United States

Department of

Agriculture

Forest Service

Southern

Research Station

Resource Bulletin

SRS–62

Wetland Forest

STATISTICS

for the

South Atlantic States

Mark J. Brown, Greg M. Smith, Joseph McCollum
September 2001

Southern Research Station

P.O. Box 2680

Asheville, NC 28802

The Authors:

Mark J. Brown is a Resource Analyst, Greg M. Smith is a

Forester, and Joseph McCollum is a Mathematical Statistician

with the Forest Inventory and Analysis Research Work Unit,

Southern Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, Asheville, NC 28802.

Cover photos (left to right): (1) Bald cypress [Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich]

forest, (2) blackgum [Nyssa sylvatica (Marsh)] forest, (3) mixed bottomland

hardwoods forest, and (4) pond pine [Pinus serotina (Michx.)] forest.

Photos 1, 3, and 4 by Bill Lea; photo 2, USDA Forest Service.
i

Wetland Forest Statistics

for the South Atlantic States

Mark J. Brown, Resource Analyst

Greg M. Smith, Forester

Joseph McCollum, Mathematical Statistician
ii
iii

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1

Findings.......................................................................................................................................... 2

Area, Distribution, and Ownership ............................................................................................... 2

Stand Size and Age Structure ........................................................................................................ 4

Forest Management Types and Detailed Forest Types.................................................................. 6

Physiography ................................................................................................................................ 8

Volume, Growth, Removals, and Mortality .................................................................................. 10

Disturbances, Condition, and Opportunities ................................................................................. 13

Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 16

Literature Cited ........................................................................................................................... 16

Appendix ........................................................................................................................................ 17

Procedures..................................................................................................................................... 17

Statistical Reliability ..................................................................................................................... 19

Definitions ..................................................................................................................................... 21

Metric Equivalents ........................................................................................................................ 25

Index of Detailed Tables ............................................................................................................... 26

Virginia ..................................................................................................................................... 28–32

North Carolina .......................................................................................................................... 32–37

South Carolina .......................................................................................................................... 37–42

Georgia ..................................................................................................................................... 42–47

Florida ...................................................................................................................................... 47–52

Page

Table of Contents
1

Introduction

Forested wetlands are a significant segment of forests in the

South Atlantic States of Virginia, North Carolina, South

Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Nevertheless, most research

has focused primarily on delineating wetlands (Hefner and

Storrs 1991) and analyzing their functions and values

(Walbridge 1993). Information quantifying and characterizing forested wetlands in the South Atlantic States is

limited (Cubbage and Flather 1993), with little available on

ownership, forest type and extent, species group volume,

acreage harvested and planted, and stand size, age, and

condition.

This dearth of information and a growing interest in the

ecology and management of forested wetlands provide the

impetus to identify the size and extent of the forested wetland segment. Multiresource data about this segment will

help to describe the attributes of forested wetland stands and

their value to society, the timber supply, and local

economies.

The information for this bulletin was collected between

1989 and 1998 in conjunction with the multiresource inventory of forest ecosystems conducted by the Forest Inventory

and Analysis Research Work Unit (FIA) of the USDA Forest

Service, Southern Research Station. Because data collection

was limited to timberland (forest land not restricted from

commercial timber production), this bulletin does not

contain information about the Okefenokee National Wildlife

Refuge, the Everglades National Park, designated wilderness areas, and other reserved forested wetlands. The information collected largely followed existing definitions of a

wetland that required the presence of hydric vegetation,

hydric soil, and a wetland hydrology (Federal Interagency

Committee for Wetland Delineation 1989, U.S. Army Corps

of Engineers 1987). If all three hydric criteria occurred

simultaneously, the stand was classified as forested wetland. The procedures or methods used in data collection as

well as the statistical reliability of the processed data are

more fully described in the appendix of this bulletin. The

appendix also describes the August 1991 suspension of the

1989 Federal manual under which the study began, explains

how the suspension was handled, and discusses the effect it

may have had on acreage reported for some categories. The

collection of this wetland related information permitted

analysis, quantification, and characterization of forested

wetlands in the South Atlantic States. The principle theme

throughout the findings was to statistically describe wetland

timberland using acreage and volume against multiple

variables usually categorized by ownership. Consolidated

findings for the South Atlantic States are presented in the

following text, graphs, and tables. Individual findings for

Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and

Florida are presented in the appendix tables.

Bald cypress [Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich] forest

Photo—Bill Lea
2

Findings

Area, Distribution, and Ownership

Total timberland area for the South Atlantic States was 85.0

million acres, almost 21 percent of which were on wetland

sites (table I). Figure 1 shows that Florida had the most wetland timberland—5.2 million acres—followed by North

Carolina, which had 4.6 million acres. Although Georgia led

in total timberland acreage, its wetland segment comprised

only 4.3 million acres. Behind Georgia were South Carolina

with 2.9 million acres and Virginia with 0.6 million acres.

The proportion of timberland classified as wetland was 36

percent in Florida, 25 percent in North Carolina, 23 percent

in South Carolina, 18 percent in Georgia, and only 4 percent

in Virginia.

Figure 2 maps the percent of timberland that occurred on

wetland sites in each county of the five-State region.

Although North Carolina was second overall in wetland

timberland acreage, it led in wetland timberland density: 11

of its counties had two-thirds or more of their timberland

acreage on wetland sites. The map shows that 97 percent of

the wetland timberland in the five States occurred in the

Coastal Plain province, followed by 3 percent in the

Piedmont province, and a trace in the Mountain province.

Overall timberland acreage on wetland sites was 32 percent

for the Coastal Plain, 3 percent for the Piedmont, and only a

fraction of a percent for the Mountains.

Sixty percent of the region’s 17.6 million acres of wetland

timberland were under nonindustrial private forest (NIPF)

ownership, followed by 29 percent for forest industry, and

12 percent for various public ownerships (fig. 3). Wetland

timberland as a proportion of total timberland was highest

on forest industry land where 32 percent of the holdings

were classified as wetland, followed by 22 percent for

public timberland, and only 18 percent for NIPF timberland.

However, these percentages were influenced by location of

land holdings. Even though the majority of timberland in

each major ownership category was found in the Coastal

Table I—Area of timberland by wetland status and 

ownership class, South Atlantic Statesa

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Wetland status classes Public industryb

private

Wetlands 17,624.3 2,093.6 5,024.5 10,506.1

Other 67,435.4 7,589.2 10,836.9 49,009.3

 Total 85,059.6 9,682.8 15,861.4 59,515.4

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

b

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres

a

 States and dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South 

Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and Georgia, 1997.

Figure 1—Wetland timberland versus other timberland by State in the South Atlantic States,

circa 1990s.

0

5

10

15

20

25

FL GA NC SC VA

State

Million acres

Wetland

Other timberland
3

Figure 2—Map of percent wetland timberland by county in the Mountain, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain provinces

(boundaries based on FIA units that most closely approximate physiographic divisions from the U.S. Geological Survey

1970) of the South Atlantic States, circa 1990s.

Virginia

South

Carolina

Georgia

North

Carolina

Florida

<1

01–10

11–33

34–66

>67

Percent

Boundaries

County

State

Province

Mountain

Piedmont

Coastal

Plain

Scale of miles

Lambert azimuthal projection

0 125
4

Figure 4—Wetland timberland by stand-size class in the South Atlantic States, circa 1990s.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Sawtimber Poletimber Sapling-seedling Nonstocked

Stand-size class

Million acres

Plain, the proportion varied widely. For example, 85 percent

of forest industry land was in the Coastal Plain province

where there was a higher incidence of wetland. In contrast,

only 56 percent of the public land was found in the Coastal

Plain; 34 percent occurred in the Mountain province where

there was much more relief and a much lower incidence of

wetland.

Figure 3—Wetland timberland by ownership class in the South Atlantic States, circa 1990s.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Nonindustrial private Forest industry Public

Ownership class

Million acres

Wetland

Other timberland

Stand Size and Age Structure

Sawtimber comprised 48 percent of the region’s wetland

timberland, followed by 26 percent for sapling-seedlingsized stands, 24 percent for poletimber, and 2 percent for

nonstocked areas (fig. 4). NIPF owners controlled the

majority of each stand-size class (table II).
5

More than a fifth of wetland timberland acreage (fig. 5) was

categorized as having no manageable stand (NMS) present.

This category applies to areas with less than 60 percent

stocking of similarly sized and aged trees that can be

grouped together under one management strategy. Inadequate regeneration, often found on sites made adverse by

water levels or saturated soils, can result in insufficient

stocking to form a manageable stand, causing acreage to be

classified as NMS. For all ownership categories, NMS

accounted for more of the wetland timberland than any

individual age class. Two findings were notable: first, the

relative paucity of wetland timberland in stands 21 to 30

years old; and second, the apparent accumulation of stands

between 41 and 70 years old.

Stand-age differed by ownership class (table III). Forest

industry had a higher proportion of wetland timberland in

stands less than 31 years old, a result of pine plantings and a

structure skewed toward younger stands. Public wetland

timberland had the lowest proportion of stands below 31

Figure 5—Wetland timberland by stand-age class in the South Atlantic

States, circa 1990s.

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0

Stand-age class

Million acres

No manageable stands

0–10

11–20

21–30

31–40

41–50

51–60

61–70

71–80

81+

Table II—Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and ownership classes,

South Atlantic Statesa

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-size class classes Public industryb private

Sawtimber 8,460.3 1,188.7 1,932.5 5,339.0 

Poletimber 4,190.0 489.1 1,370.3 2,330.6 

Sapling-seedling 4,571.4 366.3 1,559.4 2,645.8 

Nonstocked 402.6 49.6 162.4 190.7 

 All classes 17,624.3 2,093.6 5,024.5 10,506.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and Georgia, 1997.

b Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
6

Table III—Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and ownership classes,

South Atlantic Statesa

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-age class classes Public industryb

 private

Years Thousand acres

0–10 2,347.1 119.1 857.0 1,371.0 

11–20 1,440.3 78.1 629.3 733.0 

21–30 1,074.5 78.8 396.6 599.1 

31–40 1,147.7 151.8 240.4 755.4 

41–50 1,696.6 204.1 425.0 1,067.6 

51–60 1,822.6 219.8 412.6 1,190.2 

61–70 1,542.1 264.9 310.2 967.0 

71–80 1,083.4 179.2 211.3 692.9 

81+ 1,653.5 300.3 466.0 887.2 

No manageable stand 3,816.6 497.6 1,076.3 2,242.7 

 All classes 17,624.3 2,093.6 5,024.5 10,506.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

b Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

a States and dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and 

Georgia, 1997.

years old and a structure skewed toward older stands. The

NIPF wetland timberland had the most acreage in stands

less than 11 years old, followed by a gap in the 11- through

40-year-old classes, and a large portion in stands 41 to 70

years old. The lower acreage in stands 11 to 40 years old

could have resulted from periods of inadequate regeneration

after harvest or natural disturbance.

Forest Management Types and Detailed Forest Types

Lowland hardwood forest management types accounted for

62 percent of the region’s 17.6 million acres of wetland

timberland, and pine plantation and natural pine types

together accounted for 25 percent (fig. 6). In this instance,

combining pine types makes more sense than separating

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Pine plantation Natural pine Oak-pine Upland

hardwood

Lowland

hardwood

Forest management type

Million acres

Figure 6—Wetland timberland by forest management type in the South Atlantic States,

circa 1990s.
7

them. Although plantation pine accounted for 11 percent of

the wetland timberland, much of its acreage has come from

the planting of former natural pine stands after harvest.

Oak-pine types represented 10 percent and the remaining 3

percent of the wetland timberland consisted of transitional

areas classified as upland hardwood types.

The region had 16.9 million acres in pine plantations.

Nearly 1.9 million acres or 11 percent of these were

classified as wetlands ranging from 32 percent in North

Carolina, 14 percent in Florida, 10 percent in South

Carolina, 4 percent in Georgia, and just 3 percent in

Virginia.

In four out of the five forest management type categories,

the majority of the wetland timberland acreage was under

NIPF ownership (table IV). The exception was pine plantations where 68 percent was in forest industry ownership,

followed by 27 percent in NIPF ownership, and 5 percent in

public ownership.

Figure 7 shows specific detailed forest-type groups that

occurred in the region’s wetland timberland. With nearly 4.8

million acres, sweetbay-blackgum-red maple was the most

common individual forest type accounting for 27 percent of

the region’s wetland timberland. Second was sweetgumwater oak-willow oak with 14 percent (2.4 million acres).

Cypress-water tupelo, frequently photographed to depict

forested wetlands, occupied only 13 percent (2.2 million

acres) of the wetland timberland. Loblolly and slash pine

types with 10 percent each, and pond pine type with nearly

5 percent, together represented nearly 25 percent of the

wetland timberland, almost as much as the predominant

hardwood type. Pines were found on many other acres of

wetland timberland, such as the combined 1.6 million acres

of slash pine-hardwood and loblolly pine-hardwood types

that accounted for nearly 9 percent of the wetland

timberland. Individual types with less than 25,000 acres

cumulatively across the region were condensed into a

miscellaneous category. This category included longleaf

pine, white oak-red oak-hickory, slash pine-hardwood,

cottonwood, and yellow-poplar-white oak-red oak forest

types.

Table IV—Area of wetland timberland by forest management type and ownership class, 

South Atlantic Statesa

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest management type classes Public industryb private

Pine plantation 1,899.0 90.8 1,288.6 519.5 

Natural pine 2,438.2 535.4 530.5 1,372.3 

Oak-pine 1,802.4 177.1 431.0 1,194.3 

Upland hardwood 606.1 26.4 93.3 486.4 

Lowland hardwood 10,878.6 1,264.0 2,681.1 6,933.6 

 All types 17,624.3 2,093.6 5,024.5 10,506.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

b Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres

a States and dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and Georgia, 

1997.
8

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000

Miscellaneous types

Palm

Sycamore-pecan-elm

Willow

River birch-sycamore

Sweetbay-blackgum-red maple

Cypress-water tupelo

Atlantic white-cedar

Overcup oak-water hickory

Sugarberry-elm-green ash

Sweetgum-water oak-willow oak

Swamp chestnut oak-cherrybark oak

Mixed hardwoods

Sweetgum-yellow-poplar

Other oak-pine

Slash pine-hardwood

Loblolly pine-hardwood

Pond pine

Loblolly pine

Slash pine

Forest-type group

Thousand acres

Figure 7—Wetland timberland by detailed forest-type group in the South Atlantic States, circa 1990s.

For most detailed forest types, NIPF ownerships held most

of the wetland timberland (table V). Notable exceptions

were the loblolly pine type—49 percent forest industry

versus 45 percent NIPF—and slash pine type—46 percent

forest industry versus 38 percent NIPF.

Physiography

Plots were assigned a physiographic class based on soil

moisture and drainage, topography, aspect, and soil

characteristics. To emphasize the importance of soil

moisture availability, the classes were sorted into three

categories: xeric, mesic, and hydric.1

Wetland timberland was found on all but the xeric physiographic classes. The majority of wetland timberland was in

the flatwoods physiographic class (fig. 8). Flatwoods dominated the region’s wetland timberland with 31 percent of the

total, followed by small drains with 16 percent, and bays

1

 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 1985. Field instructions

for the Southeast. 81 p. Unpublished data. On file with: USDA Forest

Service, Southern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis

Research Work Unit, P.O. Box 2680, Asheville, NC 28802.
9

and wet pocosins with 13 percent. The other hydric

physiographic class, which included cypress ponds,

comprised 11 percent of the total wetland timberland. Broad

and narrow floodplains when combined accounted for 19

percent of the wetland timberland. Surprisingly, deep

swamps, a well-known physiographic class, comprised less

than 7 percent of total wetland timberland. Based on

operability within forest condition values (see footnote 1)

collected in the study, only 2.1 million acres or 12 percent

of the wetland timberland had year-round surface water, 8.4

million acres or 48 percent had seasonal surface water, and

0.4 million acres or 2 percent had mixed wet and dry areas.

The remaining 6.6 million acres or 38 percent were

classified as having no regular surface water conditions.

These areas had soil saturation to the surface for some

period during the growing season, enough to create

anaerobic conditions, form hydric soils, and favor hydric

vegetation.

NIPF owners held the largest portion of the wetland timberland in all physiographic classes (table VI). Ownership of

wetland timberland was most equally distributed in bays and

wet pocosins; here lay the largest portion of publicly owned

wetland timberland, 29 percent. Forest industry ownership

was greatest in the flatwoods class, which comprised 37

percent of all forest industry wetland timberland.

Table V—Area of wetland timberland by forest type and ownership class, South Atlantic Statesa

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest type classes Public industryb private

Thousand acres

Slash pine 1,678.8 272.8 771.3 634.7 

Loblolly pine 1,812.5 97.6 893.5 821.4 

Pond pine 826.0 242.0 148.4 435.7 

Loblolly pine-hardwood 787.5 43.8 123.2 620.5 

Slash pine-hardwood 779.0 90.5 259.8 428.7 

Other oak-pine 233.1 42.7 45.4 145.0 

Sweetgum-yellow-poplar 283.4 8.7 35.6 239.1 

Mixed hardwoods 298.1 14.6 57.7 225.8 

Swamp chestnut oak-cherrybark oak 101.1 15.4 15.9 69.7 

Sweetgum-water oak-willow oak 2,385.9 152.7 538.7 1,694.4 

Sugarberry-American elm-green ash 639.6 100.7 139.9 399.0 

Overcup oak-water hickory 84.5 13.6 32.0 39.0 

Atlantic white-cedar 67.8 16.5 19.9 31.5 

Cypress-water tupelo 2,239.0 345.4 618.5 1,275.1 

Sweetbay-blackgum-red maple 4,750.8 545.7 1,198.3 3,006.9 

River birch-sycamore 185.1 9.5 23.0 152.6 

Willow 161.3 5.7 39.2 116.3 

Sycamore-pecan-American elm 109.9 10.8 28.3 70.8 

Palm 139.9 47.9 21.5 70.4 

Miscellaneous typesc 16.9 61.0 14.6 29.5 

 All types 17,624.3 2,093.6 5,024.5 10,506.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

b Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

c Individual types with less than 25,000 acres cumulatively across the region were condensed into the miscellaneous category.

This category includes longleaf pine, white oak-red oak-hickory, cottonwood, yellow-poplar-white oak-northern red oak, and 

eastern redcedar-hardwood.

a States and dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and Georgia, 1997.
10

0123456

Other hydric

Bays and wet pocosins

Small drains

Deep swamps

Other mesic

Broad floodplains

Narrow floodplains

Moist slopes/coves

Rolling upland

Flatwoods

Physiographic class

Million acres

Figure 8—Wetland timberland by physiographic class in the South Atlantic States, circa 1990s.

Volume, Growth, Removals, and Mortality

At 30 billion cubic feet, the volume of growing-stock timber

on wetland timberland accounted for 24 percent of total

growing-stock volume on all timberland in the five-State

region, 96 percent of which occurred in the Coastal Plain

province. Within the Coastal Plain, wetland timberland

volume was 43 percent of the total timberland volume. For

Table VI—Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and ownership classes,

South Atlantic Statesa

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Physiographic class classes Public industryb private

Flatwoods 5,399.7 347.3 1,869.5 3,182.8 

Rolling uplands 12.6 4.0 3.6 4.9 

Moist mountain slopes/coves 3.9 — — 3.9 

Narrow floodplains 1,680.5 115.0 260.9 1,304.6 

Broad floodplains 1,667.0 229.7 521.4 915.9 

Other mesic 774.7 126.1 200.9 447.7 

Deep swamps 1,156.6 233.8 310.4 612.4 

Small drains 2,739.9 186.7 610.3 1,942.9 

Bays and wet pocosins 2,288.1 611.9 695.3 980.9 

Other hydric 1,901.4 239.1 552.2 1,110.1 

 All classes 17,624.3 2,093.6 5,024.5 10,506.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

b Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Thousand acres

Ownership class

a States and dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and 

Georgia, 1997.
11

the region as a whole, 36 percent of the wetland timberland

volume was in softwood species and 64 percent was in

hardwood species (fig. 9).

NIPF ownerships contained 61 percent of the wetland

timberland volume, forest industry had 25 percent, and

public ownerships had 14 percent (table VII). Hardwood

volume exceeded softwood volume in all ownership categories. NIPF land had twice as much volume in hardwood

as in softwood and led the other ownerships in softwood

and hardwood volume. Although forest industry had 28

percent of the total softwood volume, this percent may

increase as its high proportion of young stands mature (table

III).

Net annual growth of growing-stock timber on wetland

timberland averaged 845 million cubic feet and accounted

for 18 percent of the total growth for all timberland in the

region. As with volume, 97 percent of the wetland net

annual growth occurred in the region’s Coastal Plain

province, where growth on wetland timberland accounted

for 27 percent of the province’s total timberland growth.

Softwood growth was slightly less than hardwood growth

(fig. 10). NIPF ownerships accounted for 59 percent of the

0

5

10

15

20

25

Softwood Hardwood

Billion cubic feet

Species group

Figure 9—Volume on wetland timberland in the South Atlantic States, circa 1990s.

Table VII—Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by species group and

ownership class, South Atlantic Statesa

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Species group classes Public industryb

 private

Million cubic feet

Softwood 10,895.7 1,843.2 3,049.7 6,002.8 

Hardwood 19,048.4 2,326.2 4,330.4 12,391.7 

 Total 29,944.1 4,169.5 7,380.1 18,394.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

b

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

a

 States and dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and Georgia, 1997.
12

net growth, forest industry had 31 percent, and public

ownerships had 10 percent (table VIII). Forest industry was

the only owner category where softwood growth exceeded

hardwood growth, and it did so by a wide margin of 1.9 to 1

compared to 0.63 to 1 for NIPF, and 0.77 to 1 for public

ownerships.

Removals from wetland timberland averaged 842 million

cubic feet annually, which accounted for 21 percent of the

total removals from all timberland in the region. Similar to

trends in volume and growth, 97 percent of the wetland

timberland removals came from the Coastal Plain province,

where wetland timberland removals accounted for 28

percent of all removals. Softwood species comprised 52

percent of the removals on wetland timberland (fig. 10).

NIPF ownerships supplied 67 percent of the removals from

wetland timberland, followed by forest industry with 28

percent, and public ownerships with 5 percent (table VIII).

On both forest industry and public land, softwood removals

exceeded hardwood removals, but the difference was more

extreme on forest industry where twice as much softwood as

hardwood was removed. Three-fourths of all hardwood

removals clearly came from NIPF ownerships.

Growth on the region’s wetland timberland exceeded

removals by a narrow margin for all species and by a 1.10 to

1 margin for hardwoods, but removals slightly exceeded

growth (1.09 to 1) for softwoods (fig. 10). In 1989,

Hurricane Hugo severely damaged much of the timberland

(wetland and other) in coastal South Carolina (Sheffield and

Thompson 1992). Following this catastrophic event,

extensive salvage operations undertaken to ameliorate losses

resulted in removals greatly exceeding growth (see

appendix), causing the regional disparity in softwoods. In

contrast, growth on wetland timberland exceeded removals

in the other South Atlantic States (see appendix) where the

growth-to-removal relationship may be more indicative of

long-term relationships in South Carolina and the region

were it not for the hurricane disturbance in South Carolina.

Regional relationships showed some differences by ownership category. On NIPF ownerships wetland timberland

removals exceeded growth (table VIII), but on forest

industry and public lands, growth exceeded removals—an

ownership trend that continued for softwoods when the data

were analyzed by broad species groups. For hardwoods, the

only difference was that growth nearly equaled removals on

NIPF land. One explanation is that NIPF wetland timberland did not have the benefit of as many vigorous young

pine plantations as forest industry had, which grew faster

and survived Hurricane Hugo’s effects better (Sheffield and

Thompson 1992). Public lands had growth in excess of

removals as a result of lower rates of harvest.

Mortality averaged 363 million cubic feet annually in the

region’s wetland timberland (fig. 10). However, mortality

was inflated by Hurricane Hugo’s damage in South

Carolina, which experienced 44 percent of the region’s total

0

100

200

300

400

500

Growth Removals Mortality

Million cubic feet

Softwood

Hardwood

Figure 10—Growth, removals, and mortality on wetland timberland in the South Atlantic

States, circa 1990s.
13

mortality. This was more than double the mortality in North

Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and many times higher than

mortality in Virginia. Hardwoods comprised 64 percent of

the region’s total wetland timberland mortality with 66

percent occurring on NIPF land (table VIII). The Coastal

Plain experienced 95 percent of the region’s total wetland

timberland mortality with 59 percent of Coastal Plain

mortality occurring on NIPF land.

Disturbances, Condition, and Opportunities

One of the greatest impacts on timberland is conversion to

cropland, urban development, or other land uses. Because

conversion of wetland timberland is complicated by Federal

regulations and by water, soil, and drainage problems, many

of these acres tend to remain in a timberland status.

Therefore, this bulletin only examines the treatments or

disturbances that occurred on timberland remaining in the

wetland timberland base. Of these, the largest was natural

disturbance, which averaged 375,000 acres annually (fig.

11) and included damage from fire, weather, and animals

with weather predominant because of Hurricane Hugo. In

fact, 60 percent of the natural disturbance on the region’s

wetland timberland occurred in South Carolina (see

appendix). In the absence of such a catastrophic event,

natural disturbances probably would have had a much lower

impact on wetland timberland. Rates of natural disturbance

in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida (see

appendix) were probably more indicative of the normal

levels for South Carolina and the region.

Second in impact was final harvest, which took place on an

annual average of 295,000 acres or 1.7 percent of total

wetland timberland. North Carolina led in final harvests

with 31 percent, followed by Georgia with 24 percent,

Florida with 22 percent, South Carolina with 20 percent,

and Virginia with only 3 percent (see appendix). Natural

regeneration occurred on 171,000 acres annually, mostly on

NIPF land (table IX), followed by site preparation on

107,000 acres, and artificial regeneration on 106,000 acres.

Most site preparation and artificial regeneration (62 percent)

and commercial thinning (72 percent) took place on forest

industry land.

Table VIII—Average net annual growth, average annual removals, and average

annual mortality of growing stock on wetland timberland by ownership

class and species group, South Atlantic Statesa

 All

Ownership class species Softwood Hardwood

Public 80.6 35.0 45.6 

Forest industryb 173.1 264.4 91.3 

Nonindustrial private 500.5 194.9 305.6 

 All classes 845.5 403.0 442.5 

Public 40.0 21.5 18.4 

Forest industryb 158.7 238.9 80.1 

Nonindustrial private 562.9 257.6 305.3 

 All classes 841.7 437.9 403.8 

Public 51.1 25.3 25.8 

Forest industryb 30.9 85.3 54.5 

Nonindustrial private 226.7 73.5 153.2 

 All classes 363.1 129.7 233.4 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

b Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

a

 Dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and 

Georgia, 1997.

Average annual removals (million cubic feet)

Average annual mortality (million cubic feet)

Average net annual growth (million cubic feet)

Species group
14

Fifty-six percent of wetland timberland consisted of stands

in relatively good condition (fig. 12), which was defined as

not needing any traditional forest management practice to

improve the stand. This was better than expected

considering the degree of disturbance that Hurricane Hugo

caused. Regeneration was identified as the most needed

treatment on the region’s wetland timberland to reverse the

effects of poor stocking or the absence of a manageable

stand. About 22 percent of the wetland timberland was

judged to be inadequately stocked, with possible causes

including high-grading harvesting and natural disturbances

such as weather, flooding, and fire. Twelve percent of the

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Natural disturbance

Other treatment

Natural regeneration

Artificial regeneration

Site preparation

Other stand

improvement

Commercial thinning

Partial harvest

Final harvest

Treatment or disturbance

Thousand acres

Figure 11—Past treatments and disturbances to wetland timberland in the South

Atlantic States, circa 1990s.

Table IX—Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed annually and retained

in timberland by treatment or disturbance and ownership class, South Atlantic Statesa

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment or disturbance classes Public industryb private

Thousand acres

Final harvest 294.8 7.8 101.7 185.4 

Partial harvest 42.6 0.7 11.3 30.7 

Commercial thinning 29.5 3.1 21.1 5.4 

Other stand improvement 6.1 1.3 1.4 3.5 

Site preparation 106.9 2.2 65.3 39.4 

Artificial regeneration 105.8 2.1 66.1 37.6 

Natural regeneration 170.6 9.7 33.6 127.3 

Other treatment 80.9 5.1 22.6 53.2 

Natural disturbance 375.4 39.3 86.8 249.4 

Since some acres experience more than one treatment or disturbance, there are no column totals.

b Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

a States and dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and Georgia, 

1997.
15

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Good condition

Other stand

improvement

Stand conversion

Regeneration

Commercial thinning

Salvage

Harvest

Treatment opportunity

Million acres

Figure 12—Condition and treatment opportunities on wetland timberland in

the South Atlantic States, circa 1990s.

wetland timberland stands were determined to be mature or

over mature and in need of harvesting. The NIPF ownership

had the most acreage in all treatment opportunity groups

(table X). However, forest industry nearly equaled the NIPF

ownerships in acres needing a commercial thinning (table

X) because of its high percentage (25) of wetland

timberland in pine plantations (table IV).

Table X—Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity and ownership classes, 

South Atlantic Statesa

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment opportunity class classes Public industryb

 private

Thousand acres

Salvage 119.8 12.3 24.4 83.1 

Harvest 2,059.9 359.0 550.0 1,150.9 

Commercial thinning 471.0 30.4 200.4 240.2 

Other stand improvement 1,136.9 82.2 256.8 797.9 

Stand conversion 120.3 12.0 26.0 82.3 

Regeneration 3,816.6 497.6 1,076.3 2,242.7 

Stands in relatively 

 good condition 9,899.7 1,100.0 2,890.7 5,909.0 

 All classes 17,624.3 2,093.6 5,024.5 10,506.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

b Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

a States and dates of inventory: North Carolina, 1990; Virginia, 1992; South Carolina, 1993; Florida, 1995; and Georgia, 

1997.
16

Summary

The 17.6 million acres of wetland timberland accounted for

21 percent of all timberland in the South Atlantic States.

The vast majority of wetland timberland, 97 percent, was

found in the Coastal Plain. Florida alone had 30 percent of

the wetland timberland, and 60 percent of the total wetland

timberlands were under NIPF ownerships. Forty-eight

percent of the wetland timberland was classified as

sawtimber-sized stands. Although lowland hardwood stands

accounted for 62 percent, pine stands surprisingly

accounted for 25 percent of the wetland timberland. This

was surprising because many perceive wet sites as

dominated by hardwood or cypress. Pine plantations

accounted for 11 percent of the wetland timberland or 44

percent of the pine wetland timberland. The individual

forest types that comprised wetland timberland were

diverse, but the sweetbay-blackgum-red maple type

occupied the largest portion with 27 percent. Thirty-one

percent of the wetland timberland occurred in the flatwoods

physiographic class. Twenty-two percent did not have a

manageable stand present and 13 percent had stands less

than 11 years old. Almost 30 percent of the wetland

timberland was in stands between 41 and 70 years old.

Hardwood species comprised 64 percent of the 30 billion

cubic feet of volume on wetland timberland. Growth

averaged 846 million cubic feet annually and removals

averaged 842 million cubic feet annually. Mortality

averaged 363 million cubic feet annually, inflated by

Hurricane Hugo in South Carolina where mortality more

than doubled that in any of the other four States. Natural

disturbance had the greatest impact, damaging 375,000

acres annually, again buoyed by the hurricane impact to

South Carolina. Regeneration was recommended for 22

percent of the wetland timberland.

The data in this bulletin show that wetland timberland

accounts for a significant portion of the timberland in the

five South Atlantic States and an even larger component of

the Coastal Plain province. Removal volumes suggest that

the economic contributions of wetland timberland may have

been vital to the viability of forestry operations in the

Coastal Plain province. Because 32 percent of the Coastal

Plain timberland was identified as wetland timberland and

wetland timberland comprised 43 percent of all growingstock timber volume in the Coastal Plain, much is at stake in

this segment of the region. As shown, the majority of wetland timberland is privately owned and thus is a large part of

the tax base in the counties where it occurs. The findings

showed the large extent to which forest industry is vested in

flatwoods and pine stands classified as wetland timberland.

Research suggests that forest management is compatible

with maintaining nontimber wetland functions (Shepard and

others 1993). In addition, Cubbage and others (1990) posed

that any further legislation restricting these lands from

traditional forest management practices, such as site

preparation, stand conversion, or final harvest, would limit

these lands to management in their natural state or not at all.

The likely result would be reduced growth-and-output levels

that would drastically alter both the ownerships and their

local economies. The impact on local economies could

mirror recent events in the Pacific Northwest, where

restrictions on large segments of the timberland base

suppressed many small town timber-based economies.

South Atlantic wetland timberlands have a preponderance of

private ownerships that have depended on traditional forest

management practices and view restrictions on traditional

forestry as “taking without compensation.” If new

restrictions become necessary, an attractive countermeasure

might be for regulatory agencies (U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers, and the Natural Resources and

Conservation Service) to revisit the definitions of wetland

components, which currently capture many acres typically

not perceived as wetlands.

Literature Cited

Brown, Mark J. 1996. Forest statistics for Florida, 1995. Resour. Bull.

SRS–6. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southern Research Station. 48 p.

Conner, Roger C. 1993. 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.

Cubbage, Frederick W.; Flather, Curtis H. 1993. Forested wetland area

and distribution—a detailed look at the South. Journal of Forestry.

91(5): 35–40.

Cubbage, Frederick W.; Kirkman, L.K.; Harris, T.G., Jr.; Deforest,

C.E. 1990. Federal legislation and wetlands protection in Georgia:

legal foundations, classification schemes, and industry implications.

Forest Ecology and Management. 33/34: 271–286.

Dubensky, Mitchell M.; Berg, R. Scott; Berry, William S. 1993.

Forested wetland area and distribution—a forest and paper industry

policy. Journal of Forestry. 91(5): 20–24.

Federal Interagency Committee for Wetland Delineation. 1989.

Federal manual for identifying and delineating jurisdictional wetlands.

Washington, DC: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fish and Wildlife

Service, Soil Conservation Service. 76 p. + appendices. [Cooperative

technical publication].
17

Hefner, John M.; Storrs, Charles G. 1991. Delineation and classification

of wetlands in the Southeast. In: Proceedings of ecological land

classification: applications to identify the productive potential of

southern forests; 1991 January 7–9; Charlotte, NC. Gen. Tech. Rep.

SE–68. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station: 69–72.

Johnson, Tony G. 1991. Forest statistics for North Carolina, 1990.

Resour. Bull. SE–120. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 63 p.

Johnson, Tony G. 1992. Forest statistics for Virginia, 1992. Resour. Bull.

SE–131. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 66 p.

Reed, Porter B., Jr. 1988. National list of plant species that occur in

wetlands: Southeast (Region 2). Biol. Rep. 88 (26.2). Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 124 p.

Sheffield, Raymond M.; Thompson, Michael T. 1992. Hurricane Hugo:

effects on South Carolina’s forest resource. Res. Pap. SE–284.

Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 51 p.

Shepard, James P.; Lucier, Alan A.; Haines, L. Wayne. 1993. Industry

and forest wetlands: cooperative research initiatives. Journal of

Forestry. 91(5): 29–33.

Thompson, Michael T. 1998. Forest statistics for Georgia, 1997. Resour.

Bull. SRS–36. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest

Service, Southern Research Station. 92 p.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 1987. Wetlands delineation manual.

Tech. Rep. Y–87–1. Vicksburg, MS: Department of the Army, U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station. 100 p.

U.S. Geological Survey. 1970. The national atlas of the United States of

America. Sheet 60. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior,

Geological Survey. 417 p.

Walbridge, Mark R. 1993. Functions and values of forested wetlands in

the Southern United States. Journal of Forestry. 91(5): 15–19.

Appendix

Procedures

The data for this study was derived from measurements

recorded on forest survey plots visited between 1989 and

1998 during multiresource inventories of Virginia, North

Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The

inventories were dated 1992 for Virginia, 1990 for North

Carolina, 1993 for South Carolina, 1997 for Georgia, and

1995 for Florida. The multiresource inventory of these

Southeastern States’ timberland was conducted in accordance with guidelines described in “Field Instructions for the

Southeast” (see footnote 1). A general summary of the

inventory methods for each State can be found under the

“How the Inventory is Made” section of Resource Bulletins

SE–120 (Johnson 1991), SE–131 (Johnson 1992), SE–141

(Conner 1993), SRS–6 (Brown 1996), and SRS–36

(Thompson 1998).

Several steps were involved in the latest inventories of the

five States forming the study area. Initial estimates of forest

and nonforest area were based on the classification of

167,424 sample clusters systematically spaced on the latest

aerial photographs available. A subsample of 36,306 of

these 16-point clusters was ground checked.

Tree volume estimates and multiresource forest classifications were based on measurements recorded at 25,093

ground sample locations systematically distributed on

timberland. Timberland was defined as land that either

currently supports or previously supported live tree stocking

of 16.7 percent and was not being developed for a nonforest

land use or reserved from commercial timber production.

Thus most parks, preserves, refuges, and wilderness areas

are excluded from the data presented here.

In Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida the

plot design at each ground location was based on a cluster

of 10 points. Variable radius plots, based on a basal-area

factor of 37.5 square feet per acre, were systematically

spaced within a single forest condition at 5 of the 10 cluster

points to sample trees with a diameter at breast height

(d.b.h.) of 5 inches or larger. Trees less than 5 inches d.b.h.

(1.0 to 4.9 inches) were tallied on a 6.8-foot fixed-radius

plot around each of these points.

At the beginning of the Georgia survey, the USDA Forest

Service implemented a new fixed-radius plot design to

increase consistency among FIA units nationally. The new

design employed a cluster of four points spaced 120 feet

apart. Each point served as the center of a 1/24-acre circular

subplot used to sample trees 5.0 inches d.b.h. and larger. A

1/300-acre circular microplot, located at the center of the

subplot, was used to sample trees 1.0 through 4.9 inches

d.b.h. and seedlings (trees less than 1.0 inch d.b.h.). These

fixed-radius sample plots were established without regard to

land use or forest cover. Forest and nonforest condition

classes were delineated and recorded. Condition classes

were defined by six attributes: land use, forest type, stand

origin, stand size, stand density, and major ownership

category. All trees tallied were assigned to their respective

condition class.

In all five States, multiresource data including a ground and

understory vegetation profile, snag and cover data for wildlife, access information, recreational use, slope and aspect,
18

water availability, and proximity of other land uses were

collected at plot center. Ownership information was collected from correspondence, public records, and local

contacts. Final estimates were based on statistical

summaries of the data.

Procedures for collection of the wetland defining criteria

were established in 1989 and are described in supplements

titled “FIA Field Procedures for Wetland Identification.”2

Collection of the criteria was begun in April 1989 for the

1990 North Carolina survey. These procedures called for

identifying the presence of the three diagnostic environmental characteristics pertaining to wetlands (hydric vegetation, hydric soils, and a wetland hydrology) as described

in the “Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating

Jurisdictional Wetlands” (Federal Interagency Committee

for Wetland Delineation 1989) and supplemented by the

“Wetlands Delineation Manual” (U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers 1987). The 1992 Virginia survey began in

October 1990 and near its completion, the “Federal Manual

for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands” was

suspended until a new manual was approved or the suspension lifted. The “Wetlands Delineation Manual” was to be

used in the interlude. The principle difference between the

manuals involved the wetland hydrology component of

wetland definitions. The “Federal Manual for Identifying

and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands” required soil

saturation of 1 week or more during the growing season for

the wetland hydrology component to be met, whereas the

“Wetlands Delineation Manual” said that soil saturation

from 5 through 12.5 percent of the growing season might

constitute a wetland hydrology, and that saturation greater

than 12.5 percent did constitute a wetland hydrology. Based

upon an average growing season of 6 months, this meant

soil saturation from 9 through 22 days during the growing

season might constitute a wetland hydrology, and that

saturation for at least 23 days would constitute a wetland

hydrology. In practice, field crews sampled plots at different

times of the year and had difficulty differentiating whether

plots were saturated 7 days, 9 days, or 23 days. Professional

judgment was often used to determine the presence of a

wetland hydrology. Because of the difficulty of this time

period differentiation, the indications that a new manual was

being developed, the importance of two other wetland

definition components (hydric soils and hydric vegetation),

and the completion of almost two States of a five-State

study, FIA elected to continue as begun. However,

suspension of the “Federal Manual for Identifying and

Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands” was not lifted and a

new manual was never developed. Hence, the “Wetlands

Delineation Manual” remained in effect. The result is that

some sites with less-duration soil saturation have been

included in the wetland classification that could have

overestimated acreage reported for some categories.

Vegetation was evaluated based on plant indicator status

categories. These categories were obligate wetland,

facultative wetland, facultative, facultative upland, and

obligate upland (Reed 1988). Most trees, shrubs, vines, and

grasses encountered were assigned to one of the indicator

status categories. Vegetation was evaluated at the ground,

understory, and overstory levels with equal weight given to

each level. When 51 percent or more of the sample plot

vegetation was facultative wetland or obligate, the hydric

vegetation component was determined to be satisfied.

Although the original instructions included facultative

species as hydrophytic vegetation, FIA soon realized that

including facultative species to meet the hydric vegetation

component would misclassify many areas as having hydric

vegetation that were not even borderline wetlands

(Dubensky and others 1993). For example, loblolly pine is a

facultative species and many areas in the Piedmont have

over 50 percent loblolly pine, but these areas are clearly not

wetlands. Soils were evaluated using a combination of

USDA Soil Conservation Service (now Natural Resources

Conservation Service) soil survey maps, a push tube soil

corer, and the Munsel color chart. If indicators of anaerobic

conditions were found within 1 foot of the soil surface, the

hydric soil component was determined to be satisfied. The

hydrology of the sample area was evaluated by evidence of

inundation, sediment deposition, drift lines, topographic

position, and drainage. If hydrology repeatedly caused soil

saturation to the surface for at least 1 week during the

growing season, then the wetland hydrology component was

determined to be satisfied.

Those plots with all three wetland-defining criteria (hydric

vegetation, hydric soils, and a wetland hydrology) present

were pooled together into one data set and evaluated using

established FIA techniques. The data set was comprised of

7,071 timberland plots classed as wetland across the fiveState region. These plots and the resulting data were used to

statistically quantify and describe wetland timberland. The

distribution of these wetland timberland plots across the

region was mapped (appendix fig. 1). Florida had the most

with 1,967 plots and 28 percent of the total, followed by

2 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 1989. FIA field

procedures for wetland identification. 11 p. Unpublished data. On file

with: USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Forest Inventory

and Analysis Research Work Unit, P.O. Box 2680, Asheville, NC 28802.
19

Appendix figure 1—Map of plot distribution by region, State, and province (boundaries based on FIA units that most closely approximate physiographic

divisions from U.S. Geological Survey 1970) in the South Atlantic States, circa 1990s.

Virginia

Piedmont

Coastal

Plain

Mountain

South

Carolina

Georgia

North

Carolina

Florida

Boundaries

State

Province

Plot

Scale of miles

Lambert azimuthal projection

0 125

Georgia with 1,923 plots (27 percent), South Carolina with

1,175 plots (16 percent), North Carolina with 1,750 plots

(25 percent), and Virginia with 256 plots (4 percent).

Because statistical expansion factors used differed by State,

unit, and county, the correlation between plots and number

of acres presented is not directly proportional among the

States. As might be expected, the majority of plots classified

as wetland using this technique were concentrated in the

Coastal Plain province of each State.

Statistical Reliability

In ordinary FIA surveys, double sampling methods are used.

An initial estimate of forested acres is obtained through


20

The distribution of the sample mean converges to a normal

distribution, and chances are two out of three that the true

mean is within the confidence limit. There is over a 95

percent chance that the true mean is within two standard

errors of the sample mean. Sampling error increases as the

area or volume considered decreases. Sampling errors and

associated confidence intervals are often unacceptably high

for small components of the total resource. With these facts

in mind, one may compute statistical confidence for any

subdivision of survey unit or State totals using the following

formula. Sampling errors obtained from this method are

only approximations because this process assumes constant

variance across all subdivisions of totals.

where

seg

= the standard error for the portion of the total desired,

set= the standard error for the total,

X

g

= the variable of interest (area or volume) for the

portion of the total desired, and

X

t

= the total area or volume.

For example, the estimate of sampling error for volume of

wetland timberland in North and South Carolina is:

Thus, the sampling error is 1.82 percent, and the resulting

confidence interval (two times out of three) for volume on

wetland timberland in North and South Carolina is 13,258 ±

241 million cubic feet.

Sampling errors for key resource items for individual States

are provided in the following table. Users are cautioned that

the precision of small area data is highly variable.

photo interpretation, which is revised by field crew visits. In

this study, only a field crew visit was used. Photo

interpreters did not attempt to delineate wetlands, and

although certain plots were checked, no data are available

concerning the checks. Thus, an ordinary single sampling

method was used:

where

= the standard error for the mean proportion,

p = the probability of observing a wetland plot, and

n = the total number of plots for the geographic area

(forest and nonforest).

For computing standard errors for volume, growth,

removals, and mortality, the following formulae were used:

and

where

s = the sample standard deviation,

X = the variable of interest (in cubic feet per acre of

volume, growth, removals, and mortality), and

n = the total number of wetland plots for the geographic

area.

These equations build the following table:

( 1)

( )

( ) 1

2

2

−

−

=

∑=

n

X X

s X

n

i

i

n

s X s X ( ) ( )

2

=

n

p p p(1 ) ( ) − σ =

σ( p)

Standard error by State and region for volume, growth,

removals, and mortality of wetland timberland

State Volume Growth Removals Mortality

Percent

Florida 2.34 3.00 6.50 6.01

Georgia 2.78 3.81 6.52 6.51

North Carolina 2.50 2.74 6.09 6.51

South Carolina 2.90 18.77 6.82 5.72

Virginia 6.07 6.12 16.67 19.27

Region 1.28 2.00 3.21 3.27

1.82

(8107 5151)

29944 1.21 = + seg = .

Estimates and standard errors for key resource items

of wetland timberland in the South Atlantic States

Item

Areaa 17,624.275 ± 26.4 0.15

Volumeb 29,944.109 ± 383.3 1.28

Growthb 845.458 ± 16.9 2.00

Removalsb 841.708 ± 27.0 3.21

Mortalityb 363.109 ± 11.9 3.27

a

 1,000 acres.

b

 Million cubic feet.

Percent

confidence interval

Sample estimate and Sampling

error

g

t

g t X

X se = se
21

D.o.b. (diameter outside bark). Stem diameter including

bark.

Forest land. Land at least 10 percent stocked by forest trees

of any size, or formerly having had such tree cover, and not

currently developed for nonforest use. The minimum area

considered for classification is 1 acre. Forested strips must

be at least 120 feet wide.

Forest management type. A classification of timberland

based on forest type and stand origin.

Pine plantation. Stands that (a) have been artificially

regenerated by planting or direct seeding, (b) are

classed as a pine or other softwood forest type, and (c)

have at least 10 percent stocking.

Natural pine. Stands that (a) have not been artificially

regenerated, (b) are classed as a pine or other softwood

forest type, and (c) have at least 10 percent stocking.

Oak-pine. Stands that have at least 10 percent stocking

and classed as a forest type of oak-pine.

Upland hardwood. Stands that have at least 10 percent

stocking and classed as an oak-hickory or maplebeech-birch forest type.

Lowland hardwood. Stands that have at least 10 percent stocking with a forest type of oak-gum-cypress,

elm-ash-cottonwood, palm, or other tropical.

Nonstocked stands. Stands less than 10 percent

stocked with live trees.

Forest type. A classification of forest land based on the

species forming a plurality of live-tree stocking. Major

eastern forest-type groups are:

White-red-jack pine. Forests in which eastern white

pine, red pine, or jack pine, singly or in combination,

constitute a plurality of the stocking. (Common

associates include hemlock, birch, and maple.)

Spruce-fir. Forests in which spruce or true firs, singly

or in combination, constitute a plurality of the

stocking. (Common associates include maple, birch,

and hemlock.)

Afforestation. Area of land previously classified as

nonforest that is converted to forest by planting trees or by

natural reversion to forest.

Average annual mortality. Average annual volume of trees

5.0 inches d.b.h. and larger that died from natural causes

during the intersurvey period.

Average annual removals. Average annual volume of trees

5.0 inches d.b.h. and larger removed from the inventory by

harvesting, cultural operations (such as timber-stand

improvement), land clearing, or changes in land use during

the intersurvey period.

Average net annual growth. Average annual net change in

volume of trees 5.0 inches d.b.h. and larger in the absence

of cutting (gross growth minus mortality) during the

intersurvey period.

Basal area. The area in square feet of the cross section at

breast height of a single tree or of all the trees in a stand,

usually expressed in square feet per acre.

Biomass. The aboveground fresh weight of solid wood and

bark in live trees 1.0 inch d.b.h. and larger from the ground

to the tip of the tree. All foliage is excluded. The weight of

wood and bark in lateral limbs, secondary limbs, and twigs

under 0.5 inch in diameter at the point of occurrence on

sapling-size trees is included but is excluded on poletimber

and sawtimber-size trees.

Bole. That portion of a tree between a 1-foot stump and a

4-inch top d.o.b. in trees 5.0 inches d.b.h. and larger.

Census water. Streams, sloughs, estuaries, canals, and other

moving bodies of water 200 feet wide and greater, and

lakes, reservoirs, ponds, and other permanent bodies of

water 4.5 acres in area and greater.

Commercial species. Tree species currently or potentially

suitable for industrial wood products.

D.b.h. Tree diameter in inches (outside bark) at breast

height (4.5 feet aboveground).

Diameter class. A classification of trees based on tree d.b.h.

Two-inch diameter classes are commonly used by Forest

Inventory and Analysis, with the even inch as the approximate midpoint for a class. For example, the 6-inch class

includes trees 5.0 through 6.9 inches d.b.h.

Definitions
22

Longleaf-slash pine. Forests in which longleaf or

slash pine, singly or in combination, constitute a

plurality of the stocking. (Common associates include

oak, hickory, and gum.)

Loblolly-shortleaf pine. Forests in which loblolly

pine, shortleaf pine, or other southern yellow pines,

except longleaf or slash pine, singly or in combination,

constitute a plurality of the stocking. (Common

associates include oak, hickory, and gum.)

Oak-pine. Forests in which hardwoods (usually upland

oaks) constitute a plurality of the stocking but in which

pines account for 25 to 50 percent of the stocking.

(Common associates include gum, hickory, and yellowpoplar.)

Oak-hickory. Forests in which upland oaks or hickory,

singly or in combination, constitute a plurality of the

stocking, except where pines account for 25 to 50

percent, in which case the stand would be classified

oak-pine. (Common associates include yellow-poplar,

elm, maple, and black walnut.)

Oak-gum-cypress. Bottomland forests in which

tupelo, blackgum, sweetgum, oaks, or southern

cypress, singly or in combination, constitute a plurality

of the stocking, except where pines account for 25 to

50 percent, in which case the stand would be classified

oak-pine. (Common associates include cottonwood,

willow, ash, elm, hackberry, and maple.)

Elm-ash-cottonwood. Forests in which elm, ash, or

cottonwood, singly or in combination, constitute a

plurality of the stocking. (Common associates include

willow, sycamore, beech, and maple.)

Maple-beech-birch. Forests in which maple, beech,

or yellow birch, singly or in combination, constitute a

plurality of the stocking. (Common associates include

hemlock, elm, basswood, and white pine.)

Nonstocked stands. Stands less than 10 percent

stocked with live trees.

Forested tract size. The area of forest within the contiguous tract containing each Forest Inventory and Analysis

sample plot.

Fresh weight. Mass of tree component at time of cutting.

Gross growth. Annual increase in volume of trees 5.0

inches d.b.h. and larger in the absence of cutting and

mortality. (Gross growth includes survivor growth, ingrowth, growth on ingrowth, growth on removals before

removal, and growth on mortality before death.)

Growing-stock trees. Living trees of commercial species

classified as sawtimber, poletimber, saplings, and seedlings.

Trees must contain at least one 12-foot or two 8-foot logs in

the saw-log portion, currently or potentially (if too small to

qualify), to be classed as growing stock. The log(s) must

meet dimension and merchantability standards to qualify.

Trees must also have, currently or potentially, one-third of

the gross board-foot volume in sound wood.

Growing-stock volume. The cubic-foot volume of sound

wood in growing-stock trees at least 5.0 inches d.b.h. from a

1-foot stump to a minimum 4.0-inch top d.o.b. of the central

stem.

Hardwoods. Dicotyledonous trees, usually broadleaf and

deciduous.

Soft hardwoods. Hardwood species with an average

specific gravity of 0.50 or less, such as gums, yellowpoplar, cottonwoods, red maple, basswoods, and

willows.

Hard hardwoods. Hardwood species with an average

specific gravity greater than 0.50 such as oaks, hard

maples, hickories, and beech.

Industrial wood. All roundwood products except fuelwood.

Land area. The area of dry land and land temporarily or

partly covered by water, such as marshes, swamps, and river

floodplains (omitting tidal flats below mean high tide),

streams, sloughs, estuaries, and canals less than 200 feet

wide, and lakes, reservoirs, and ponds less than 4.5 acres in

area.

Live trees. All living trees. All size classes, all tree classes,

and both commercial and noncommercial species are

included.

Log grade. A classification of logs based on external

characteristics indicating quality or value.

Logging residues. The unused merchantable portion of

growing-stock trees cut or destroyed during logging

operations.
23

Net annual change. Increase or decrease in volume of live

trees at least 5.0 inches d.b.h. Net annual change is equal to

net annual growth minus average annual removals.

Noncommercial species. Tree species of typically small

size, poor form, or inferior quality that normally do not

develop into trees suitable for industrial wood products.

Nonforest land. Land that has never supported forests and

land formerly forested where timber production is precluded

by development for other uses.

Nonstocked stands. Stands less than 10 percent stocked

with live trees.

Other forest land. Forest land other than timberland and

productive reserved forest land. It includes available and

reserved forest land which is incapable of producing

annually 20 cubic feet per acre of industrial wood under

natural conditions, because of adverse site conditions such

as sterile soils, dry climate, poor drainage, high elevation,

steepness, or rockiness.

Other removals. The growing-stock volume of trees

removed from the inventory by cultural operations such as

timber stand improvement, land clearing, and other changes

in land use, resulting in the removal of the trees from

timberland.

Ownership. The property owned by one ownership unit,

including all parcels of land in the United States.

National forest land. Federal land that has been legally

designated as national forests or purchase units, and

other land under the administration of the Forest

Service, including experimental areas and BankheadJones Title III land.

Forest industry land. Land owned by companies or

individuals operating primary wood-using plants.

Nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) land. Privately

owned land excluding forest industry land or forest

industry-leased land.

Corporate. Owned by corporations, including

incorporated farm ownerships.

Individual. All lands owned by individuals,

including farm operators.

Other public. An ownership class that includes all

public lands except national forests.

Miscellaneous Federal land. Federal land other

than national forests.

State, county, and municipal land. Land owned by

States, counties, and local public agencies or

municipalities or land leased to these governmental

units for 50 years or more.

Plant residues. Wood material generated in the production

of timber products at primary manufacturing plants.

Coarse residues. Material, such as slabs, edgings,

trim, veneer cores and ends, suitable for chipping.

Fine residues. Material, such as sawdust, shavings,

and veneer chippings, not suitable for chipping.

Plant byproducts. Residues (coarse or fine) used in

the manufacture of industrial products or for consumer

use or as fuel.

Unused plant residues. Residues (coarse or fine) not

used for any product, including fuel.

Poletimber-size trees. Softwoods 5.0 to 8.9 inches d.b.h.

and hardwoods 5.0 to 10.9 inches d.b.h.

Primary wood-using plants. Industries receiving roundwood or chips from roundwood for the manufacture of

products, such as veneer, pulp, and lumber.

Productive-reserved forest land. Forest land sufficiently

productive to qualify as timberland but withdrawn from

timber utilization through statute or administrative regulation.

Reforestation. Area of land previously classified as forest that

is regenerated by planting trees or natural regeneration.

Rotten trees. Live trees of commercial species not containing

at least one 12-foot saw log, or two noncontiguous saw logs,

each 8 feet or longer, now or prospectively, primarily because

of rot or missing sections, and with less than one-third of the

gross board-foot tree volume in sound material.

Rough trees. Live trees of commercial species not containing

at least one 12-foot saw log, or two noncontiguous saw logs,

each 8 feet or longer, now or prospectively, primarily because
24

Select white oaks. A group of several white oak species

composed of white, swamp chestnut, swamp white,

chinkapin, Durand, and bur oaks. Other white oak species

are included in the "other white oaks" group.

Site class. A classification of forest land in terms of

potential capacity to grow crops of industrial wood based on

fully stocked natural stands.

Softwoods. Coniferous trees, usually evergreen, having

leaves that are needles or scalelike.

Yellow pines. Loblolly, longleaf, slash, pond,

shortleaf, pitch, Virginia, sand, spruce, and Table

Mountain pines.

Other softwoods. Cypress, eastern redcedar, whitecedar, eastern white pine, eastern hemlock, spruce, and

fir.

Stand age. The average age of dominant and codominant

trees in the stand.

Stand origin. A classification of forest stands describing

their means of origin.

Planted. Planted or artificially seeded.

Natural. No evidence of artificial regeneration.

Stand-size class. A classification of forest land based on the

diameter class distribution of live trees in the stand.

Sawtimber stands. Stands at least 10 percent

stocked with live trees, with half or more of total

stocking in sawtimber and poletimber trees, and with

sawtimber stocking at least equal to poletimber

stocking.

Poletimber stands. Stands at least 10 percent stocked

with live trees, of which half or more of total stocking

is in poletimber and sawtimber trees, and with poletimber stocking exceeding that of sawtimber.

Sapling-seedling stands. Stands at least 10 percent

stocked with live trees of which more than half of

total stocking is saplings and seedlings.

Nonstocked stands. Stands less than 10 percent

stocked with live trees.

of roughness, poor form, splits, and cracks, and with less than

one-third of the gross board-foot tree volume in sound

material; and live trees of noncommercial species.

Roundwood (roundwood logs). Logs, bolts, or other round

sections cut from trees for industrial or consumer uses.

Roundwood chipped. Any timber cut primarily for pulpwood, delivered to nonpulpmills, chipped, and then sold to

pulpmills as residues, including chipped tops, jump sections, whole trees, and pulpwood sticks.

Roundwood products. Any primary product such as

lumber, poles, pilings, pulp, or fuelwood, that is produced

from roundwood.

Salvable dead trees. Standing or downed dead trees that

were formerly growing stock and considered merchantable.

Trees must be at least 5.0 inches d.b.h. to qualify.

Saplings. Live trees 1.0 to 5.0 inches d.b.h.

Saw log. A log meeting minimum standards of diameter,

length, and defect, including logs at least 8 feet long, sound

and straight, with a minimum diameter inside bark for

softwoods of 6 inches (8 inches for hardwoods).

Saw-log portion. The part of the bole of sawtimber trees

between a 1-foot stump and the saw-log top.

Saw-log top. The point on the bole of sawtimber trees

above which a conventional saw log cannot be produced.

The minimum saw-log top is 7.0 inches d.o.b. for softwoods

and 9.0 inches d.o.b. for hardwoods.

Sawtimber-size trees. Softwoods 9.0 inches d.b.h. and

larger and hardwoods 11.0 inches d.b.h. and larger.

Sawtimber volume. Growing-stock volume in the saw- log

portion of sawtimber-size trees in board feet (International

1/4-inch rule).

Seedlings. Trees less than 1.0 inch d.b.h. and greater than 1

foot tall for hardwoods, greater than 6 inches tall for

softwood, and greater than 0.5 inch in diameter at ground

level for longleaf pine.

Select red oaks. A group of several red oak species composed of cherrybark, Shumard, and northern red oaks. Other

red oak species are included in the "other red oaks" group.
25

Stocking. The degree of occupancy of land by trees,

measured by basal area or the number of trees in a stand and

spacing in the stand, compared with a minimum standard,

depending on tree size, required to fully utilize the growth

potential of the land.

Density of trees and basal area per acre required for full

stocking

D.b.h. Trees per acre Basal area

class for full stocking per acre

Seedlings 600 —

2 560 —

4 460 —

6 340 67

8 240 84

10 155 85

12 115 90

14 90 96

16 72 101

18 60 106

20 51 111

Timberland. Forest land capable of producing 20 cubic feet

of industrial wood per acre per year and not withdrawn from

timber utilization.

Timber products. Roundwood products and byproducts.

Tree. Woody plants having one erect perennial stem or

trunk at least 3 inches d.b.h., a more or less definitely

formed crown of foliage, and a height of at least 13 feet (at

maturity).

Tree grade. A classification of the saw-log portion of

sawtimber trees based on: (1) the grade of the butt log or (2)

the ability to produce at least one 12-foot or two 8-foot logs

in the upper section of the saw-log portion. Tree grade is an

indicator of quality; grade 1 is the best quality.

Upper-stem portion. The part of the main stem or fork of

sawtimber trees above the saw-log top to minimum top

diameter 4.0 inches outside bark or to the point where the

main stem or fork breaks into limbs.

Volume of live trees. The cubic-foot volume of sound wood

in live trees at least 5.0 inches d.b.h. from a 1-foot stump to

a minimum 4.0-inch top d.o.b. of the central stem.

Volume of saw-log portion of sawtimber trees. The cubicfoot volume of sound wood in the saw-log portion of

sawtimber trees. Volume is the net result after deductions for

rot, sweep, and other defects that affect use for lumber.

1 acre = 4,046.86 square meters or 0.404686 hectare

1 cubic foot = 0.028317 cubic meter

1 inch = 2.54 centimeters or 0.0254 meter

Breast height = 1.4 meters above the ground

1 square foot = 929.03 square centimeters or 0.0929 square meter

1 square foot per acre basal area = 0.229568 square meter per hectare

1 pound = 0.454 kilogram

1 ton = 0.907 metric ton

Metric equivalents of units used in this report
26

Index of Detailed Tables

1. Area of timberland by wetland status and

ownership class, Virginia

2. Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and

ownership classes, Virginia

3. Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and

ownership classes, Virginia

4. Area of wetland timberland by forest management type

and ownership class, Virginia

5. Area of wetland timberland by forest type and

ownership class, Virginia

6. Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and

ownership classes, Virginia

7. Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by

species group and ownership class, Virginia

8. Average net annual growth, average annual removals,

and average annual mortality of growing stock on

wetland timberland by ownership class and species

group, Virginia

9. Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed

annually and retained in timberland by treatment or

disturbance and ownership class, Virginia

10. Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity

and ownership classes, Virginia

11. Area of timberland by wetland status and

ownership class, North Carolina

12. Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and

ownership classes, North Carolina

13. Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and

ownership classes, North Carolina

14. Area of wetland timberland by forest management type

and ownership class, North Carolina

15. Area of wetland timberland by forest type and

ownership class, North Carolina

16. Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and

ownership classes, North Carolina

17. Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by

species group and ownership class, North Carolina

18. Average net annual growth, average annual removals,

and average annual mortality of growing stock on

wetland timberland by ownership class and species

group, North Carolina

19. Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed

annually and retained in timberland by treatment or

disturbance and ownership class, North Carolina

20. Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity

and ownership classes, North Carolina

21. Area of timberland by wetland status and

ownership class, South Carolina

22. Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and

ownership classes, South Carolina

23. Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and

ownership classes, South Carolina

24. Area of wetland timberland by forest management type

and ownership class, South Carolina

25. Area of wetland timberland by forest type and

ownership class, South Carolina

26. Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and

ownership classes, South Carolina

27. Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by

species group and ownership class, South Carolina

28. Average net annual growth, average annual removals,

and average annual mortality of growing stock on

wetland timberland by ownership class and species

group, South Carolina

29. Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed

annually and retained in timberland by treatment or

disturbance and ownership class, South Carolina

30. Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity

and ownership classes, South Carolina

31. Area of timberland by wetland status and

ownership class, Georgia
27

32. Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and

ownership classes, Georgia

33. Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and

ownership classes, Georgia

34. Area of wetland timberland by forest management type

and ownership class, Georgia

35. Area of wetland timberland by forest type and

ownership class, Georgia

36. Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and

ownership classes, Georgia

37. Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by

species group and ownership class, Georgia

38. Average net annual growth, average annual removals,

and average annual mortality of growing stock on

wetland timberland by ownership class and species

group, Georgia

39. Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed

annually and retained in timberland by treatment or

disturbance and ownership class, Georgia

40. Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity

and ownership classes, Georgia

41. Area of timberland by wetland status and

ownership class, Florida

42. Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and

ownership classes, Florida

43. Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and

ownership classes, Florida

44. Area of wetland timberland by forest management type

and ownership class, Florida

45. Area of wetland timberland by forest type and

ownership class, Florida

46. Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and

ownership classes, Florida

47. Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by

species group and ownership class, Florida

48. Average net annual growth, average annual removals,

and average annual mortality of growing stock on

wetland timberland by ownership class and species

group, Florida

49. Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed

annually and retained in timberland by treatment or

disturbance and ownership class, Florida

50. Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity

and ownership classes, Florida
28

Table 2—Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and ownership classes, Virginia

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-size class classes Public industrya private

Sawtimber 326.2 22.0 43.8 260.4 

Poletimber 175.2 — 17.0 158.3 

Sapling-seedling 126.8 — 24.7 102.1 

Nonstocked 14.8 2.7 5.4 6.7 

 All classes 643.1 24.7 90.9 527.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres

Table 3—Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and ownership classes,

Virginia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-age class classes Public industrya private

Years Thousand acres

0–10 49.0 — 6.2 42.8 

11–20 62.0 — 17.5 44.5 

21–30 42.2 — 11.5 30.7 

31–40 32.2 — — 32.2 

41–50 53.4 0.5 9.4 43.5 

51–60 50.8 1.1 8.4 41.3 

61–70 57.8 2.7 5.0 50.1 

71–80 49.9 4.0 2.2 43.6 

81+ 93.3 13.6 17.2 62.4 

No manageable stand 152.6 2.7 13.5 136.4 

 All classes 643.1 24.7 90.9 527.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

Table 1—Area of timberland by wetland status and ownership class, Virginia

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Wetland status classes Public industrya private

Wetlands 643.1 24.7 90.9 527.5 

Other 14,804.5 1,958.6 1,463.9 11,382.0 

 Total 15,447.6 1,983.3 1,554.8 11,909.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
29

Table 4—Area of wetland timberland by forest management type and ownership class, 

Virginia

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest management type classes Public industrya private

Pine plantation 41.9 — 15.2 26.7 

Natural pine 70.9 2.7 15.9 52.3 

Oak-pine 43.9 3.0 7.0 33.9 

Upland hardwood 91.6 — 2.7 88.9 

Lowland hardwood 394.8 19.0 50.2 325.7 

 All types 643.1 24.7 90.9 527.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres

Table 5—Area of wetland timberland by forest type and ownership class, Virginia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest type classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Slash pine — — — — 

Loblolly pine 111.1 2.7 31.0 77.3 

Pond pine 1.8 — — 1.8 

Loblolly pine-hardwood 38.6 3.0 7.0 28.6 

Slash pine-hardwood — — — — 

Other oak-pine 5.3 — — 5.3 

Sweetgum-yellow-poplar 31.2 — — 31.2 

Mixed hardwoods 54.4 — 2.7 51.7 

Swamp chestnut oak-cherrybark oak 17.2 — 5.0 12.2 

Sweetgum-water oak-willow oak 82.5 3.8 6.9 71.8 

Sugarberry-American elm-green ash 61.1 1.9 9.8 49.5 

Overcup oak-water hickory 2.8 — — 2.8 

Atlantic white-cedar — — — — 

Cypress-water tupelo 40.2 0.2 4.9 35.0 

Sweetbay-blackgum-red maple 94.0 2.0 12.5 79.6 

River birch-sycamore 58.4 3.3 3.8 51.3 

Willow 18.1 — 4.6 13.5 

Sycamore-pecan-American elm 17.6 7.8 2.6 7.2 

Palm — — — — 

Miscellaneous typesb — 9.0 — 9.0 

 All types 643.1 24.7 90.9 527.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

b Individual types with less than 25,000 acres cumulatively across the region were condensed into the miscellaneous category.

This category includes longleaf pine, white oak-red oak-hickory, cottonwood, yellow-poplar-white oak-northern red oak, and 

eastern redcedar-hardwood.
30

Table 6—Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and ownership classes,

Virginia

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Physiographic class classes Public industrya private

Flatwoods 270.2 6.2 40.8 223.2 

Rolling uplands — — — — 

Moist mountain slopes/coves 3.9 — — 3.9 

Narrow floodplains 163.1 12.6 17.0 133.4 

Broad floodplains 42.2 0.9 5.0 36.3 

Other mesic 7.0 — 2.1 4.9 

Deep swamps 48.0 2.1 — 46.0 

Small drains 51.0 3.0 10.2 37.9 

Bays and wet pocosins 13.3 — 2.7 10.5 

Other hydric 44.5 — 13.1 31.4 

 All classes 643.1 24.7 90.9 527.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Thousand acres

Ownership class

Table 7—Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by species group and ownership

class, Virginia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Species group classes Public industrya private

Million cubic feet

Softwood 300.4 10.6 70.4 219.4 

Hardwood 921.1 82.6 91.5 746.9 

 Total 1,221.5 93.3 161.9 966.3 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.
31

Table 9—Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed annually and retained

in timberland by treatment or disturbance and ownership class, Virginia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment or disturbance classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Final harvest 7.1 0.5 1.3 5.4 

Partial harvest 1.6 — 0.4 1.2 

Commercial thinning 0.9 — 0.9 — 

Other stand improvement 0.2 — 0.2 — 

Site preparation 0.9 — 0.4 0.5 

Artificial regeneration 0.9 — — 0.9 

Natural regeneration 6.0 — 0.7 5.3 

Other treatment 1.3 — — 1.3 

Natural disturbance 13.0 — 2.8 10.2 

Since some acres experience more than one treatment or disturbance, there are no column totals.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 8—Average net annual growth, average annual removals, and average

annual mortality of growing stock on wetland timberland by ownership

class and species group, Virginia

 All

Ownership class species Softwood Hardwood

Public 1.9 0.2 1.7 

Forest industrya

 2.8 5.5 2.7 

Nonindustrial private 31.7 8.5 23.2 

 All classes 39.1 11.5 27.6 

Public 0.1 — 0.1 

Forest industrya

 2.0 6.4 4.4 

Nonindustrial private 27.3 5.5 21.8 

 All classes 33.8 7.4 26.3 

Public 0.5 — 0.5 

Forest industrya

 0.6 1.2 0.6 

Nonindustrial private 8.1 0.8 7.3 

 All classes 9.8 1.4 8.4 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Average annual removals (million cubic feet)

Average annual mortality (million cubic feet)

Average net annual growth (million cubic feet)

Species group
32

Table 10—Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity and ownership classes, 

Virginia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment opportunity class classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Salvage — — — — 

Harvest 133.2 14.4 19.4 99.3 

Commercial thinning 25.2 — 3.6 21.6 

Other stand improvement 66.3 — 6.6 59.8 

Stand conversion — — — — 

Regeneration 152.6 2.7 13.5 136.4 

Stands in relatively 

 good condition 265.8 7.6 47.8 210.4 

 All classes 643.1 24.7 90.9 527.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 11—Area of timberland by wetland status and ownership class, North Carolina

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Wetland status classes Public industrya private

Wetlands 4,629.5 504.8 1,220.8 2,904.0 

Other 14,080.9 1,497.9 1,199.6 11,383.4 

 Total 18,710.4 2,002.7 2,420.4 14,287.3 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres

Table 12—Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and ownership classes,

North Carolina

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-size class classes Public industrya private

Sawtimber 2,123.6 235.2 462.7 1,425.7 

Poletimber 1,144.4 165.2 359.3 619.9 

Sapling-seedling 1,267.7 100.0 363.8 804.0 

Nonstocked 93.8 4.3 35.1 54.4 

 All classes 4,629.5 504.8 1,220.8 2,904.0 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
33

Table 13—Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and ownership classes,

North Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-age class classes Public industrya private

Years Thousand acres

0–10 715.2 20.2 246.9 448.2 

11–20 513.6 29.2 246.0 238.5 

21–30 358.9 30.6 146.5 181.8 

31–40 341.3 60.6 62.6 218.1 

41–50 459.8 68.7 81.2 310.0 

51–60 480.5 59.3 69.8 351.4 

61–70 343.2 57.4 58.9 227.0 

71–80 260.9 33.9 52.8 174.2 

81+ 390.9 27.0 101.3 262.7 

No manageable stand 765.0 118.0 154.8 492.2 

 All classes 4,629.5 504.8 1,220.8 2,904.0 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 14—Area of wetland timberland by forest management type and ownership class, 

North Carolina

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest management type classes Public industrya private

Pine plantation 677.5 34.2 513.2 130.2 

Natural pine 999.4 221.2 184.9 593.4 

Oak-pine 494.5 48.1 86.0 360.4 

Upland hardwood 263.5 4.8 24.0 234.7 

Lowland hardwood 2,194.5 196.6 412.7 1,585.3 

 All types 4,629.5 504.8 1,220.8 2,904.0 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
34

Table 15—Area of wetland timberland by forest type and ownership class, North Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest type classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Slash pine 29.3 — 24.5 4.7 

Loblolly pine 1,059.8 51.9 575.9 431.9 

Pond pine 574.0 192.3 94.9 286.9 

Loblolly pine-hardwood 357.0 14.0 52.8 290.2 

Slash pine-hardwood 8.3 — 5.3 3.0 

Other oak-pine 129.2 34.1 27.9 67.2 

Sweetgum-yellow-poplar 180.5 — 17.9 162.5 

Mixed hardwoods 64.5 1.7 6.1 56.7 

Swamp chestnut oak-cherrybark oak 25.1 2.9 1.5 20.7 

Sweetgum-water oak-willow oak 463.9 18.5 44.8 400.6 

Sugarberry-American elm-green ash 172.6 10.7 30.3 131.7 

Overcup oak-water hickory 3.6 — — 3.6 

Atlantic white-cedar 33.6 8.8 5.9 18.9 

Cypress-water tupelo 251.0 6.1 76.7 168.2 

Sweetbay-blackgum-red maple 1,149.4 149.5 240.9 759.0 

River birch-sycamore 45.0 — 7.3 37.7 

Willow 25.0 — 5.4 19.6 

Sycamore-pecan-American elm 22.9 — — 22.9 

Palm — — — — 

Miscellaneous typesb

 14.2 34.9 2.8 18.0 

 All types 4,629.5 504.8 1,220.8 2,904.0 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

b

 Individual types with less than 25,000 acres cumulatively across the region were condensed into the miscellaneous category.

This category includes longleaf pine, white oak-red oak-hickory, cottonwood, yellow-poplar-white oak-northern red oak, and 

eastern redcedar-hardwood.
35

Table 16—Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and ownership classes,

North Carolina

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Physiographic class classes Public industrya private

Flatwoods 1,946.3 86.4 722.3 1,137.6 

Rolling uplands 12.6 4.0 3.6 4.9 

Moist mountain slopes/coves — — — — 

Narrow floodplains 522.3 18.2 49.2 454.9 

Broad floodplains 386.4 24.4 135.2 226.7 

Other mesic 154.9 15.7 27.2 112.0 

Deep swamps 239.2 18.9 74.1 146.2 

Small drains 405.5 17.9 43.6 344.0 

Bays and wet pocosins 893.0 304.2 152.9 436.0 

Other hydric 69.4 15.0 12.7 41.7 

 All classes 4,629.5 504.8 1,220.8 2,904.0 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Thousand acres

Ownership class

Table 17—Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by species group and ownership

class, North Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Species group classes Public industrya private

Million cubic feet

Softwood 3,021.3 477.7 898.3 1,645.3 

Hardwood 5,085.4 422.6 962.2 3,700.6 

 Total 8,106.7 900.3 1,860.5 5,345.9 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.
36

Table 19—Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed annually and retained

in timberland by treatment or disturbance and ownership class, North Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment or disturbance classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Final harvest 91.1 0.7 27.6 62.7 

Partial harvest 10.1 — 0.4 9.7 

Commercial thinning 17.3 2.1 14.1 1.1 

Other stand improvement 1.2 — 0.4 0.8 

Site preparation 41.1 — 22.9 18.2 

Artificial regeneration 37.0 — 22.8 14.2 

Natural regeneration 57.6 2.1 9.2 46.2 

Other treatment 11.1 0.9 2.4 7.8 

Natural disturbance 49.6 3.6 9.6 36.3 

Since some acres experience more than one treatment or disturbance, there are no column totals.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 18—Average net annual growth, average annual removals, and average

annual mortality of growing stock on wetland timberland by ownership

class and species group, North Carolina

 All

Ownership class species Softwood Hardwood

Public 31.7 18.6 13.1 

Forest industrya 72.1 100.2 28.2 

Nonindustrial private 176.4 66.4 109.9 

 All classes 308.4 157.1 151.2 

Public 10.1 5.6 4.5 

Forest industrya 49.3 63.2 13.8 

Nonindustrial private 198.3 80.7 117.6 

 All classes 271.6 135.6 136.0 

Public 6.5 3.9 2.6 

Forest industrya 6.8 15.6 8.8 

Nonindustrial private 43.6 15.4 28.2 

 All classes 65.7 26.1 39.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Average annual removals (million cubic feet)

Average annual mortality (million cubic feet)

Average net annual growth (million cubic feet)

Species group
37

Table 20—Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity and ownership classes, 

North Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment opportunity class classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Salvage 13.4 1.6 — 11.8 

Harvest 587.1 50.6 159.9 376.5 

Commercial thinning 210.3 10.8 114.7 84.7 

Other stand improvement 280.2 16.1 56.1 208.0 

Stand conversion 29.7 2.3 11.3 16.1 

Regeneration 765.0 118.0 154.8 492.2 

Stands in relatively 

 good condition 2,743.9 305.3 724.0 1,714.6 

 All classes 4,629.5 504.8 1,220.8 2,904.0 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 21—Area of timberland by wetland status and ownership class, South Carolina

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Wetland status classes Public industrya private

Wetlands 2,872.0 237.2 738.9 1,895.9 

Other 9,582.9 876.8 1,655.3 7,050.8 

 Total 12,454.9 1,114.0 2,394.3 8,946.7 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres

Table 22—Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and ownership classes,

South Carolina

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-size class classes Public industrya private

Sawtimber 1,476.4 139.6 344.5 992.3 

Poletimber 572.0 50.3 162.1 359.7 

Sapling-seedling 797.2 45.3 221.1 530.8 

Nonstocked 26.4 2.0 11.3 13.0 

 All classes 2,872.0 237.2 738.9 1,895.9 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
38

Table 23—Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and ownership classes,

South Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-age class classes Public industrya private

Years Thousand acres

0–10 531.2 30.2 153.4 347.5 

11–20 218.8 7.6 81.3 129.9 

21–30 136.8 7.6 45.9 83.2 

31–40 170.8 16.2 27.8 126.8 

41–50 230.3 20.8 55.4 154.2 

51–60 306.1 27.1 66.0 213.0 

61–70 283.0 26.7 55.4 201.0 

71–80 194.2 15.9 36.8 141.5 

81+ 296.6 43.3 96.2 157.1 

No manageable stand 504.1 41.8 120.6 341.7 

 All classes 2,872.0 237.2 738.9 1,895.9 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 24—Area of wetland timberland by forest management type and ownership class, 

South Carolina

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest management type classes Public industrya private

Pine plantation 261.8 2.5 183.1 76.2 

Natural pine 327.4 41.9 63.7 221.9 

Oak-pine 272.1 23.1 32.9 216.0 

Upland hardwood 148.0 14.3 32.5 101.1 

Lowland hardwood 1,862.8 155.4 426.7 1,280.6 

 All types 2,872.0 237.2 738.9 1,895.9 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
39

Table 25—Area of wetland timberland by forest type and ownership class, South Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest type classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Slash pine 18.4 4.0 5.3 9.1 

Loblolly pine 462.5 29.7 213.9 218.9 

Pond pine 108.2 10.6 27.6 70.1 

Loblolly pine-hardwood 219.9 15.6 24.2 180.1 

Slash pine-hardwood 7.3 — 2.2 5.2 

Other oak-pine 44.9 7.6 6.5 30.7 

Sweetgum-yellow-poplar 71.8 8.7 17.6 45.4 

Mixed hardwoods 76.2 5.6 14.9 55.7 

Swamp chestnut oak-cherrybark oak 43.7 5.0 4.9 33.8 

Sweetgum-water oak-willow oak 735.8 41.7 158.5 535.7 

Sugarberry-American elm-green ash 131.8 27.2 31.5 73.1 

Overcup oak-water hickory 27.7 — 17.5 10.3 

Atlantic white-cedar — — — — 

Cypress-water tupelo 375.7 40.3 106.5 228.8 

Sweetbay-blackgum-red maple 489.3 41.3 85.2 362.7 

River birch-sycamore 16.3 — 4.4 11.8 

Willow 12.3 — 5.5 6.8 

Sycamore-pecan-American elm 19.7 — 6.8 13.0 

Palm 2.1 — — 2.1 

Miscellaneous typesb

 — 8.4 5.9 2.5 

 All types 2,872.0 237.2 738.9 1,895.9 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

b

 Individual types with less than 25,000 acres cumulatively across the region were condensed into the miscellaneous category.

This category includes longleaf pine, white oak-red oak-hickory, cottonwood, yellow-poplar-white oak-northern red oak, and 

eastern redcedar-hardwood.
40

Table 26—Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and ownership classes,

South Carolina

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Physiographic class classes Public industrya private

Flatwoods 1,143.4 60.1 302.9 780.5 

Rolling uplands — — — — 

Moist mountain slopes/coves — — — — 

Narrow floodplains 218.4 25.2 47.1 146.1 

Broad floodplains 411.6 25.1 130.6 255.8 

Other mesic 71.5 12.8 5.6 53.2 

Deep swamps 275.4 29.0 81.8 164.6 

Small drains 310.7 25.5 52.4 232.9 

Bays and wet pocosins 277.1 43.5 89.8 143.8 

Other hydric 163.8 16.0 28.7 119.0 

 All classes 2,872.0 237.2 738.9 1,895.9 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Thousand acres

Ownership class

Table 27—Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by species group and ownership

class, South Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Species group classes Public industrya private

Million cubic feet

Softwood 1,356.7 152.3 356.5 847.9 

Hardwood 3,793.6 347.1 908.8 2,537.7 

 Total 5,150.4 499.4 1,265.4 3,385.6 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.
41

Table 29—Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed annually and retained

in timberland by treatment or disturbance and ownership class, South Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment or disturbance classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Final harvest 59.2 1.7 13.6 43.9 

Partial harvest 8.3 0.3 2.7 5.2 

Commercial thinning 2.6 — 1.4 1.2 

Other stand improvement 2.8 1.3 — 1.5 

Site preparation 16.1 1.0 10.2 4.9 

Artificial regeneration 17.4 0.8 11.4 5.2 

Natural regeneration 50.9 3.1 6.9 40.9 

Other treatment 19.3 2.3 3.2 13.8 

Natural disturbance 225.0 25.0 59.0 141.0 

Since some acres experience more than one treatment or disturbance, there are no column totals.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 28—Average net annual growth, average annual removals, and average

annual mortality of growing stock on wetland timberland by ownership

class and species group, South Carolina

 All

Ownership class species Softwood Hardwood

Public -10.4 -10.3 -0.0 

Forest industrya

 15.0 20.6 5.6 

Nonindustrial private 40.2 9.1 31.0 

 All classes 50.4 13.8 36.6 

Public 9.5 4.0 5.4 

Forest industrya 21.4 43.0 21.7 

Nonindustrial private 114.5 49.9 64.6 

 All classes 166.9 75.3 91.6 

Public 26.0 16.7 9.2 

Forest industrya

 12.8 37.1 24.3 

Nonindustrial private 97.6 38.2 59.4 

 All classes 160.6 67.8 92.9 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Average annual removals (million cubic feet)

Average annual mortality (million cubic feet)

Average net annual growth (million cubic feet)

Species group
42

Table 30—Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity and ownership classes, 

South Carolina

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment opportunity class classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Salvage 46.0 5.0 7.0 34.0 

Harvest 350.0 49.4 106.4 194.2 

Commercial thinning 51.4 2.7 25.6 23.2 

Other stand improvement 190.7 11.2 29.8 149.8 

Stand conversion 25.6 — 5.1 20.5 

Regeneration 504.1 41.8 120.6 341.7 

Stands in relatively 

 good condition 1,704.1 127.2 444.4 1,132.5 

 All classes 2,872.0 237.2 738.9 1,895.9 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 31—Area of timberland by wetland status and ownership class, Georgia

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Wetland status classes Public industrya private

Wetlands 4,270.0 239.6 1,104.3 2,926.1 

Other 19,526.1 1,511.5 3,786.2 14,228.4 

 Total 23,796.1 1,751.1 4,890.5 17,154.5 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres

Table 32—Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and ownership classes, Georgia

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-size class classes Public industrya private

Sawtimber 2,097.5 150.0 440.9 1,506.6 

Poletimber 897.0 32.4 273.2 591.3 

Sapling-seedling 1,179.0 54.0 361.9 763.1 

Nonstocked 96.5 3.2 28.3 65.1 

 All classes 4,270.0 239.6 1,104.3 2,926.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
43

Table 33—Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and ownership classes,

Georgia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-age class classes Public industrya private

Years Thousand acres

0–10 566.5 19.4 182.5 364.5 

11–20 290.2 11.8 73.6 204.9 

21–30 252.0 6.8 68.1 177.1 

31–40 343.3 26.4 76.7 240.2 

41–50 479.9 30.9 115.4 333.6 

51–60 499.2 18.8 116.8 363.6 

61–70 349.7 16.0 54.0 279.7 

71–80 214.4 23.0 34.0 157.5 

81+ 320.0 39.8 129.1 151.2 

No manageable stand 954.8 46.8 254.2 653.8 

 All classes 4,270.0 239.6 1,104.3 2,926.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 34—Area of wetland timberland by forest management type and ownership class, 

Georgia

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest management type classes Public industrya private

Pine plantation 269.6 1.7 138.0 129.9 

Natural pine 348.0 42.1 67.5 238.4 

Oak-pine 525.8 32.7 144.3 348.8 

Upland hardwood 36.4 — 13.2 23.2 

Lowland hardwood 3,090.2 163.1 741.3 2,185.8 

 All types 4,270.0 239.6 1,104.3 2,926.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
44

Table 35—Area of wetland timberland by forest type and ownership class, Georgia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest type classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Slash pine 428.6 25.0 134.4 269.3 

Loblolly pine 142.2 11.4 59.8 71.0 

Pond pine 46.8 7.3 11.4 28.1 

Loblolly pine-hardwood 108.2 9.2 13.2 85.7 

Slash pine-hardwood 387.1 22.5 125.6 239.1 

Other oak-pine 30.5 1.0 5.5 24.0 

Sweetgum-yellow-poplar — — — — 

Mixed hardwoods 36.4 — 13.2 23.2 

Swamp chestnut oak-cherrybark oak 13.7 6.1 4.6 3.0 

Sweetgum-water oak-willow oak 717.7 38.3 154.0 525.4 

Sugarberry-American elm-green ash 95.4 5.1 20.6 69.6 

Overcup oak-water hickory 25.7 — 7.2 18.5 

Atlantic white-cedar — — — — 

Cypress-water tupelo 454.3 33.3 158.3 262.7 

Sweetbay-blackgum-red maple 1,593.6 67.4 358.5 1,167.7 

River birch-sycamore 60.1 3.8 7.4 48.9 

Willow 80.0 3.0 11.9 65.1 

Sycamore-pecan-American elm 46.8 3.0 18.9 24.9 

Palm 3.1 3.1 — — 

Miscellaneous typesb

 — — — — 

 All types 4,270.0 239.6 1,104.3 2,926.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

b

 Individual types with less than 25,000 acres cumulatively across the region were condensed into the miscellaneous category.

This category includes longleaf pine, white oak-red oak-hickory, cottonwood, yellow-poplar-white oak-northern red oak, and 

eastern redcedar-hardwood.
45

Table 36—Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and ownership classes,

Georgia

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Physiographic class classes Public industrya private

Flatwoods 748.3 35.4 210.9 502.0 

Rolling uplands — — — — 

Moist mountain slopes/coves — — — — 

Narrow floodplains 515.8 18.3 89.4 408.1 

Broad floodplains 503.6 36.9 162.1 304.6 

Other mesic 159.0 19.1 44.4 95.4 

Deep swamps 130.0 15.1 47.2 67.7 

Small drains 1,343.4 53.7 249.1 1,040.6 

Bays and wet pocosins 256.7 41.2 81.3 134.1 

Other hydric 613.2 19.9 219.8 373.5 

 All classes 4,270.0 239.6 1,104.3 2,926.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Thousand acres

Ownership class

Table 37—Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by species group and ownership

class, Georgia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Species group classes Public industrya private

Million cubic feet

Softwood 2,089.7 156.5 609.4 1,323.7 

Hardwood 5,120.6 346.1 1,195.7 3,578.9 

 Total 7,210.3 502.6 1,805.1 4,902.6 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.
46

Table 39—Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed annually and retained

in timberland by treatment or disturbance and ownership class, Georgia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment or disturbance classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Final harvest 71.4 0.9 21.5 49.0 

Partial harvest 13.8 — 2.3 11.5 

Commercial thinning 4.0 — 2.0 2.0 

Other stand improvement 1.5 — 0.3 1.2 

Site preparation 20.1 0.0 9.5 10.6 

Artificial regeneration 19.0 0.0 9.2 9.8 

Natural regeneration 36.4 2.0 9.7 24.7 

Other treatment 24.4 1.0 6.2 17.2 

Natural disturbance 52.7 3.8 8.2 40.7 

Since some acres experience more than one treatment or disturbance, there are no column totals.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 38—Average net annual growth, average annual removals, and average

annual mortality of growing stock on wetland timberland by ownership

class and species group, Georgia

 All

Ownership class species Softwood Hardwood

Public 13.5 4.5 9.0 

Forest industrya 30.9 55.9 25.0 

Nonindustrial private 151.3 52.5 98.7 

 All classes 220.7 88.0 132.7 

Public 2.1 0.4 1.7 

Forest industrya 30.3 51.4 21.1 

Nonindustrial private 155.6 71.1 84.5 

 All classes 209.1 101.9 107.2 

Public 4.2 0.7 3.5 

Forest industrya 3.5 15.2 11.6 

Nonindustrial private 48.5 9.5 38.9 

 All classes 67.8 13.8 54.0 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Average annual removals (million cubic feet)

Average annual mortality (million cubic feet)

Average net annual growth (million cubic feet)

Species group
47

Table 40—Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity and ownership classes, 

Georgia

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment opportunity class classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Salvage 33.7 — 6.9 26.9 

Harvest 377.3 41.2 123.7 212.4 

Commercial thinning 84.6 6.2 25.4 53.0 

Other stand improvement 364.0 5.8 77.9 280.4 

Stand conversion 42.7 8.2 2.0 32.6 

Regeneration 954.8 46.8 254.2 653.8 

Stands in relatively 

 good condition 2,412.8 131.5 614.3 1,667.0 

 All classes 4,270.0 239.6 1,104.3 2,926.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 41—Area of timberland by wetland status and ownership class, Florida

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Wetland status classes Public industrya private

Wetlands 5,209.7 1,087.4 1,869.7 2,252.7 

Other 9,440.9 1,744.4 2,731.8 4,964.7 

 Total 14,650.7 2,831.8 4,601.5 7,217.4 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres

Table 42—Area of wetland timberland by stand-size and ownership classes, Florida

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-size class classes Public industrya private

Sawtimber 2,436.6 641.9 640.7 1,154.0 

Poletimber 1,401.3 241.1 558.8 601.4 

Sapling-seedling 1,200.7 167.0 587.9 445.8 

Nonstocked 171.1 37.4 82.3 51.4 

 All classes 5,209.7 1,087.4 1,869.7 2,252.7 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
48

Table 43—Area of wetland timberland by stand-age and ownership classes,

Florida

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Stand-age class classes Public industrya private

Years Thousand acres

0–10 485.2 49.2 267.9 168.1 

11–20 355.7 29.6 211.0 115.2 

21–30 284.6 33.7 124.5 126.4 

31–40 260.0 48.7 73.3 138.0 

41–50 473.2 83.2 163.6 226.4 

51–60 486.0 113.4 151.6 221.0 

61–70 508.3 162.2 136.9 209.3 

71–80 364.0 102.5 85.5 176.1 

81+ 552.7 176.6 122.2 253.8 

No manageable stand 1,440.0 288.3 533.2 618.5 

 All classes 5,209.7 1,087.4 1,869.7 2,252.7 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 44—Area of wetland timberland by forest management type and ownership class, 

Florida

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest management type classes Public industrya private

Pine plantation 648.2 52.5 439.1 156.5 

Natural pine 692.5 227.6 198.5 266.3 

Oak-pine 466.2 70.1 160.9 235.2 

Upland hardwood 66.6 7.3 20.9 38.4 

Lowland hardwood 3,336.4 729.9 1,050.2 1,556.3 

 All types 5,209.7 1,087 1,869.7 2,252.7 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Ownership class

Thousand acres
49

Table 45—Area of wetland timberland by forest type and ownership class, Florida

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Forest type classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Slash pine 1,202.4 243.7 607.1 351.6 

Loblolly pine 37.0 1.8 12.8 22.4 

Pond pine 95.3 31.8 14.6 48.8 

Loblolly pine-hardwood 63.9 2.1 25.9 35.9 

Slash pine-hardwood 376.3 68.1 126.7 181.5 

Other oak-pine 23.2 — 5.4 17.8 

Sweetgum-yellow-poplar — — — — 

Mixed hardwoods 66.6 7.3 20.9 38.4 

Swamp chestnut oak-cherrybark oak 1.4 1.4 — — 

Sweetgum-water oak-willow oak 386.0 50.5 174.6 160.9 

Sugarberry-American elm-green ash 178.6 55.8 47.6 75.2 

Overcup oak-water hickory 24.7 13.6 7.3 3.8 

Atlantic white-cedar 34.2 7.6 14.0 12.6 

Cypress-water tupelo 1,118.0 265.5 272.1 580.4 

Sweetbay-blackgum-red maple 1,424.6 285.5 501.2 637.9 

River birch-sycamore 5.3 2.5 — 2.9 

Willow 26.0 2.7 11.9 11.3 

Sycamore-pecan-American elm 2.9 — — 2.9 

Palm 134.7 44.9 21.5 68.3 

Miscellaneous typesb

 2.7 8.7 5.9 — 

 All types 5,209.7 1,087.4 1,869.7 2,252.7 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

b

 Individual types with less than 25,000 acres cumulatively across the region were condensed into the miscellaneous category.

This category includes longleaf pine, white oak-red oak-hickory, cottonwood, yellow-poplar-white oak-northern red oak, and 

eastern redcedar-hardwood.
50

Table 46—Area of wetland timberland by physiographic and ownership classes,

Florida

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Physiographic class classes Public industrya private

Flatwoods 1,291.4 159.3 592.6 539.5 

Rolling uplands — — — — 

Moist mountain slopes/coves — — — — 

Narrow floodplains 260.8 40.6 58.2 162.1 

Broad floodplains 323.2 142.4 88.4 92.4 

Other mesic 382.4 78.6 121.6 182.2 

Deep swamps 463.9 168.7 107.3 187.9 

Small drains 629.3 86.6 255.1 287.6 

Bays and wet pocosins 848.1 223.1 368.6 256.5 

Other hydric 1,010.6 188.1 277.9 544.5 

 All classes 5,209.7 1,087.4 1,869.7 2,252.7 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Thousand acres

Ownership class

Table 47—Volume of growing stock on wetland timberland by species group and ownership

class, Florida

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Species group classes Public industrya private

Million cubic feet

Softwood 4,127.6 1,046.1 1,115.1 1,966.4 

Hardwood 4,127.6 1,127.9 1,172.1 1,827.6 

 Total 8,255.2 2,173.9 2,287.2 3,794.1 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.
51

Table 49—Area of wetland timberland treated or disturbed annually and retained

in timberland by treatment or disturbance and ownership class, Florida

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment or disturbance classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Final harvest 66.0 4.0 37.6 24.4 

Partial harvest 8.9 0.3 5.4 3.1 

Commercial thinning 4.6 1.0 2.7 1.0 

Other stand improvement 0.4 — 0.4 — 

Site preparation 28.8 1.2 22.4 5.3 

Artificial regeneration 31.4 1.3 22.7 7.5 

Natural regeneration 19.9 2.5 7.1 10.2 

Other treatment 24.8 1.0 10.8 13.1 

Natural disturbance 35.2 6.8 7.1 21.3 

Since some acres experience more than one treatment or disturbance, there are no column totals.

A dash (—) indicates no sample for the cell; 0.0 indicates a value of >0.0 but <0.05 for the cell.

a

 Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Table 48—Average net annual growth, average annual removals, and average

annual mortality of growing stock on wetland timberland by ownership

class and species group, Florida

 All

Ownership class species Softwood Hardwood

Public 43.8 22.0 21.8 

Forest industrya

 52.3 82.1 29.9 

Nonindustrial private 101.0 58.3 42.7 

 All classes 227.0 132.6 94.4 

Public 18.2 11.4 6.7 

Forest industrya 55.7 74.9 19.1 

Nonindustrial private 67.3 50.4 16.8 

 All classes 160.3 117.6 42.7 

Public 14.0 4.0 10.1 

Forest industrya

 7.1 16.3 9.2 

Nonindustrial private 28.9 9.5 19.4 

 All classes 59.2 20.6 38.6 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.

Average annual removals (million cubic feet)

Average annual mortality (million cubic feet)

Average net annual growth (million cubic feet)

Species group
52

Table 50—Area of wetland timberland by treatment opportunity and ownership classes, 

Florida

Ownership class

 All Forest Nonindustrial

Treatment opportunity class classes Public industrya private

Thousand acres

Salvage 26.7 5.7 10.5 10.5 

Harvest 612.4 203.4 140.5 268.4 

Commercial thinning 99.6 10.8 31.1 57.7 

Other stand improvement 235.6 49.2 86.5 99.9 

Stand conversion 22.3 1.5 7.6 13.1 

Regeneration 1,440.0 288.3 533.2 618.5 

Stands in relatively 

 good condition 2,773.1 528.4 1,060.2 1,184.5 

 All classes 5,209.7 1,087.4 1,869.7 2,252.7 

Numbers in rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.

a Includes timberland under long-term lease from nonindustrial private owners.
1

Brown, Mark J.; Smith, Greg M.; McCollum, Joseph. 2001. Wetland forest statistics

for the South Atlantic States. Resour. Bull. SRS–62. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 52 p.

Twenty-one percent, or 17.6 million acres, of the timberland in the South Atlantic States

was classified as wetland timberland. Sixty percent of the region’s wetland timberland

was under nonindustrial private forest ownership. Forty-eight percent of the region’s

wetland timberland was classified as sawtimber-sized stands. Lowland hardwood types

made up 62 percent of the wetland timberland. Thirty-one percent of the wetland

timberland occurred on a flatwoods physiography. Wetland timberland contained 30

billion cubic feet of growing-stock volume, 24 percent of the region’s total. Removals

from wetland timberland averaged 842 million cubic feet, 20 percent of the region’s total.

The two greatest impacts to wetland timberland were natural disturbance and final

harvest, which averaged 375 and 295 thousand acres annually, respectively.

Keywords: Disturbance, forest type, harvest, ownership, physiography, removals, stand

size, timberland, volume, wetland.
18

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