Threats to private forest lands in the U.S.A.: a forests on the edge study

Abstract

The Forests on the Edge project, sponsored by the USDA Forest Service, uses geographic information systems to construct and analyze maps depicting threats to the contributions of America’s private forest lands. For this study, watersheds across the conterminous United States are evaluated with respect to the amount of their private forest land. Watersheds with at least 10 percent forest land, of which 50 percent is privately owned, are then ranked relative to the contributions of their private forest lands to water quality, timber supply, at-risk species habitat, and interior forest. In addition, threats from housing development, fire, air pollution, and insect pests and disease to private forest land contributions are assessed. Results indicate that private forest lands contributions and threats are concentrated in the Eastern and Southeastern United States but are also distributed throughout the north-central, central hardwoods, and Pacific Northwest regions.

Parent Publication

• Advances in threat assessment and their application to forest and rangeland management—Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Citation

Stein, Susan M.; Hatfield, Mark H.; McRoberts, Ronald E.; Meneguzzo, Dacia M.; Comas, Sara. 2010. Threats to private forest lands in the U.S.A.: A forests on the edge study. In: Pye, John M.; Rauscher, H. Michael; Sands, Yasmeen; Lee, Danny C.; Beatty, Jerome S., tech. eds. 2010. Advances in threat assessment and their application to forest and rangeland management. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-802. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest and Southern Research Stations: 133-144.