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The timber resources of Pennsylvania

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Under the authority of the McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act of May 22, 1928, and subsequent amendments, the Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, conducts a series of continuing forest surveys of all states to provide up-to-date information about the forest resources of the Nation. A resurvey of the timber resources in Pennsylvania was made in 1963-65 by the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, approximately 10 years after the initial forest survey. In this resurvey, as in the initial survey, the Northeastern Station again received cooperation from the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters. The Department purchased the aerial photographs of the entire State that were used for the resurvey, and gathered information on the output of timber products. State field crews remeasured initial forest-survey plots and established new plots on all State forest land. Personnel of the Allegheny National Forest carried out the part of the survey on National Forest land in northwestern Pennsylvania. The Area Redevelopment Administration financed the establishment of many additional field sample plots to provide data of greater reliability. The Glatfelter Paper Company provided additional funds to intensify the survey in nine counties in the south-central part of the State. This report summarizes the timber-resource situation and the changes that have taken place since the initial survey, and points out trends of the timber supply. In this resurvey, a large percent of the initial ground plots were remeasured to provide estimates of net annual timber growth and estimates of landuse change and to update the initial forest inventory volume. New ground plots were established for an independent second estimate. These two sets of estimates were weighted and combined to give the current estimates of forest area and timber volume. Sampling errors, which indicate reliability, are shown for most of the totals of the breakdowns of the new estimates. Users of these resource data are cautioned to read with care the definitions of terms and the section pertaining to the reliability of the estimates.

Citation

Ferguson, Roland H. 1968. The timber resources of Pennsylvania. Resour. Bull. NE-8. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 147p.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/18776