DFS Resource Assessment - Delaware Department of Agriculture

Thousands of Acres
Criterion 2: Maintenance of Productive Capacity
of Forest Ecosystems
Importance: Healthy forests provide a wide variety of
services and benefits including enhanced water
quality, oxygen, wildlife habitat, recreational
opportunities, and wood. Forests must be managed
sustainably, and all of these benefits must be
considered, if we are to continue to enjoy productive
forest ecosystems. Tracking not only the amount of
forestland available for producing goods and services
but also the productivity of that land and the
resources harvested is important to ensure their
sustainable management.
Indicator 5: Area of timberland.
Introduction: Timberland is defined as any forestland
capable of producing trees that may be profitably and
legally harvested. The amount of timberland in the
State defines the total forest land base available to
produce goods and services for the benefit of society.
Of the state’s 376,000 forested acres in 2002, over 98
percent were classified as timberland. The remaining two
percent of the state’s forestland is located in areas where
regulations prohibit timber harvest or, in very few cases,
the soil is not capable of producing a viable timber crop
(such as pockets of upland within tidal marshes).
Timberland acreage has declined slightly since 1950, as
shown in Figure 12. The DFS believes that the amount of
timberland has decreased since 2002 due to development
and changing landowner goals.
Figure 12. Acres of Timberland in 1953, 1987, and 2002.
Indicator 6: Annual removal of merchantable wood
volume compared to net growth.
Introduction: Forests provide valuable products
that can be periodically harvested. Forests are also
composed of living trees with quantifiable rates of
growth. To a large extent, the difference between rate
of growth and rate of removal determines whether the
resource base is being used in a sustainable manner.
Growth of all species has exceeded removal for more than
40 years. However, removal of softwood growing stock
has consistently exceeded growth (Table 7). This fact is
partly responsible for the decline of loblolly pine since the
mid-twentieth century (see previous discussion within
Indicator 2). At the same time, hardwood growth has
exceeded hardwood removal of growing stock for every
measurement period since 1959, although hardwood
removals increased dramatically between 1987 and 1999 –
reflecting some new and expanded markets for this
resource. Because pine acreage has declined, net softwood
growth has been reduced, despite sustainable management
of individual pine stands. This trend is a concern and
future inventories should closely track the changes in the
pine growing stock.
Table 7. Growth and removals of growing stock,
millions of cubic feet, 1959-1999.
Softwoods
Year Growth Removal Net
1959 6.5 9 -2.5
1971 4.6 8.1 -3.5
1987 4.1 4.6 -0.5
1999 4.2 6.7 -2.5
Hardwoods
Year Growth Removal Net
1959 12.5 4.5 8
1971 14.6 4.4 10.2
1987
9.4 4.7 4.7
1999 12.1 7.7 4.4
Source: U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis.
1953 1987 2002
Source: U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis.
Conclusions: Delaware’s timberland area has remained
constant relative to total forest acreage over the last 50
years. The increase in the rate of development has
impacted the forest land base, and as a result, total
acreage of timberland has declined slightly.
The surplus growth of hardwood species also presents an
opportunity. There is growing attention and desire for
sustainable, renewable energy sources. Much of
Delaware’s hardwood growth is concentrated in low-value
timber species, such as red maple (now Delaware’s most
common tree species), sweetgum, and blackgum (black
tupelo) (See Table 2 and Figure 7 in Criterion 1 text).
While Delaware – or the entire Eastern Shore peninsula –
does not contain enough forestland to support a major
energy plant, there are sufficient low-value hardwood
species to support regional or local systems, such as a
heat/energy system for schools or small industry.
Delaware Forest Resource Assessment 17