Book Description

Southeast Alaska has 11.2 million acres of forest land, of which 4.9 million acres are considered commercial. This commercial acreage supports 166 billion board feet of sawtimber. These primarily old-growth stands of Sitka spruce and western hemlock are supporting a growing wood products industry that ranks first in the southeast economy and third in the State. This report summarizes current knowledge of the timber resource (areas, volumes, growth, mortality, quality, productivity, and trends) from the initial inventory, a partial remeasurement, and a second inventory now in progress. Historical data of wood products use, output, value, and markets are given and discussed. The report gives sources for much published and unpublished information for those who need to pursue these subjects more completely.