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Future forestland area in the U.S. South

Informally Refereed

Abstract

The southeastern United States has been heavily transformed by various forms of resource exploitation. A review of historical data shows that net change in forest area has been minimal while much of the land in the region has experienced some change over time. Recent economic changes have accelerated urbanization in the region. Future forest area depends both on these urbanization factors and on the prospects for timber prices. A forecasting exercise shows that, if timber prices remain low, the South could see strong net declines in forest area for the first time since the early twentieth century.

Keywords

land use, forest area, forecasting

Citation

Wear, David N. 2006. Future forestland area in the U.S. South. In: Proceedings of Louisiana Natural Resources Symposium: 32-41
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/24819