Five-Year Forest Inventory Report Published

Kansas Forest Service
Manhattan, Kansas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, in partnership with the Kansas Forest Service, has published the first five-year report on the size and condition of Kansas’ forest land since the annual inventory was introduced in 2001. Past forest inventories were completed in 1937, 1965, 1981, and 1994.

The report provides a summary of data collected from 2001 to 2005. Each year 20 percent of the state is inventoried, and a new five-year cycle began in 2006. Information from the report can be used in many ways such as in evaluating wildlife habitat conditions, assessing the sustainability of ecosystem management practices, and supporting planning and decision-making activities undertaken by public and private enterprises. The report combines this information with related data on forest ownership, insects, diseases, and other types of forest damages and stressors to assess the health, condition, and potential future risks to forests.

Highlights of “Kansas Forests 2001 – 2005”

On the Plus Side:

• Forestland area has increased from 1.5 million acres in 1994 to 2.1 million acres in 2005, roughly 4 percent of Kansas’ total land area.
• Softwood forests make up almost 5 percent of the total timberland area. Oak/hickory forest types make up 56 percent of the total hardwood timberland area of 2.0 million acres. Elm/ash/cottonwood make up over 32 percent of timberland area.
• The proportion of Kansas’ timberland with trees 19 inches and larger has stayed about the same over the last 40 years comprising 38 percent in 1965 and 38 percent today.
• Kansas’ forests continue to increase in volume. In 2001 to 2005, net volume of growing stock on timberland in Kansas was an estimated 1.5 billion cubic feet compared to 0.5 billion cubic feet in 1965.
• All-live above ground biomass on timberland in Kansas amounted to 70.8 million dry tons in 2001 to 2005. Over 5 percent was in 1- to 5- inch trees, 50 percent was in growing stock trees, and 45 percent was in non-growing stock trees.
• Almost 95 percent of Kansas’ forestland is held by private landowners.

Areas of Concern

• Kansas’ forests are increasing in density in certain locations. The number of trees per acre increased 106 percent since 1965.
• Since 1965, oak volume has increased by 231 percent, hickories by 224 percent, and maples by 231 percent. Eastern red cedar volume has increased by 23,000 percent, which presents an opportunity for forest products, but also presents concerns about woody encroachment into grasslands.
• Cull trees (rough, short log, and rotten) constitute 46 percent of all of the live-tree volume in Kansas timberland.
• Cottonwood growing stock volume has declined almost 50 percent since 1981. Cottonwood regeneration is almost nonexistent.
• Ash Resource at Risk – Since the emerald ash borer (EAB), an Asian wood-boring insect, was identified in Detroit, Michigan, in 2002, an estimated 20 million ash trees have been killed by the insect. Natural spread is about half a mile each year; however, human activity, such as transporting firewood, has increased the area infected dramatically and some experts speculate it is only a matter of time before EAB arrives in Kansas.

The report may be viewed on the treesearch.fs.fed.us Web site by entering the title, Kansas Forests 2001-2005, the author, W. Keith Moser, and the key words, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program. Hard copies may be obtained directly from the Kansas Forest Service State Office.

This article is also available in Microsoft Word format.

Five-Year Forest Inventory Report Published (DOC; 56 KB)

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Last Modified: 08/05/2008