Forest lands in the United States stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean and cover about 1.2 million square miles of the total 3.5 million square miles that encompass the United States.
Of the nation's 2.3 Billion acre total area, 747 million acres or 33% is forest land.
About 2/3rds of this forest land (504 million acres) is classified as productive timberland capable of producing 20 cubic feet per acre of industrial wood per year.
National forests and other public lands account for 274 million acres of timberland, while the forest industry and timberland owners control 473 million acres.
Although national forests account for only 19% of the nation's timberland acreage, they account for 30% of the total volume of timber, due largely to the old growth in national forest/parks.
The forest industry and private timberland owners account for 63% of the total forest land acreage and about 60% of the total timber volume.
Private timberland owners account for 47% of the total timber volume in the United States. They control 30% of all softwood timber and 72% of the total hardwood volume in the United States.
