Oregon: Five year report on State’s forest has just arrived

The first 5-year forest inventory report for Oregon?s private and
public lands is now available to the public: Oregon?s Forest
Resources, 2001-2005: Five-Year Forest Inventory and Analysis Report.

Here are some key findings from the report: 1) Oregon?s forests span
about 30 million acres; about half of Oregon?s total land area of 61
million acres. 2) Forest land is being converted to other uses
particularly near urban areas. The rate of conversion had slowed in
the past decade, but it?s not clear what protections will remain on
rural forest and agricultural land. 3) The majority of old-growth
forest is now found on federal land, although the current percentage
is estimated to be less than half of that existing before
Euro-American settlement. 4) Data spanning 1953 to 1987 show a
decrease in timberland area and volume, but inventories in the late
1990s and 2001-2005 suggest recent increases in timberland acreage and
volume. 5) Economic activity increased in the forest products
industry, with an 8-percent increase in harvest since 2003. 6) Private
landowners provide most of Oregon?s wood products, industry jobs, and
timber revenue. 7) Ownership is rapidly changing as some industry
owners sell their lands to timber investment management organizations
(TIMO) or real-estate investment trusts (REIT) who may manage the land
for a variety of purposes. 8) A single fuel-management prescription
does not fit all landscapes in Oregon. Less than half of forested
lands are predicted to develop crown fires, and an even smaller
fraction can be expected to develop active crown fire. 9) Oregon?s
forests are a net sink for carbon. More carbon is sequestered in
growing wood than is emitted in decaying wood.
The data from the FIA reports are used by state, federal, and private
land managers, investors, and others for a variety of purposes
including the assessment of fuels and potential fire hazard, biomass
and carbon storage, the effects of insects and disease, growth and
mortality, wildlife habitat, plant diversity, and the supply of goods
and services. — The Oregon report was produced by the Pacific
Northwest FIA Program which conducts forest inventories in Alaska,
California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands.
Read it online at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/gtr765/
questions: gt_burkhart@yahoo.com

Posted via email from Deane’s posterous