| The Southern Forest Resource Assessment (SFRA) was initiated in the spring of 1999 to address broad questions concerning the status, trends and potential future of southern forests. This includes the 13 southern states from Texas and Oklahoma in the west to Virginia and Kentucky in the north and east. The southern offices of the USDA Forest Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Tennessee Valley Authority chartered SFRA and it has been conducted in collaboration with State agencies represented by the Southern Group of State Foresters and the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The final Assessment reports were issued in November 2002. What follows is a very compact description of major findings from the Assessment. The assessment documents (http://www.srs.fs.fed.us/sustain) provide full details.
Forces of Change
Land Markets--Forecasting models indicate that 12 million forest acres will be lost to urbanization between 1992 and 2020; an additional 19 million acres between 2020 and 2040. These losses are forecast to be partially offset by conversion of 10 million acres from agricultural land to forestland between 1992 and 2020 with conversion of another 15 million acres by 2040.
Timber Markets--Between 1953 and 1997, the South’s timber production more than doubled--its share of U.S. production increased from 41 to 58 percent, and its share of world production increased from 6.3 to 15.8 percent. The region now produces more timber than any other country in the world. Timber market models forecast that timber production in the South will increase by more than 50 percent between 1995 and 2040.
Social Institutions--Inheritance taxes were found to encourage owners to liquidate or split up forest properties. Direct governmental regulation of forestry is very limited in the South. However, in urbanizing areas, a proliferation of local regulations affects land use and forest management—local regulations nearly doubled between 1992 and 2000.
Biological Factors--Southern pine beetle is forecast to continue to cause substantial economic damage and ecological change in the South, especially on heavily stocked non-industrial private and aging public forests. Several diseases (including dogwood anthracnose, oak wilt, and butternut canker) and nonnative insects, (including gypsy moth, balsam wooly adelgid, and hemlock adelgid) have been introduced to the South and seriously threaten hardwood host species.
Physical Factors--Many southern forest types are fire-adapted, and exclusion of fire has altered their species composition, flammability, and management. Ozone pollution is forecast to increase anywhere from 20 to 50 percent between 1990 and 2025 and growth reductions in southern pines may result. The reintroduction and continued use of fire will remain challenges due to urbanization and air pollution concerns.
Southern Forest Conditions
Social and Economic Systems--The share of the U.S. population residing in the South has increased to more than 32 percent. The demographic profile of the South has changed toward a more urban population and values have shifted from strong commodity orientation to a more biocentric view.
In 1997, timber harvests led to more than 700,000 jobs in wood products sector and more than $118 billion in total industry output. Total economic impacts of these activities were about 2.2 million jobs (5.5 percent of total jobs in the region) and $251 billion of total industry output (7.5 percent of all industry output).
Recreation--In 1997, outdoor recreation-based tourism contributed between 0.64% and 2.88% of southern jobs, depending on the region. Public lands represented 56% of this contribution. Recreation pressures on public land are substantial. At the same time, less and less private land is available for public recreation.
Forest Area and Conditions--The South has more than 214 million acres of forestland. Eleven percent of the 201 million acres of timberland (commercially productive forestland) is managed by various government agencies. The remaining 89 percent is privately owned. Ownership is changing, with a decrease in forest industry ownership between the 1980s and 1990s and an increase in other corporate owners, including timber investment management organizations (TIMOs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs).
The area of upland forest increased gradually between 1950 and 1990. The area of lowland hardwoods declined somewhat between the 1950s and 1970s, but has leveled off since. The area of naturally regenerated pine stands decreased by about half and planted pine increased from about 2 million acres in 1953 to 32 million acres in 1999. The area of pine plantations is forecast to increase by 67% to about 54 million acres in 2040.
Forest Inventory and Productivity--Southern forests accumulated considerable volumes of timber between the 1950s and 1990s. Inventory grew by 73% from 148 billion cubic feet to 256 billion cubic feet, reflecting rapid growth of stands established since the 1930s. Forecasts indicate that region-wide, softwood growth will overtake and exceed removals by a slight margin in the next few years. Hardwood removals are forecast to outstrip growth by about 2025.
Intensive management has increased southern timber yields. High intensity management can increase yields by 65 percent over standard site preparation and planting and by more than 100 percent over naturally regenerated forests. Future productivity is a key to determining both future forest conditions and forecasts of timber markets.
Terrestrial Ecosystems
Rare Forest Communities--Fourteen critically endangered forest ecosystems have lost more than 98% of their habitat since European settlement. Most are in seven classes: (1) old growth, (2) spruce-fir, (3) wetlands, bog complexes, and pocosins, (4) bottomland and floodplain forests, (5) glades, barrens, and prairies, (6) longleaf pine forests, and (7) Atlantic white-cedar swamps.
Effects of Land-use Changes--Urban land uses have impacts on bird populations through loss and fragmentation of habitat and increased disturbances. Forecasts of land use change suggest that bird species in the Piedmont may be subjected to the most change, where declines are anticipated for neotropical migrants and forest interior specialists.
Effects of Forest Management--Fragmentation effects of certain practices are likely to be important in areas where urban and agricultural uses predominate, such as the Piedmont, Interior Low Plateau, and Mississippi Alluvial Plain. The impacts of management may be especially high for certain amphibians.
Wildlife species of concern--Of the 1,208 vertebrate species known to exist in the South, 132 are considered to be of conservation concern, and 28 species are classified as critically imperiled. The South has the most amphibian biodiversity in the United States. Fifty-four amphibians are classified as species of concern and 19 are critically imperiled.
Water Quality, Wetlands, and Aquatic Ecosystems
Water Quality—Water flowing from forestlands in the South is of the highest quality of any land uses. Of the 11 major sources of water quality impairment, agriculture and urbanization have ranked highest, with silviculture ranking next-to-last. Where evaluated, silviculture Best Management Practices (BMPs) employed in southern states, when properly implemented, have been effective in controlling nonpoint source pollution from forestry activities.
Wetlands--Approximately 32.6 million acres of forested wetlands occur in 10 southern States (Assessment area minus Virginia, Texas, and Oklahoma). They represent 64 percent of the total in the conterminous United States. Forested wetland losses have been widespread but concentrated in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley and the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas. Rates of losses have declined since the 1970s but impacts and functional changes continue to occur.
Aquatic Species of Concern--The South supports a great diversity of aquatic life. Several hundred species of concern are found among the amphibians, mussels, crustaceans, fish, snails, and aquatic insects of the region. Many aquatic species of concern are narrow endemics. The effects of development and management may be disproportionately high for the small areas they occupy.
Subregions of Concern
The Southern Forest Resource Assessment also allowed us to identify where forces of change and the potential implications of change are focused within the region. In particular, we identified three areas in the South where concerns regarding forest sustainability may be especially high: the Southern Appalachians, the Piedmont, and the Lower Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains.
Conclusion
Overall, this broad based regional assessment provided an interactive means to provide detailed technical information and discussions about the status of many outputs and services associated with forest resources in the southern United States. The web site for the SFRA assessment was noted above, and the summary document is listed below (Wear and Greis 2002). The data and analyses from the assessment have been used by a wide variety of organizations in making recommendations for appropriate state and federal policies, and for considering means to enhance forest resource management and protection. A related effort of a Southern Forest Futures Project is currently being developed by the USDA Forest Service, the Southern Group of the National Association of State Foresters, and other partners, which can extend SFRA in 2009.
Reference
Wear, David N. and John G. Greis, Editors. 2002. Southern Forest Resource Assessment. General Technical Report SRS-53. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station. Asheville, NC. 635 p.
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David Wear and John Greis were the Southern Forest Resource Assessment Co-Leaders, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Box 12254 Research Triangle Park, NC and USDA Forest Service, Southern Region, 1720 Peachtree Rd. NW, Atlanta, GA 30367, respectively.
Posted 19 May 2008
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