“You can’t treat the forest like it isn’t alive.” —IFMAT IV focus group participant
trust land in 2019, which is down from the 63% in 1991. Although the percentage of commercial forests fell, the commercial forest acreage grew, but not as quickly as the increase in woodland acres.
Table B.1. Percent of forestland acres by ownership, based on 2021 Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data. IFMAT Region* Ownership Percent
Tribal
.01%
Industrial
29.1% 53.1% 5.3% 3.0% 9.3% 100%
Small Private
Eastern
US Forest Service
Stocking, Growth and Yield Among Owners
Other Federal State & Local
Stand density or “stocking” on tribal lands as measured by tree basal area, which combines both number of stems and their respective size, is consistently lower on tribal forestlands (including woodlands and reserves) than that on National Forest lands (except in the arid Southwest) and consistently higher than industrial lands (Figure B.1). These differences in basal area may be due to many factors, such as harvesting practices, site productivity and tribal objectives. Private landowners may harvest more aggressively on their lands, but the lands are often higher quality with higher growth rates. In contrast, Southwestern tribal lands are consistently overstocked relative to most of their neighbors, including the National Forests, reflecting a reduction in harvesting (due to a loss of funding, staff, support and markets). Across all regions, tribal lands typically have basal area that is most similar to (but generally greater than) small private, state and local ownerships (Figure B.1). These broad differences, however, must consider differences in site quality, age distributions and disturbance patterns – all of which influence landscape-level density/stocking.
Total
Tribal
1.5%
Industrial
12.6% 55.8% 10.6%
Small Private
Lake States
US Forest Service
Other Federal State & Local
2.1%
17.4% 100%
Total
Tribal
2.9%
Industrial
15.3% 12.6% 53.4% 10.3% 5.7% 100%
Small Private
Northwest
US Forest Service
Other Federal State & Local
Total
Tribal
12.0%
Industrial
6.6%
Small Private
12.3% 39.3% 22.4% 7.5% 100%
Southwest
US Forest Service
Other Federal State & Local
Total
Sources: 2021 FIA Data Analysis
*IFMAT/BIA Regions IFMAT
BIA Regions
Eastern Eastern Lake States Midwest
Great Plains Southern Plains
Eastern OK
Northwest
Northwest
Rocky Mountain
Pacific
Southwest Navajo Alaska is not included since no FIA data is available. Southwest West
80 Assessment of Indian Forests and Forest Management in the United States
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