Worksheet 1: Family Owned Forest Facts

Table 1: Area and number of family owned forests in the Unites States* by size of forest landholdings, 1993.

Size of Forest Landholdings (Acres) Area (Acres) Thousands Area (Percent) Ownership (Number) Thousands Ownership (Percent)
1-9 16,509 5,603 60.3
10-49 57,342 24.2 2,534
50-99 42,729 18.0 642 6.9
100-499 78,461 33.1 472
500-999 17,532 29 0.3
1000-4999 17,797 7.5 13 0.1
5000+ 6,872 2.9 3 <0.1
Total 237,242 100.0 9,296 100.0

* Numbers above are for the continental U.S. and exclude Alaska and Hawaii.

Table 2: Area and number of family owned forests in the Unites States* by size of forest landholdings, 2004.

Size of Forest Landholdings (Acres) Area (Acres) Thousands Area (Percent) Ownership (Number) Thousands Ownership (Percent)
1-9 20,069 7.7 6,570
10-49 61,681 23.6 2,970 27.8
100-499 82,747 473 4.4
500-999 20,349 7.8 32 0.3
1000-4999 24,724 9.4 14 0.1
5000+ 10,254 1 <0.1
Total 261,639 100.0 10,692 100.0

* Numbers above are for the continental U.S. and exclude Alaska and Hawaii .

These tables come from the USDA Forest Service, National Woodland Owner Survey and are draft figures. Designed for review purposes.

  1. Fill in the missing percentages above and round your answers to the nearest tenth. Use the information in the “Area in Acres” and “Total” “Area in Acres” boxes to calculate area percentages in the blank “Area (percent)” box. Use the information in the “Number of Ownerships” and “Total” “Number of Ownerships” boxes to calculate the percentages in the blank “Ownership (percent)” boxes.
  2. Using the information above what percent of landowners owned 1-9 acres of land…
    in 1993?
    in 2004?
  3. What is the percentage of land owned (area) in the 1-9 acre category…
    in 1993?
    in 2004?
  4. Using the answers to question 2 and 3, what does this tell you about the majority of private forestland owners in the United States for 2004?
  5. Has there been an increase or decrease in the percent of landowners owning land in the U.S. in the 1-9 acre category since 1993?
  6. When looking at the Area Percentages , which landholdings category (1-9, 10-49, etc) contains the greatest land area (percent)…
    in 1993?
    in 2004?
  7. What percent of the ownership owned this landholdings category you discovered in question 6…
    in 1993?
    in 2004?
  8. Has there been an increase or decrease in the percent of landowners owning land in the U.S. in the 100-499 acre category since 1993?
  9. When comparing the table from 1993 to 2004 what appears to be the trend? Do more people own smaller portions of land or larger portions of land?
  10. After answering number 9, what are some possible reasons the trend is going in that direction?
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