The study area for this analysis was the Appalachians of North Carolina and Virginia, a sub-part of a region originally delineated by the Forest Service as part of the Southern Appalachian Assessment. Data on stands were obtained from the Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) unit. FIA makes periodic stand measurements at fixed inventory plots that are distributed in a regular pattern throughout the United States, including North Carolina and Virginia. The FIA plots that we used in our analysis were plots that were measured in both the FIA’s Fifth and Sixth inventory cycles (early and late 1980s) and that were classified as timberland (producing at least 20 cubic feet of wood per acre per year). They numbered 2,480. Of these, 1,536 were NIPF-owned and NIPF-managed, 338 were industry-owned or industry-managed but NIPF-owned, and 606 were government-owned (mostly National Forest lands).
Sawmill and pulp mill addresses were used to pinpoint the locations of the mill of each type closest to each FIA plot. Mill mailing addresses were provided by FIA units based in Asheville, NC and Newtown Square, PA [formerly Radnor, PA] plus the Texas Forest Service. These were converted to latitude and longitude coordinates using a geocoding service provided by Etak, Incorporated [name since changed to Tele Atlas North America].
