Forest area remains same, growth rate still greater than removal
rate. According to the update recently released by the Southern
Research Station (SRS) Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA)
program, forest land in Kentucky covers an estimated 12.4
million acres, remaining the same from he last reported data.
The report—compiled from data collected by the Kentucky Division
of Forestry’s FIA program—also includes information about forest
composition, common trees, forest land ownership, standing-tree
wood volume and average growth and removals. “Kentucky’s forest
resources have shown very little fluctuation since the previous
annual inventory,” said Leah MacSwords, director for the
Kentucky Division of Forestry. “In fact, Kentucky’s landscape
has remained on average about 45 percent forested for the past
50 years.” One of the most important indicators listed in the
report is growth to removal. The report notes that Kentucky’s
forests are producing two times more wood volume than is being
removed. While wood-using