f z /(

8 20 -

/

/

/

/

.’

f IO -

-

-.

LOWLAND HARDWOODS

I

-x --=

UPLAND HARDWOODS

0 1 I I I I I.

1985 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

YEAR

Figure 6.--Projection of forest industry

timberland area by forest type, 1985-2030.

Two-thirds of the projected net

increase in planted pine area between

1985 and 2030 is on timberland managed

by forest industry. As a result, relatively little natural pine is projected

to remain on forest industry land.

Summary and Conclusions

Southern timber is extremely impor-'

tant to the Nation's forest industry,

and its importance will increase in the

next decade or so as industry continues

to migrate into the region from the

Pacific Northwest. Since 1977, farm

forest acreage has decreased, whereas

the area owned by corporations other

than forest products manufacturers has

expanded. There has been a steady

growth in the landholdings of forest

industry and in pine planting by forest

industry. Pine planting on other forest

land has also increased somewhat.

Forest acreage is being lost to urban

and other developed uses, and a large

reduction in natural pine acreage has

been offset only partially by increased

tree planting.

Projections indicate that corporate

and other individual private owners will

control half of the southern timberland

base by 2030 and that forest industry

will not continue to acquire land at

past rates. Pine plantation area is

projected to double by 2030, while the

natural pine area is expected to be

halved.

50

I -

-------7-----

UPLAND HARDWOODS

NATURAL PINE --k LOWLAND HARDWOODS

.

- -

OAK-PINE’

,,--a----,

c-

-_----

- -

M---z

OZ

PLANTED PINE

1985 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

YEAR

Pigure ‘i’.--Projection of nonindustrial

private timberland area by forest type.

1985-2030.

8
Major land use questions emanate

from outside the traditional forestry

community: Wi:Ll the acreage of cropland

in the South increase or decrease? How

heavily will other corporate owners

invest in forest management? Will the

increasing population in the South curtail opportunities for regional forestry

expansion?

To better address such questions,

changes in forest ownership and management and related land use changes will

have to be monitored continuously, and

analyses will have to be updated frequently. The IJSDA Forest Service is

supporting such an effort--an ongoing

study of the timber resources in the

South. The work reported here is part

of that effort,,

Literature Cited

Alig. Ralph J. Forest acreage trends in the

Southeast. econometric analysis and policy

simulations. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State

University; 1984. 154 pp. Thesis.

Alig. Ralph J. Modeling acreage changes in

forest ownerships and cover types in the

Southeast. Res. Pap. ~~-260. Port Collins.

CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range

Experiment Station; 1985. 14 pp.

Boyce, Stephen G.; Knight, Herbert A.

Prospective ingrowth of southern pine beyond

1980. Res. Pap. SE-200. Asheville, NC: U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station; 1979.

48 PPClephane. Thomas P. Ownership of timber: a

critical component of industrial success.

Forest Industry 109(9):30-32; 1978.

Clephane. Thomas P. Timberland investment

increasing as means of improving profitability.

Pulp and Paper 54(11):72-73; 1980.

Clephane. Thomas P.; Carroll, J. Timber: even

nonindustry investors realize its value. Forest

Industry 108(1):49-51; 1981.

Cousins, C.P.; Dillman. B.L. Prime agricultural

land conversion in the Greenville-spartanburgPickens area. Clemson, SC: South Carolina

Agriculture Experiment Station; 1982. 46 pp.

Dideriksen. Raymond I.; Hidlebaugh. Allen R.;

Schumde, Keith 0. Potential cropland study.

Stn. Bull. 578; Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service; 1977.

104 pp.

Healy. Robert G. Forests in an urban civilization:

land use, land markets, ownerships, and recent

trends. In: Bradley, G-A.. ed. Land use and

forest resources in a changing environment:

Proceedings of the national symposium on the

urban forest interface; 1982 October 27-29;

Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press;

1984:17-35.

Knight, Herbert A. Land-use changes which

affected Georgia's forest land 1961-1972.

Res. Note ~~-189. Asheville, NC: U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station; 1973.

4 PPMeyer, R.D.; Klemperer. W. David. Current status

of long-term leasing and cutting contracts in

the South. In: Guldin. Richard W.. ed. Payoffs

from new techniques for managing 6 processing

southern hardwoods: Proceedings, 1984 southern

forest economics workshop; 1984 March 13-15:

Memphis, TN. Raleigh, NC: Southern Forest

Economics Workers; 1984:125-130.

O'Laughlin. Jay: Ellefson. Paul V. New

diversified entrants among U.S. wood-based

companies: a study of economic structure and

corporate strategy. Bull. 541. St. Paul, MN:

University of Minnesota, Agriculture Experiment

Station; 1982. 63 PP.

9
Ramsey, A.F.; Corty. F.L. Prime agricultural lands

of Louisiana: location and losses to nonagricultural uses. Res. Pap. 596. Baton Rouge, LA:

Louisiana State University, Department of

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness: 1882.

28 PPSiegel, William C. Long-term contracts for forest

land and timber in the South. Res. Pap. ~0-87:

New Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Forest Service. Southern Forest Experiment

Station; 1973. 14 pp.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. Reference

document: needs assessment for the food and

agricultural sciences. Washington, DC: Joint

Council; 1984. 316 pp.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Budget

and Program Analysis. Conversion of southern

cropland to southern pine tree plantings:

conversion for conservation feasibility study.

Washington, DC: 1983. 63 pp.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Porest Service.

An analysis of the timber situation in the

United States, 1852-2030. Por. Resour. Rep. 23.

Washington, DC; 1982. 499 pp.

1 0
I I

Alig, Ralph 3.; Knight, Herbert A.: Birdsey, Richard A.

Recent area changes in southern forest ownerships and cover types.

Res. Pap. SE-260. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station: 1986. 10 pp.

Forest area data were examined from the most recent surveys of the 12

Southern States by the Forest Inventory and Analysis units of the USDA

Forest Service. From 1977 to 1985, forest industry acreage in the

South has continued to increase, miscellaneous private acreage has

increased at a slower rate, and farm forest acreage has continued to

drop sharply. During the same period, the largest area changes among

cover types have occurred in pine types. Area in natural pine has

decreased I8 percent, and planted pine area has increased by 41 percent.

KEYWORDS: Forest area, timber supply, forest ownership.

Alig, Ralph J.; Knight, Herbert A.; Birdsey. Richard A.

Recent area changes in southern forest ownerships and cover types.

Res. Pap. ~~-260. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station; 1986. 10 pp.

Forest area data were examined from the most recent surveys Of the 12

Southern States by the Forest Inventory and Analysis units of the USDA

Forest Service. From 1977 to 1985, forest industry acreage in the

South has continued to increase, miscellaneous private acreage has

increased at a slower rate, and farm forest acreage has continued to

drop sharply. During the same period, the largest area changes among

cover types have occurred in pine types. Area in natural pine has

decreased 18 percent, and planted pine area has increased by Al percent.

KEYWORDS: Forest area, timber supply, forest ownership.


The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, is

dedicated to the principle of

multiple use management of

the Nation’s forest resources

for sustained yields of wood,

water, forage, wildlife, 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.

USDA policy does not permit discrimination because

of race, color, national origin, sex or religion. Any

person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any USDA-related activity should

write immediately to the Secretary of Agriculture,

Washington, D.C. 20250.