Iowa forest resources, 1974

This report presents Iowa's forest resources in 1974 as found by the second Forest Surveyof the State.It provides information concerning forest area, timber inventory, growth, mortality, removals, timber products output, future timber supply, forest management opportunities, and nontimber resources.It compares some of these findings with those of the 1954 survey.Resources Evaluation (formerly called Forest Sur- vey) is a continuing endeavor as mandated by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Plan- ning Act of 1974, which was preceded by the McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act of 1928.Its objective is to inventory periodically the nation's for- est land to determine its extent, condition, and volumes of timber, growth, and depletions.This kind of up-to-date information is essential to frame intelligent forest policies and programs.USDA Forest Service regional experiment stations are responsible for conducting these inventories and for publishing summary reports for individual States.The North Central Forest Experiment Station is responsible for Resources Evaluation work done in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, eastern South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas.Fieldwork for the 1974 Iowa Forest Inventory was begun in May 1973 and completed in June 1974.The report of the first inventory in 1954 provides a basis for comparing the information in this report for those interested in trends that have developed during the past 20 years.Personnel from the Iowa Conservation Commission canvassed primary wood-using plants in the State, which helped in estimating the quantity of timber products harvested in Iowa.Iowa District Foresters also canvassed a sample of rural households to determine the quantity of fuelwood, posts, and miscellaneous timbers cut on private, nonindustrial land.