The trend in Vermont, however, has been one of fewer species making up more of the inventory of number of trees since 1973, which concerns foresters. As our forests contain fewer species, they become susceptible to disease and menacing pests such as thrips, forest tent caterpillars, and the Asian longhorned beetle. Maple at about 33 percent of all trees and spruce and fir at about 18 percent of all trees make up the bulk of inventory. Hemlock and birch represent a second tier at 13 percent and 10 percent of all trees, respectively. Land Ownership Forest land ownership is divided into the categories private and public.
Public land is owned by federal, state, and local governments.
Table 2 shows the proportions of forest land owned within each category by year. Over time, public ownership has grown faster than has private. The information is obtained by asking wood buyers the volume of forest products purchased from Vermont. Those buyers have been asked to attribute their purchases by county of origin since 1976. There is no statutory requirement that any mill or buyer report any information.