 Necessary materials: PowerPoint Guide Teacher Information!

Our Forests and Their Products Rangelands, Forests, & Fire Pgs in Ch.19 of Managing Our Natural Resources

Students will be able to…  Define forest  Describe the six forest regions in the U.S.

The 1 st Forestry Industry in the U.S.  Began with the 1 st European to set foot in North America  Leif Ericson  Leif and his Vikings established logging camps in northeastern Canada  Harvested wood  shipped back to Europe  600 years prior to the settlers of Jamestown

Forests  Occur where moisture is sufficient for tree growth Arid regions like the Great Plains  too dry to support forests  Complex community of trees and other organisms  forest  House = tree, city = forest A housing development ≠ city Clump of trees ≠ forest

Forest: Friend and Enemy  Dense forests made farming & settlement difficult  But trees supplied materials for houses, forts, and ships  Source of wild game and fruit

Forests Today  749 million acres in the U.S.  forested = 1/3 of the U.S. 2/3 of this = commercial forest  250 million acres of commercial forest are actually usable 1/3 (250 million acres) = noncommercial forest Commercial  Forest that has economic potential

Who owns commercial forestland?  Private landowners  58%  Government  28%  Forest product industries  27% Weyerhauser, Kraft, Union-Camp  Maine & New Hampshire > 80% forested  Nebraska & North Dakota < 2% forested

What trees are used in forestry?  Two general kinds   Softwoods Gymnosperms = conifers Douglas fir, blue spruce, yew  Hardwoods Angiosperms = flowering, broad-leafed trees Oak, maple, beech, apple, cherry  Most timber production  softwoods

U.S. Forest Regions  Different species of trees have different requirements  Different environmental conditions  forest regions Climate Altitude Soil type  6 forest regions in continental U.S.

U.S. Forest Regions  West Coast  Western  Central  Tropical  Northern  Southern

U.S. Forestry Regions  Hawaii and Alaska have their own four regions Coast Interior West Dry

West Coast  Pacific Ocean Central California  Canadian border  Most productive forest region  About 48 million acres  Produces > 25% of annual U.S. lumber production

West Coast Tree Species  Douglas Fir  Coast Redwood  Western Red Cedar  Sitka Spruce  Sugar Pine  Lodgepole Pine  Incense Cedar  Port Oxford Cedar  White Fir  Red Alder  Bigleaf Maple

Western  Mountainous regions From Canada to Mexico in the western states (west of the Dakotas and eastern Texas)  Produces ~ 27% of U.S. lumber

Western Region Tree Species  Ponderosa Pine  Idaho White Pine  Sugar Pine  Douglas Fir  Engelmann Spruce  Western Larch  White Fir  Incense Cedar  Lodgepole Pine  Western Red Cedar  Aspen

Central  New York State to northern Georgia  West to Texas  North to Minnesota  Much of this region has been cleared for crops  Very diverse region

Central Region Tree Species  Shortleaf Pine  Virginia Pine  Red Oak  White Oak  Hickory  Elm  White Ash  Black Walnut  Sycamore  Cottonwood  Yellow Poplar  Black Gum  Red Maple  Sweet Gum

Tropical  Southern tips Florida Texas  Smallest forest region in U.S.

Tropical Region Tree Species  Mahogany  Bay Tree  Mangrove

Northern  From Maine south along the mountains to Georgia  Northern Michigan  Northern Minnesota  Largest forest region in North America (extends across Canada and Alaska) although small in U.S.

Northern Region Tree Species  Eastern White Pine  Red Spruce  Black Spruce  White Spruce  Norway Pine  Jack Pine  Balsam Fir  White Cedar  White Ash  Basswood  Tamarack  Eastern Hemlock  Aspen  Beech  Red Oak  White Oak  Yellow Birch  Black Birch  Sugar Maple

Southern  Coast of Virginia to eastern Texas  North to Missouri  Very productive forest due to highly fertile soil

Southern Region Tree Species  Loblolly Pine  Longleaf Pine  Shortleaf Pine  Slash Pine  Bald Cypress  Sweet Gum  Black Gum  Hickory  Southern Red Oak  White Oak  Pin Oak  Live Oak  Willow  Yellow Poplar  Cottonwood  White Ash

Review  Define forest  Describe the six forest regions in the U.S.