Title: Central hardwood forests: recent trends in a robust resource

Author: Birch, T. W.; Gansner, D. A.; McWilliams, W. H.

Year: 1993

Publication: In: Gillespie, Andrew R.; Parker, George R.; Pope, Phillip E.; Rink, George: eds. Proceedings of the 9th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-161. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station: 8-16

Abstract: Re-inventories completed for each of four Central Hardwood States (Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) show that forest area is increasing and stocking hit new highs; there is 27 percent more growing-stock volume than a decade ago. Large increases in volume have been recorded for all but the smallest diameter classes. Volume in trees 15 inches in diameter and larger is up 48 percent. There is more high quality hardwood sawtimber. The extent to which the resource is needed and utilized will depend on the same complex set of interrelated factors that it always has. These factors include trends in the tastes and preferences of the owners of forest land; technological changes in the production, marketing, and utilization of wood products and their substitutes; economic forces; attitudes of forest-land owners and other citizenry toward timber management and cutting; and attractiveness of local business climates. Only time will tell how it all works out. But for now, physical supplies of timber reveal a potential opportunity for significant expansion in wood use.