Download (PDF 997 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/27554.pdf
Abstract
The demand for wood fiber nationwide is expected to increase in the foreseeable future. Harvesting restrictions on forest lands in the West have increased pressure on the South's forest resources to provide more wood. The ability of Florida and other Southern States to respond is uncertain. The authors describe the current extent, condition, and availability of Florida's timber resource and project levels of growing-stock volume, net annual growth, and annual removals to the year 2025. They base those projections on future timber demand, as represented by harvest requests. The extent of the State's timber resource is determined by 1995 estimates of forested acres and by the rate at which acres are being added or removed from the timber base due to natural or human-caused activities. Forest condition is represented by annual rates of growth and mortality and their combined effect on levels of timber volume. Timber availability is largely dictated by ownership and, for the purposes of this paper, by the age of forest stands. Future timber harvest requests for Florida are derived from projections of estimated removals throughout the South as documented in the 1993 Resources Planning Act report. The Aggregate Timberland Assessment System (ATLAS) was the model used to project future estimates of growing stock, net growth, and removals in response to increased harvest requests. Overall, projections suggest that Florida is well positioned to meet increased demand for wood, in spite of an expected shortfall of available southern yellow pine volume on forest-industry timberland by 2010. However, crucial factors influencing future timber availability in Florida are retaining the current timber base and working with ever-changing public sentiments about forest-management practices.
Keywords
ATLAS simulations,
FIA,
final harvest,
forest industry,
forest-management types,
harvest scenarios,
nonindustrial private owners,
partial cutting,
public,
timber projections,
yield tables
Citation
Conner, Roger C.; Sheffield, Raymond M. 2005. Analysis of the timber situation in Florida, 1995- 2025. Res. Pap. SRS-42. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 17 p.
