Delaware Forests

Delaware Forests
Author: Tonya W. Lister
Publisher:
Total Pages: 104
Release: 2017
Genre: Forest surveys
ISBN:

This report summarizes the 2013 results of the annualized inventory of Delaware’s forests conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Results are based on data collected from 389 plots located across the State. There are an estimated 362,000 acres of forest land in Delaware with a total live- tree volume of 936 million cubic feet. There has been no change in the area of forest land since 2008, however, live-tree volume in Delaware has been increasing. Forest land is dominated by the oak/hickory forest-type group, which occupies 53 percent of total forest land area. Seventy-four percent of the forest land area is in large diameter stands, 12 percent in medium diameter stands, and 13 percent in small diameter stands. The volume of growing stock on timberland has been rising since the 1950s and currently totals 811 million cubic feet. Between 2008 and 2013, the average annual net growth of growing-stock trees on timberland was approximately 16 million cubic feet per year. Additional information is presented on forest attributes, ownership, carbon, timber products, species composition, regeneration, and forest health.

The Story of a Forest

The Story of a Forest
Author: Robert Kuhn McGregor
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2018-01-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1476630666

The re-established forests of the Upper Delaware exist as a living reminder of centuries of both exploitation and good intentions. Emerging after the last glaciation, they were first modified by Native Americans to promote hunting and limited agriculture. The forests began to disappear as Europeans clear-cut farmland and fed sawmills and tanneries. The advent of the railroad accelerated demand and within 30 years industry had consumed virtually every mature tree in the valley, leaving barren hillsides subject to erosion and flooding. Even as unchecked cutting continued, conservation efforts began to save what little remained. A century and a half later, a forest for the 21st century has emerged--an ecological patchwork protected by a web of governmental agencies, yet still subject to danger from humans.