A preview of West Virginia's forest resource

Historic, archived document

~ Do not assume content reflects current
scientific knowledge, policies, or practices.

ocAaD Id STACKS

EOREST SERVICE RESEARCH NOTE NE-249

[ A 1977

4) Tp sit URE
avis a

ODC (769)——905.2

FOREST SERVICE, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE, 6816 MARKET STREET, UPPER DARBY, PA. 19082

A PREVIEW OF WEST VIRGINIA’S FOREST RESOURCE

by JOSEPH E. BARNARD
Research Forester

and TERESA M. BOWERS
Statistical Assistant

USDA Forest Service

Northeastern Forest Experiment Station
Resources Evaluation

Abstract.—Forest land occupies 75 percent of the total land area of West
Virginia. Sixty percent of the forest land is classified in the oak-hickory
forest type and only 6 percent in all the softwood forest types. Since 1961,
growing-stock volume increased 24 percent. Yellow-poplar increased 39

percent in volume and is now the prevalent species in the State.

Keywords: Forest surveys (West Virginia), forest area, resources
(timber), statistics (forestry).
Forest is the dominant land use of the rugged Forest Land Area

West Virginia landscape. Inventories of this
resource have been made by the Forest Service
three times in the past quarter century. Each
survey was designed to provide a reliable es-
timate of the extent and condition of the forest
resource and to indicate what changes were oc-
curring. A detailed statistical and analytical
report of the most recent inventory is being
prepared for publication. It will give a com-
prehensive analysis of the current situation and
trends in the forest resource. This is a preview
of that report.

Continues to Increase

In 1949 forest occupied 64 percent of the total
land area of West Virginia. The second inven-
tory in 1961 showed a dramatic increase of
forest area to 74 percent of the land area. The
most recent inventory shows that this trend has
continued although the rate has declined. In
1975 the forest area was 11.6 million acres—75
percent of the total land area. Considering the
area of land affected since 1961 by the construc-
tion of major segments of the Interstate

Highway System, new pipeline and powerline
rights-of-way, mining activity, and the growth
of urban areas, the continued increase in total
forest area is more significant than indicated by
the percentage increase.

Ninety-nine percent of the 11.6 million acres
of forest is classified as commercial forest land;
the remainder is classified as either unproduc-
tive forest or productive-reserved. Land area in
Oe productive-reserved category increased as a

It of administrative reclassification of.

OM lic forest:lands: Since 1961, the area“in™
productive-reserved status has increased from
46,000 to 115,000 acres.

Forests are distributed quite uniformly across
the entire state. All counties except Brooke and
Jefferson are 50 percent or more forested. Six
counties are over 85 percent forested. Webster
County has the distinction of being the most
heavily forested with 92 percent of its land area
in forest.

Hardwood types predominate in West
Virginia. Sixty percent of the forest land is
classified in the oak-hickory forest type and
only 6 percent in all the softwood forest types.
The distribution of the hardwood forest types
shows some significant shifts since 1961. The
area in the oak-hickory type declined but an im-
portant local type in this group—yellow-
poplar—showed a significant increase. The area
in the oak-pine, the elm-ash-red maple, and the
maple-beech-birch types increased.

A study of forest-land owners was conducted
in conjunction with this inventory. Two objec-
tives of this study were to define the pattern of
forest-land ownership more clearly and to seek
an understanding of the motives and intentions
of forest-land owners. Over 1 million acres of
commercial forest land is publically owned. All
of the Monongahela plus parts of the George
Washington and Jefferson National Forests ac-
count for 873 thousand acres. Most of the
remaining public lands are State-owned. An es-
timated 207,500 individuals, groups, or cor-
porations each own 1 acre or more of the 10,342,-
900 acres of private commercial forest land. In
the past, 31 percent of these owners have
harvested timber from their lands. The forest
land owned by those who have harvested timber
makes up 61 percent of the total private com-
mercial forest area.

Volume Change

Data from a second remeasurement of field
plots established in 1949 provided a history of
growth, mortality, and removals in the forest
during the past quarter century. Average an-
nual net growth of all growing stock was 35
cubic feet per acre during the past 14 years and
32.5 cubic feet per acre during the preceeding 12
years. In 1974 the annual growth of growing
stock was 41 cubic feet per acre and the ratio of
growth to removals was nearly 3 to 1.

Part of the analysis of the current volume and
growth includes a procedure to determine
whether past volume and growth estimates are
directly comparable with the present estimate.
This procedure helps to locate inconsistencies in
the data and to evaluate differences that may
have occurred because of procedural or
definitional differences between inventory oc-
casions. This analysis of the West Virginia in-
ventory resulted in an adjustment of the 1961
inventory to reflect the standards, procedures,
and definitions used in 1975.

Here are the figures, adjusted as described
above, showing the trends:

1961 1975 Change
Growing stock volume:
(million cubic feet)
Softwoods 557 995 +438
Hardwoods 10,820 12,520 +2,200
Total 10,877 13,515 2,638
Sawtimber volume:
(million board feet)
Softwoods 1,378 2,600 +1,222
Hardwoods 20,560 25,031 +4,471
Total 21,938 27,631 5,693

Growing Stock and Sawtimber
Volume Continue to Increase

Timber volume increased rapidly in West
Virginia between 1949 and 1961. Much of this in-
crease resulted from ingrowth, i.e., trees
previously too small to be measured for volume
had reached the minimum size required to be
classified as growing stock. This surge of in-
growth into the minimum recognized diameter
class has slowed. Three-fifths of the gross
growth between 1961 and 1975 was accretion,
i.e., volume added to trees that were already of
growing-stock size. The average growing-stock
volume per acre in West Virginia was 1,177

cubic feet in 1975; a 23 percent increase since
1961. The sawtimber portion of growing stock
averaged 2,406 board feet per acre in 1975; a 25
percent increase since 1961.

The growing-stock volume increase among the
major species—has not been uniform. The
relative positions of the 10 species with the
largest cubic-foot volume in 1961 and 1975
reflect these uneven changes:

Rankings

Species 1961 1975

Red oak
Chestnut oak
Yellow-poplar
Hickory
White oak
Black oak
Beech

Sugar maple
Red maple
Basswood
Black cherry 10

Yellow-poplar increased 39 percent in volume
and is now the most prevalent species in the
State. The oaks as a group exceed yellow-poplar
in volume, but red oak dropped from first to
third position. All oaks showed increases in
volume and white oak replaced hickory as the
fourth most abundant species. The volume of
black cherry increased 67 percent and it became
the tenth most abundant species. The volume of
red maple increased 49 percent and the species
moved from ninth to seventh position. The

AON MD — OF DO OO

_
SCM OAAUFWNe

volume of both beech and basswood declined.
Beech dropped to ninth position and basswood is
no longer among the 10 most abundant species.
Black oak and sugar maple maintained their
same relative positions. Although no softwood is
on the list of top ten species, softwoods as a
group have increased 79 percent. All softwoods
accounted for 5 percent of the total volume in
1961 and 7.4 percent of total volume in 1975.

Sawtimber volume has increased 26 percent
since 1961. For hardwoods, much of the increase
was in the 12- and 14-inch diameter classes.
Logs in trees of this size usually do not meet the
minimum size specifications for standard
lumber log grades 1 or 2. Most of the hardwood
sawtimber increase was in grade 3 standard
lumber logs. Forty-six percent of the hardwood
sawtimber volume is now grade 3. We found lit-
tle change in the proportion of hardwood volume
in grades 1 and 2 combined. However, more of
this higher quality timber is now classed as
grade 1 than in 1961. Of the softwoods, only the
pines are segregated into quality classes by
standard lumber log grades. More than 8&8 per-
cent of the sawtimber volume of the pines is
grade 3 or poorer quality. Here, as in the
hardwoods, the high proportion of sawtimber
volume in the smaller diameter classes is the
reason for the low quality.

The following tables describe the forest
resource of West Virginia.

Table 1.—Land area in West Virginia, by land classes, counties, and geo-
graphic units, 1975

Forest land

: Total Nonforest
County land area® land area Non: A = Sampling
“1b ommercia error 0
commercial total¢
won------------------- Thousand acres ----------------------- Percent

Barbour 218.2 81.4 0.9 135.9 10
Berkeley 202.2 83.0 1.2 118.0 12
Braxton 330.9 77.9 1.0 252.0 6
Grant | 305.9 67.6 2.1 236.2 6
Hampshire 409.0 87.7 1.7 319.6 5
Hardy 374.4 71.6 Ou 297.7 5
Harrison 267.5 120.2 2.5 144.8 13
Jefferson 134.9 96.3 2.1 36.5 35
Lewis 250.9 82.6 aC 167.6 9
_ Mineral 211.2 44.6 at 165.9 6

CONTINUED

Table 1.—Continued

Forest land

Total Nonforest

County a Sampling
land area land area ea Commercial error of
totale
woceecc ence ne nnnn naan Thousand acres ----------------------- Percent
Morgan 149.1 32.2 6.6 110.3 7
Pendleton 444.8 109.4 34.2 301.2 6
Pocahontas 603.5 84.9 15.3 503.3 7
Preston 412.8 110.7 1.4 300.7 6
Randolph 663.0 80.6 13.3 569.1 4
Taylor 111.4 45.1 1.4 64.9 15
Tucker 269.5 38.6 20.2 210.7 9
Upshur 225.3 70.5 8 154.0 8
Webster 352.6 PA 8.1 316.8 3
Northeastern Unit 5,937.1 1,412.6 119.3 4,405.2 1.4
Boone 320.6 56.6 = 264.0 10
Clay 219.5 29.8 = 189.7 6
Fayette 424.3 84.7 3.9 335.7 5
Greenbrier 656.7 154.8 1.0 500.9 4
Kanawha 580.4 122.3 = 458.1 4
Logan 291.9 56.0 3.3 232.6 10
McDowell 341.1 64.1 = 277.0 11
Mercer 266.8 ited: 5 189.2 6
Mingo 270.7 47.9 = 222.8 10
Monroe 302.5 116.5 = 186.0 8
Nicholas 416.0 78.4 3 337.3 6
Raleigh 387.3 88.5 1.4 297.4 5
Summers 223.8 60.4 4.4 159.0 6
Wyoming 322.6 52.3 6.8 263.5 5
Southern Unit 5,024.2 1,089.4 21.6 3,913.2 1.8
Brooke 56.4 29.8 — 26.6 Pat
Cabell 178.7 47.0 0.3 131.4 8
Calhoun 179.8 41.3 = 138.5 9
Doddridge 204.2 53.9 = 150.3 9
Gilmer 217.0 54.0 25) 160.9 9
Hancock 53.2 26.4 iL) 25.3 27
Jackson 294.7 103.3 wp 191.2 8
Lincoln 280.3 33.4 = 246.9 4
Marion 199.0 65.6 ey 132.2 10
Marshall 194.7 78.2 _ 116.5 12
Mason 276.8 113.4 4 163.0 10
Monongalia 233.5 83.8 a2, 149.5 it
Ohio 68.0 30.6 = 37.4 21
Pleasants 82.7 14.2 ai) 68.4 8
Putnam 222.7 66.4 = 156.3 7
Ritchie 289.3 72.1 1.8 215.4 6
Roane 311.0 99.6 = 211.4 9
Tyler 163.6 44.3 = 119.3 9
Wayne 328.6 63.4 “il 265.1 5
Wetzel 232.1 50.1 ail 181.9 6
Wirt 150.4 27.3 _ 123.1 6
Wood 235.8 81.1 — 154.7 9
Northwestern Unit 4,452.5 1,279.2 8.0 3,165.3 1.9
Total for state 15,413.8 3,781.2 148.9 11,483.7 1.0

@Source: Area Measurement Report, Bureau of the Census, Areas of West Virginia: 1960
(April 1967).

bIncludes nonproductive and productive-reserved forest land.

CIn percent at the 68 percent probability level for commercial forest land.

Table 2.—Area of commercial forest land in West Virginia, by owner-
ship classes and geographic units, 1975

Ownership
classes

National Forest
Other Federal

State

County and municipal

Total public

Forest industry
Farmer-owned

Miscellaneous private:

Individual
Corporate
Other

Total private

All ownerships

[In thousands of acres]

Northeastern Sou

thern Northwestern

3,165.3

10,342.9
11,483.7

Table 3.—Form of ownership by number of owners and acres
of privately-owned forest land with number of owners
who have harvested timber and the acres they own,

West, Virginia, 1975

Form of
ownership

Individual
Partnership
Corporation
Other @

Total

Owners who have harvested timber

All owners

Thousand

Number acrenouned Number
182,100 6,517.5 55,900
4,300 290.3 800
3,000 2,591.0 500
18,100 944.1 6,400
207,500 10,342.9 63,600

4Includes associations, clubs, and undivided estates.

Thousand
acres owned

6,319.5

Table 4.—Area of commercial forest land, by forest types and stand-

size classes, West Virginia, 1975

[In thousands of acres]

All Saw- Pole- Sapling- Non-
Forest type mendes timber timber seedling stocked
stands stands stands areas
White pine 101.2 36.8 54.1 10.3 —
Spruce-fir 59.0 43.6 14.0 tal 0.3
Virginia and pitch pine 485.2 163.7 173.9 147.6 —
Oak-pine 568.2 221.6 M27 164.3 9.6
Oak-hickory @ 6,828.1 2,794.4 2,455.5 1,465.7 112.5
Elm-ash-red maple 814.5 258.4 282.1 274.0 —
Maple-beech-birch 2,618.6 1,557.2 807.3 243.1 11.0
Aspen-birch 8.9 = = == 8.
All types 11,483.7 5,075.7 3,959.6 2,306.1 142.3

4Includes the yellow-poplar forest type.

Table 5.—Area of commercial forest land in West Virginia, by forest type, county, and geographic

unit, 1975

[In thousands of acres]

Virginia and

County pitch pine

Barbour
Berkeley
Braxton
Grant
Hampshire
Hardy
Harrison
Jefferson
Lewis
Mineral
Morgan
Pendleton
Pocahontas
Preston
Randolph
Taylor
Tucker
Upshur
Webster

coo bo co

Neh
WNWABDRNERINARAROENOA

—
wo

Northeastern Unit

an
00
a
I}

Boone
Clay
Fayette
Greenbrier
Kanawha
Logan
McDowell
Mercer
Mingo
Monroe
Nicholas
Raleigh
Summers
Wyoming

OS
ENOD

Reel

is
oo OInNnroA

Southern Unit

Brooke
Cabell
Calhoun
Doddridge
Gilmer
Hancock
Jackson
Lincoln
Marion
Marshall
Mason
Monongalia
Ohio
Pleasants
Putnam
Ritchie
Roane
Tyler
Wayne
Wetzel
Wirt
Wood

Northwestern Unit 249.5

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to

mee dO

bo
SUP AOCNHwOP RAR RAO oR NOR

bo
WORK ARRiN WwW ROMO ROHNHEN| | QwWMHS

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Or
oo

Total for state 485.2

Other
softwood
types

=
No}

ae)
SOa) Se NOON eS C2 ORF DO ty COCOIO Code

ioe)

—

—
mB] wWoOHmoOWrnaarpANO] 3] NMHOHENNwWONNwWHpiomion

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J

WAT Steeler Sl a-Si tests)

Oak-
hickory

74.5

104.7
171.4

2,506.0
Wee

1,985.1

38.3
57.7

1,038.8

18.2

WRwowNeHE mye
See SS NE Oe)
HNRORDOROD

doe Dy
So
Don

454.5
2,618.6

Other
hardwood

types

mre OO CO DD NmNNmRe
RICO NICO ICUS 00
COrRCOWNFF FPNMrFOOLPr

Neb
Wear
moo

476.2
1,391.6

11,483.7

Table 6.—Net volume of growing stock on commercial forest land in West Virginia, by forest type,

county, and geographic unit, 1975

[In millions of cubic feet}

at ars Other
Virginia and Oak-
County pitch pine ee hickory

Barbour 0.6 ay 17.8
Berkeley 7.8 12 62.4
Braxton ital 8.3 155.4
Grant 18.6 2.1 144.8
Hampshire 19.8 3.0 192.6
Hardy 22.3 2.8 183.5
Harrison 33) 3.4 63.0
Jefferson 2.0 2 13.5
Lewis 1.0 4.1 93.9
Mineral 15.4 1-2 93.6
Morgan 12.2 6 58.5
Pendleton 18.5 oer 177.6
Pocahontas 1.7 88.2 265.3
Preston 1.6 CG 183.7
Randolph 1.4 26.9 421.3
Taylor 3 1.4 31.1
Tucker 4 16.7 164.4
Upshur sf 4.2 93.5
ebster 1.2 8.3 237.2
Northeastern Unit 127.1 189.2 Palatal
Boone = 7.0 i GA leer
Clay 1.6 5.7 150.1
Fayette Ball 6.2 264.3
Greenbrier 3.9 29.2 371.1
Kanawha 4.9 16.1 355.6
Logan — 8.9 157.3
McDowell = 11.3 161.6
Mercer 1.4 4.6 15322
Mingo — 8.0 141.4
Monroe 5.0 haz 124.7
Nicholas B15 4.7 250.0
Raleigh 2.8 3.7 233.4
Summers 105) 5.4 125.7
Wyoming 4.0 27.3 191.6
Southern Unit 31.9 145.3 2,851.7
Brooke 0.8 = 1527
Cabell 1335 = 78.6
Calhoun eye = 74.0
Doddridge 2.8 = 12357
Gilmer 3.2 = 126.5
Hancock 8 = 15.9
Jackson 22.9 = 118.9
Lincoln 5.8 = 182.1
Marion 2.8 = 104.6
Marshall 3.4 = 70.4
Mason 32.5 — 89.1
Monongalia 3.0 = 120.8
Ohio ileal — 24.6
Pleasants 4.5 = 64.1
Putnam 29.6 = 101.1
Ritchie SES — 167.9
Roane 20.2 — 120.2
Tyler REZ = 85.2
ayne 19.8 — 162.8
Wetzel 3.9 — 136.7
Wirt 29.7 = 81.4
Wood 32:5 — 93.0
Northwestern Unit 271.2 = 2,157.3
Total for state 430.2 334.5 7,722.1

29.5

DRS RMON pormrmnmgrg po
‘ OUD OR ON ee en SSO OOO 109 CU 00
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-]
for)

we
=~]
Oo
orl
vl

Other
hardwood
types

wonre De or
weonMmuenonor

for)
a

el
DNNW COR NMO RATA A! D

Sys
WHOKCRANDWORAHOR|! al] HERoanwnmowo

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VS? AVS CO FI ON 2 O1.03,09
COA ONnNCURADAWO-1P

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3

445.0
1,323.1

All
types

146.9

99.0
295.9
235.0
298.7
291.0
119.9

22.0
MA lee
155.2
102.3
289.2
857.8
341.6
989.6

57.8
341.6
177.8
516.0

5,509.0

270.3
225.1
393.0
728.4
538.5
236.3
259.5
230.3
219.9
191.7
416.4
346.1
LOT
309.9

4,556.5

3,449.9
13,515.4

Table 7.—Net volume of sawtimber on commercial forest land in West Virginia, by forest type,

county, and geographic unit, 1975

[In millions of board feet]

‘adel Other
Virginia and Oak- All
Count ° p softwood : beech- hardw

y pitch pine types hickory winch toe Hood types

Barbour 0.7 8.2 134.5 87.5 34.3 265.2
Berkeley 11.3 2.3 104.4 17.6 31.7 167.3
Braxton 1.4 21.8 284.3 186.9 66.2 560.6
Grant 35.4 3.6 232.7 56.1 73.9 401.7
Hampshire 29.4 5.8 329.0 41.0 102.7 507.9
Hardy 38.0 5.0 306.0 48.1 99.0 496.1
Harrison 6 9.9 97.4 62.3 31.2 201.4
Jefferson 3.3 5) 21.1 3.8 7.0 35.7
Lewis 182 9.7 155.6 96.7 35.8 299.0
Mineral 26.3 2.4 149.7 28.1 53.8 260.3
Morgan 23.1 1.3 86.3 20.4 38.3 169.4
Pendleton 32.2 9.5 290.2 52.1 96.7 480.7
Pocahontas 2.6 256.8 438.0 949.9 109.5 1,756.8
Preston 1.9 18.6 324.3 209.1 72.1 626.0
Randolph 1.6 eZ 859.5 1,035.1 125.2 2,098.6
Taylor 4 4.0 49.2 31.0 13.5 98.1
Tucker 5 54.7 343.2 326.6 36.0 761.0
Upshur 8 10.9 169.0 111A 40.6 332.4
Webster 1.4 21.4 505.8 569.9 72.9 1,171.4
Northeastern Unit 212.1 523.6 4,880.2 3,933.3 1,140.4 10,689.6
Boone — 9.2 424.8 206.0 17.8 657.8
Clay 3.4 11.9 311.7 113.6 29.2 469.8
Fayette 6.3 14.2 550.5 199.9 52.0 822.9
Greenbrier 8.1 53.8 792.1 583.7 109.9 1,547.6
Kanawha 10.3 31.6 746.5 271.2 71.6 1,131.2
Logan = 11.4 390.2 150.8 21.9 574.3
McDowell = 14.6 378.9 175.5 34.4 603.4
Mercer 2.8 9.4 332.2 122.5 32.8 499.7
Mingo — 10.1 343.3 150.2 22.9 526.5
Monroe Talal 13.5 237.7 83.0 21.6 366.9
Nicholas 7.3 LAT. 506.4 306.8 43.5 875.7
Raleigh 5.4 9.2 492.3 177.9 47.3 732.1
Summers 3.3 10.4 271.4 98.7 26.9 410.7
Wyoming 9.1 48.4 391.4 143.9 36.7 629.5
Southern Unit 67.1 259.4 6,169.4 2,783.7 568.5 9,848.1
Brooke 1.8 — 30.0 9.4 6.1 47.3
Cabell 25.4 = 150.0 48.8 34.3 258.5
Calhoun 32.3 = 138.8 49.4 36.0 256.5
Doddridge 5.6 = 268.7 75.6 39.0 388.9
Gilmer 6.3 — 266.8 72.2 43.6 388.9
Hancock 1.9 = 30.2 2:2 6.4 50.7
Jackson 45.8 — 230.0 75.5 51.9 403.2
Lincoln 11.4 = 356.0 124.4 ala 562.9
Marion ai, = 228.0 63.2 31.0 327.9
Marshal! 7.2 = 129.4 50.0 28.1 214.7
Mason 62.6 — 175.6 55.7 43.6 337.5
Monongalia 6.5 = 260.9 73.0 40.0 380.4
Ohio 2.5 = 47.0 16.7 9.8 76.0
Pleasants 9.0 = 144.5 37.3 22.1 212.9
Putnam 58.0 = 203.4 62.8 46.2 370.4
Ritchie 27.0 = 350.2 98.7 66.1 542.0
Roane 39.7 = 216.8 83.7 52.3 392.5
Tyler 13.7 —— 174.1 52.1 32.6 272.5
Wayne 36.1 — 304.8 104.7 70.6 516.2
Wetzel otk = 274.3 85.3 53.2 420.5
Wirt 60.0 = 164.4 52.7 41.4 318.5
Wood 64.4 = 186.0 60.1 43.7 354.2
Northwestern Unit 530.6 — 4,329.9 1,363.5 869.1 7,093.1
Total for state 809.8 783.0 15,379.5 8,080.5 2,578.0 27,630.8

Maple-

Other

Table 8.—Net volume of growing-stock trees4on commercial
forest land, by species and tree size, West Virginia, 1975

All Poletimber

Species eae feces Sawtimber
soecmesneesss Million cubic feet ---------- Million
board feet b

White pine 125.5 43.7 81.8 328.8
Virginia pine 416.5 154.9 261.6 903.2
Other yellow pines 115.1 29.8 85.3 300.2
Red spruce 153.3 18.1 135.2 565.2
Hemlock ¢ 184.6 55.3 129.3 502.3
Total softwoods 995.0 301.8 693.2 2,599.7
Select white oaks 1,293.0 511.9 781.1 2,668.1
Select red oaks 1,294.1 351.0 943.1 3,203.8
Other white oaks 1,384.7 559.9 824.8 2,768.6
Other red oaks 1,427.1 471.7 955.4 3,354.4
Red maple 829.9 486.3 343.6 1,085.9
Sugar maple 758.6 416.8 341.8 1,158.0
Yellow birch 142.5 94.5 48.0 164.8
Sweet birch 250.7 180.8 69.9 228.2
Hickory 1,173.8 658.7 515.1 1,720.6
Beech 612.3 196.3 416.0 1,459.3
Ash 282.2 102.3 179.9 591.0
Black walnut 107.2 46.1 61.1 206.8
Yellow-poplar 1,412.8 463.5 949.3 3,267.7
Cucumbertree 124.7 50.7 74.0 247.3
Blackgum 132.5 48.4 84.1 296.1
Black cherry 453.6 138.6 315.0 LeAT2
Basswood 207.5 Titel 130.4 417.5
Other hardwoods 633.2 309.9 323.3 1,080.9
Total hardwoods 12,520.4 5,164.5 7,305.9 25.031.1
All species 13,515.4 5,466.3 8,049.1 27,630.8

2 Growing-stock trees are trees that satisfy national specifications for form and
allowable cull. Net volumes are given for all such trees 5.0 inches dbh and larger.

b International %4-inch rule.

€ Includes a small amount of redcedar.

Table 9.—Net volume of sawtimber on commercial forest land, by species
and quality classes, West Virginia, 1975

[In millions of board feet] *

Standard lumber logs
All

Species classes Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4b
Softwoods:
White pine 328.8 222i 68.7 185.0 53.0
Virginia pine 903.2 16.5 27.1 859.6 _
Other yellow pines 300.2 18.2 21.7 260.3 —
Other softwoods ¢ 1,067.5 — = = =
Total softwoods 2,599.7 56.8 117.5 1,304.9 53.0
Hardwoods:
Select white oak 2,668.1 182.0 431.1 1,370.6 684.4
Select red oak 3,203.8 742.4 706.0 1,341.3 414.1
Other white oaks 2,768.6 297.3 518.6 1,289.8 662.9
Other red oaks 3,354.4 495.4 583.1 1,434.1 891.8
Red maple 1.085.9 123.6 145.7 545.8 270.8
Sugar maple 1,158.0 144.3 187.9 545.2 280.6
Yellow birch 164.8 25:5 28.6 76.5 34.2
Sweet birch 228.2 26.6 44.7 114.5 42.4
Hickory 1,720.6 161.0 237.3 799.2 523.1
Beech 1,459.3 120.7 193.2 691.3 454.1
Ash 591.0 79.2 137.7 261.4 112.7
Black walnut 206.8 5.2 27.5 131.4 42.7
Yellow-poplar 8,267.7 658.8 600.0 1,337.3 671.6
Cucumbertree 247.3 23.2 47.5 125.0 51.6
Blackgum 296.1 54.7 76.7 125.9 38.8
Black cherry 21 169.7 218.9 483.8 239.7
Basswood 417.5 57.1 95.7 203.3 61.4
Other hardwoods 1,080.9 65.8 149.8 619.6 245.7
Total hardwoods _25,031.1 3,432.5 4,380.0 11,496.0 5,722.6
Percentage of
hardwoods 100 14 17 46 23

4 International 44-inch rule. r Pae
Grade-4 applies only to the pines. For hardwoods the volumes in this column are for con-
struction logs.

© Species other than pine are not graded into standard lumber grades.

Table 10.—Annual net growth and removals of growing stock and
sawtimber on commercial forest land, softwoods and
hardwoods, West Virginia, 1974

y Growing stock Sawtimber
Species a ~
group Net growth Removals Net growth Removals
Thousand cubic feet Thousand board feet
Softwoods 58,600 10,600 172,000 27,800
Hardwoods 414,900 155,500 651,000 405,300
Total 473,500 166,100 823,000 433,100
err e ccc rte correct crn Percent -----------------------
Sampling error
of totals 8 15 11 19

4 International 44-inch rule.

METRIC EQUIVALENTS
OF UNITS USED IN THIS REPORT

1 acre = 4,046.86 square meters or 0.405 hectare.

1,000 acres = 405 hectares.

1,000,000 acres = 405,000 hectares.

1,000 board feet (International 4-inch log rule) = 3.48 cubic meters.
1,000,000 board feet (International 44-inch log rule) = 3,480 cubic meters.
Breast height = 1.4 meters above ground level.

1 cubic foot = 28,317 cubic centimeters or 0.028317 cubic meter.
1,000 cubic feet = 28.317 cubic meters.

1,000,000 cubic feet = 28,317 cubic meters.

1 cord (wood, bark, and airspace) = 3.6246 cubic meters.

1 cord (solid wood, pulpwood) = 2.4069 cubic meters.

1 cord (solid wood, other than pulpwood) = 2.2654 cubic meters.
1,000 cords (pulpwood) = 2,406.9 cubic meters.

1,000 cords (other products) = 2,265.4 cubic meters.

1 foot = 30.48 centimeters or 0.3048 meter.

1 inch = 25.4 millimeters or 2.54 centimeters or 0.0254 meter.

1 mile = 1.609 kilometers.

1 square foot = 929.03 square centimeters or 0.0929 square meter.

Source: A. Binek. 1973 Forest products in terms of metric units. Published by the
author, P.O. Box 7 Westmount, Quebec H3Z2T1 Canada

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