NCRS - The Changing Midwest Assessment

Volume of Growing Stock

Timberland is defined as forest land that is producing - or is capable of producing - at least 20 cubic feet of industrial roundwood products per acre per year under natural conditions. Further, the utilization of timber is not restricted by statute or administrative rule. In other words, these are the lands that supply the wood products that we use every day. The six slide shows featured on this page describe changes in the volume (cubic feet per acre) of "growing stock" and "all live and dead" trees on all timberland, private non-industrial timberland, and private industrial timberland. Growing stock trees are defined as live (as opposed to rough, rotten or dead) trees of commercial species that contain at least one 12-foot saw log or two saw logs 8 feet or longer. Private industrial timberland is an ownership class of private land where the owner operates a wood-using plant.