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Dovetail Report: January 2006
U.S. Forest Statistics Paint a Picture of Dynamic Growth and Renewal as Well as Problems Ahead


Dr. Jim Bowyer

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The full text of this report is available in Adobe PDF format (1MB) .


Note: The report posted on 1/16/06 contained errors in several Figures. The vertical axes for Figures 1 and 2 should be "million acres", and for Figures 6 and 7 the vertical axis is "million cubic feet".  Axes in Figures 14 and 15 should also be "million cubic feet". These corrections have been made in the file now available for download from this page (posted 1/23/06).

Introduction

 

When forests reach the headlines, the news is rarely good.   Moreover, when forests are the topic of one of those fundraising appeals that appear periodically in the mailbox, the news is never good.  

 

Messages in the media and bulk mail notwithstanding, what are the trends in U.S. forests?   This report examines national forest statistics as gathered by on-the-ground forest survey crews representing federal land management agencies and state departments of natural resources, and as summarized by forest survey specialists in the nation's forest experiment stations.   Based on this data, it turns out the current reality is far better than commonly reported, though the trends are not uniformly positive.    Over time, and in region after region, what the data indicate is a remarkable record of dynamic growth and forest renewal following disturbance.   However, several important indicators suggest problems ahead.



Download the full text of this report. (PDF)

 

Dr. Jim Bowyer is a professor within the University of Minnesota's Department of Bio-based Products (part time) and an Elected Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science.   .   He is the current Chairman of the Tropical Forest Foundation, Chairman of the Minnesota Bio-fiber Council, Member of the Governance Board of the Temperate Forest Foundation, and Past President of the Forest Products Society (93-94), and of the Society of Wood Science and Technology (87-88).



 

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