Forest-land clearing and wood recovery in Maryland

Abstract

Changing land use often results in removal of the existing forest cover. During a resurvey of Maryland's timber resources, a study was conducted to measure the losses of wood fiber attributable to forest-land clearing. An estimated 107 million cubic feet of growing stock were destroyed on 164,000 acres of commercial forest land cleared between 1961 and 1972. For fuel purposes, this represents a gross energy loss of 24.1 trillion Btus. Much of the recovered industrial wood came from forest lands cleared in rural areas, and much of the recovered firewood came from forest lands cleared in urban-suburban areas.

Citation

Bones, James T. 1980. Forest-land clearing and wood recovery in Maryland. Research Note NE-290. Broomall, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 6 p.