The 2015 Renewable Resources Planning Act Assessment (2010 RPA Assessment) is the sixth assessment prepared in response to the mandate in the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, P.L. 93-378, 88 Stat. 475, as amended (RPA). The 2015 RPA Assessment consists of a summary report and supporting documents. Renewable resources in this assessment include outdoor recreation, fish and wildlife, wilderness, timber, water, range, and minerals. In addition, and for the first time, there is an assessment of the urban forest resource. Data presented in this brochure highlight the findings of the 2015 RPA assessment regarding forest resource statistics: reserved forest land, timber land, forest landownership, forest composition, mortality, growth and removals, tree planting, products made from timber, and urban influences on forest land area. Regional data are reported geographically as North, South, and West.  This webpage contains information from both the 2000, 2010, and 2015 assessments, for comparison.

Forest Inventory

Various attributes of the forest resource are inventoried by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA Forest Service) Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program and reported in the RPA Assessment and various supporting documents. To provide timely, scientifically reliable estimates of the status, condition, and trends of the Nation’s forests, the FIA has conducted field inventories for more than 80 years using state-of-the-art technology. These inventories have provided critical information in the development and implementation of policies and practices that support sustainable forestry in the United States. Seven national reports based on FIA data have been produced since 1953.  In 1999, the USDA adopted an annual update protocol.   The annual updates for Michigan can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch and by typing-in "Forests of Michigan, 20xx".  

Stability, however, does not mean that there has been no change in forest land area. There have been shifts from agriculture to forests and vice versa.  Some forest land has been converted to more intensive uses, such as urban uses.  Even on areas where forest land has remained stable, there have been changes as forests respond to human manipulation, aging, and other natural processes.  The effects of these changes are reflected in the information presented in webpage.

Land and forest area trends in the United States
(million acres)   
Numbers in parentheses were reports from the 2000 RPA Assessment

766        
752        
742 (747)
733 (739)
742 (744)
753 (762)
742 (756)
738 (760)
721        
        (759)
       (1045)

2012
2007
1997
1987
1977
1963
1953
1940
1920

7     
6     
8 (8)
7 (8)
6 (6)
4 (4)
4 (4)
4     
3     

4     
3     
4 (4)
3 (3)
2 (2)
1 (1)
1 (1)
0    
0    

187        
162        
187 (191)
211 (205)
215 (216)
216 (220)
217 (221)
233        
238        

Reserved forest land has doubled since 1953 and now stands at 10 percent of all forest land in the United States.  This reserved forest area includes State and Federal parks and wilderness areas but does not include conservation easements, areas protected by non-governmental organizations, and most urban and community parks and reserves. Significant additions to Federal forest reserves occurred since the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964.

Timberland is fairly evenly distributed among the three major regions of the United States. Other forestland, such as slow-growing forests of spruce in interior Alaska and pinyon-juniper in the interior West, dominate many western landscapes and comprise more than one-fourth of all U.S. forest land. Timberland is forest that can grow 20 cubic feet of wood per acre per year, and harvest is not excluded by administrative rule.

The ownership of forestland in the United States varies from East to West.  While private forestland predominates in the East, public ownership is predominant in the West.  However, the eastern U.S. has more forest area and volume than the west.  Clicking on the images below will show pie charts for 1997 and 2012.

As timber production shifts from public to private land, there is an increasing need to have information on the management objectives of the private forestowners.  This information is critical to developing policies promoting sustainable forestry in the United States.  Recent studies have shown that only 8 percent of the private forest landowners in the United States have a written management plan.  However, these plans cover 24 percent of the private forest area in the United States.  Private forests provided 89 percent of the Nation’s timber harvest in 2016.

U.S. forests are predominantly natural stands of native species. Planted forest land is most common in the East and heavily comprised of planted stands of native pine in the South.  

Over the past 50 years, growth has generally exceeded removals throughout the United States. While harvest levels have leveled off in recent years, there has been a decided shift from public land in the West to private land in the East. In 1996, softwood removals in the South exceeded growth for the first time since 1952, when national inventory data first became available.

According to recent FIA reports, harvesting in the United States is approximately 61 percent selective or partial harvest and 39 percent clearcutting, over around 11 million acres per year.  This especially true for the Lake States, where the northern hardwood forest type predominates.  These proportions have been steady since the 1990s.    

While most timber products harvested from U.S. forests have been increasing since 1976, the greatest gains have been in fiber for pulp and composite products. Much of this increase has been in hardwoods as new technologies improve utilization of these species.

Total and per capita roundwood consumption, by category, 1965–2011.  The recession of 2008 crashed the market for many wood products.  The industry has not recovered from that drop in demand.

Pulpwood and lumber production (below) reflect that same trend.  Lumber still shows net imports, mostly from Canada.

1. Nearly half of the Nation's forests are located in counties with urban centers of greater than 20,000 persons.

2. The area of forest is rural counties (no town larger than 2500) has declined, especially in the west. .

3. Urban areas have an average tree cover of 35 percent, an increase over the past couple of decades. .

4. As landscapes become fragmented and more urbanized, more forests will be managed by urban residents and institutions.

Land that is at least 10 percent stocked by forest trees of any size, including land that formerly had tree cover and that will be naturally or artificially regenerated. The minimum area for classification of forest land is 1 acre.

Growing stock volume

Live trees of commercial species meeting specified standards of quality and vigor. Cull trees are excluded. Includes only trees 5 inches in diameter or larger at 4.5 feet above ground.

Growth (Net Annual)

The net increase in the volume of growing stock trees during a specified year. Components include the increment in net volume of trees at the beginning of the specific year that survive to the end of the year, plus the net volume of trees reaching the minimum size class during the year, minus the volume of trees that died during the year, and minus the net volume of trees that became cull trees during the year.

Hardwood

A dicotyledonous tree, usually broad-leaved and deciduous.

Logging residues

The unused portions of growing-stock trees cut or killed by logging and left in the woods.

Mortality

The volume of sound wood in growing stock trees that died from natural causes during a specified year.

National forest

An ownership class of Federal lands, designated by Executive Order or statute as a national forest or purchase unit, under the administration of the Forest Service.

Other Federal

An ownership class of Federal lands other than those administered by the Forest Service. Primarily lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Departments of Energy and Defense.

Forest land other than timber land and productive reserved forest land. It includes available and reserved forest land, which is incapable of annually producing 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

Unutilized wood volume from cut or otherwise killed growing stock, from cultural operations such as pre-commercial thinnings, or from timber land clearing.

Removals

The net volume of growing stock trees removed from the inventory during a specified year by harvesting; cultural operations, such as timber stand improvement; or land clearing.

Reserved forest land

Forest land withdrawn from timber utilization through statute, administrative regulation, or designation.

Roundwood products

Logs, bolts, and other round timber generated from harvesting trees for industrial or consumer use.

Softwood

A coniferous tree, usually evergreen, having needles or scale-like leaves.

Timber land

Forest land that is capable of producing crops of industrial wood and not withdrawn from timber utilization by statute or administrative regulation. (Note: Areas qualifying as timber land are capable of producing in excess of 20 cubic feet per acre per year of industrial wood in natural stands.)