Timber resources of Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, California.

Abstract

The findings of the first complete inventory of the timber resources of Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, California, indicate there is 19.1 billion board feet of sawtimber on 1,564,000 acres of unreserved commercial forest land in these two counties. Forest industries own about 34 percent of the commercial forest area and 37 percent of the timber volume; farm and miscellaneous private ownerships account for 53 percent of the area but only 42 percent of the volume; and public ownerships account for 13 percent of the area and 21 percent of the volume. Almost half the commercial forest area in these two counties is stocked with low value hardwoods and scattered conifers. This condition has resulted from wild fires, logging, and unsuccessful or abandoned attempts to convert timberland to grazing land. Redwood is the area's most abundant conifer, predominating on 368,000 acres; sawtimber volume in this species is 9.6 billion board feet. Douglas-fir type is found on 281,000 acres; sawtimber volume is 6.5 billion board feet. The forests in these counties are predominantly young, 79 percent of the area having stands under 100 years old. These young forests are responsible for almost all of Mendocino-Sonoma's 499 million board feet of net annual growth. In recent years, the forest industries of these counties have been utilizing old-growth timber, more Douglas-fir than redwood, and have been relying heavily on their own holdings. In the next 10 to 15 years, the realities of raw material availability will likely. lead industry to greater reliance on young redwood sawtimber, much of it from farm and miscellaneous private lands.

Citation

Osward, Daniel D. 1972. Timber resources of Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, California. Res. Bull. PNW-RB-040. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 89 p