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33 COMMON GROUND VOL. 13 NO. 1 JANUARY -MARCH 2002 I Southern Forests Study Forecasts indicate that 31 million acres of forest will be developed and 25 million acres of farmland will become forest land between 1992 and 2040. 'O'Q 'NO.LONIHSN�1'1 PKE 'ON 1111 Hd (I IVd SOVISOd 'STI 'ONO .LId021d-NON About 12 million acres of the South's forests could be lost to urbanization between 1992 and 2020, with the largest losses in the Piedmont and coastal plains, according to the Southern Forest Resources Assessment (free, 828 / 257 -4200, www.srs.fs.fed.us / sus- tain), a two -year study released in Novem- ber by the Forest Service. The effects of urban and suburban areas extend far beyond city limits, resulting in wildlife habitat frag- mentation, a scarcity of forest benefits, such as recreation opportunities, and limitations • The current forest area in the South (214 million acres) is 60% of the total in 1630 and 917o of that recorded in 1907. Eleven percent ip ^�---, ed by gov- ernment, with the remainder to private hands. The forest industry owns 22% of the private land, fol- lowed by farmers (21 %) and corporations (121 o), with the remaining 45% owned by others. • Forecasts indicate that 31 million acres of forest will be developed and 25 million acres of farmland will become forest land between 1992 and 2040. • Between 1953 and 1997, the South's timber pro- duction more than doubled, its share of U.S. pro- duction increased from 41% to 587o, and its share of world production increased from 6.37o to 15.87o. The region now produces more timber than any country in the world, except the U.S. • Timber market models forecast that timber pro- duction in the United States will increase by about one -third between 1995 and 2040. Nearly all of the growth will come from the South where produc- tion is forecast to increase 567o' for softwoods and 477o' for hardwoods. • Although softwood inventories will increase steadily until at least 2040, hardwood removal is forecast to exceed growth by 2025. 1219-9LZLZ ON 'WHOH49S11IH I9I9 X49 4d 1d34 U39NOO SH 181AN3 A1d410NU80 1IONd1S GIAV4 HW on management options necessary to keep forests healthy, concludes the study. It was compiled by more than 25 scientists from the Forest Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife Service, Tennessee Valley Authority, state forestry and fish and wildlife agencies and several universities. Any effective strategy to ensure the long- term health of the 214 million acres of south- ern forest will require the cooperation of 5 million private landowners who oversee nearly 90% of the land. Some findings: • Planted pine increased to 32 million acres in 1999, up from 2 million in 1953. Pine plantation acreage is forecast to jump 677o' to 54 million aces by 2040, mostly through conversion of cropland. • Ozone pollution is forecast to jump between 207o to 507o from 1990 and 2025. Growth reduc- tions in southern pines are expected as a result. • In 1997, timber harvests produced 700,000 jobs in the wood products sector and more than $118 billion in total industry output. Total economic impacts of these activities were about 2.2 million jobs and $251 billion of total industry output. • In 1997, outdoor recreation -based tourism con- tributed between 0.64% and 2.887o of southern jobs. Public lands represented 56% of the contri- bution. Recreation pressures on public land are substantial. Much private land is unavailable for public recreation. The trend is toward less access. • Of the 1,208 vertebrate species known to exist in the South, 132 are considered to be of conser- vation concern, and 28 are classified as critically imperiled. The South, the center of amphibian biodiversity in the nation, has 54 amphibians classified as species of concern, and 19 as criti- cally imperiled. GRiSRnOax NOLLDRENOD SSRxaGW 60ZZZ V1 `U0I0U11JV OZ11 a11nS `.1S luaX 'N 0081 ri ti 1, k I