Harvests on private lands have increased since 1962, whereas harvests on public lands have declined since the 1980s. More products are being produced from every tree harvested and the proportion of paper recycled is increasing. Recreation is an important use of public and private forests, but there are no comprehensive data on important measures such as current use levels, accessibility, and forests' capacity to support recreational use. Most land agencies manage both forest and nonforest areas, but they generally do not break down visitation data into these categories. Water quality generally improves with increases in the percentage of a watershed that is forested.
Data are quite limited, however.
Each year, about 2 percent of the Nation's timber is cut, and a slightly larger amount regrows. Nationally, the extent to which growth exceeds harvest has declined since the 1970s, with significant regional differences. U.S. forests continue to add to their stores of carbon, but at a decreasing rate, while the rate at which carbon is stored in wood products and paper in landfills is increasing. Industry-managed forests have higher tree growth rates than do other lands. Stream nitrate concentrations in the few forested watersheds that are monitored are generally far below drinking water standards, and much lower than in urban or agricultural areas.