Tree sprawl: Ohio wilderness grew faster than development, 1949-1992
U.S. Ohio’s wilderness areas grew faster than its developed areas from 1949 to 1992, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. [1]
The state’s developed areas (which include urban areas, defense and industrial areas, farmsteads, and rural transportation areas) grew from 2,021,000 acres in 1949 to 3,202,000 acres in 1992, an increase of 58 percent. [2]
However, the state’s wilderness areas (which include forest land, rural parks and wildlife areas) increased from 4,863,000 acres to 7,997,000 acres in the same period, an increase of 64 percent. [3]
Wilderness areas grow to 31% of Ohio’s land
The data suggest that concerns about the loss of wilderness areas may be largely unfounded: while total Ohio cropland and pasture acreage decreased 3,078,000 acres during the period, the increase in total forest acreage of 2,844,000 acres nearly balanced the conversion of farmland to developed areas. [4]
Wilderness areas grew from just 19 percent of Ohio’s land in 1949 to 31 percent in 1992. [5] Developed areas, in contrast, grew from 8 percent of Ohio’s land in 1949 to 12 percent in 1992. [6]
Ownership and capitalism increase wilderness
Private ownership is the primary reason for the increase in wilderness acreage. [7] More than 332,000 private land-owners account for 94 percent of Ohio forested or reforested land. [8]
Government acquisition of virgin land, by contrast, has played little role in the increase of wilderness acreage. Ohio’s 19 stateowned forests comprise only 215,000 acres out of a total 7,997,000 acres. Tree farmers alone, in contrast, manage 384,000 acres. [9]
Market-oriented conservation strategies, such as using better cutting blades in sawmills and converting wasted wood residues (like sawdust, wood chips, twigs and branches) into fiberboard, veneers, and insulation, have helped increase the supply of hardwoods in the U.S. by 120 million cubic meters, more than all the wood taken in 1993 from Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington combined.
Notes
[1] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Major Land Uses (1945-1992), Tables 1 to 15, Economics and Statistics System, usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/usda.html.
[2] The total change in developed areas from 1949 to 1992 for different land uses was (in thousands of acres): urban areas (887 to 2,415); rural transportation (507 to 524); defense and industrial uses (109 to 39); and, farmsteads, farm roads and lanes plus other miscellaneous land (521 to 224). From 1949 to 1992, total developed areas increased from 2,024 thousand acres to 3,202 thousand acres.
Source: Table 9, “Land in Urban Areas, by Region and States, United States, 1945-1992”; Table 10, “Land in Rural Transportation Facilities, by Region and States, United States, 1945- 1992”; Table 12, “Land in Defense and Industrial Areas, by Region and State, United States, 1945-1992”; and Table 13, “Farmsteads, Farm Roads, Lanes, plus Other Miscellaneous Farmland, by Region and States, United States, 1945-1992,” Major Land Uses, 1945-1992, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
[3] The total change in wilderness areas from 1949 to 1992 for different land uses was (in thousands of acres): forest area (4,779 to 7,623) and rural parks and wildlife areas (84 to 374). From 1949 to 1992, total wilderness areas increased from 4,863 thousand acres to 7,997 thousand acres.
Source: Table 8, “Total Forest-Use Land, by Region and States, United States, 1945-1992,” and Table 11, “Land in Rural Parks and Wildlife Areas, by Region and States, United States, 1945-1992,” Major Land Uses, 1945-1992, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
[4] Uses of Ohio land and the total change (in thousands of acres) from 1949 to 1992 were cropland (- 1,493); pasture (- 1,585); forest (+ 2,844 ); urban areas (+ 1,528); rural transportation (+ 17); rural parks and wildlife (+ 290); defense and industrial uses (- 67); farmsteads, farm roads and lanes, etc. (- 297); other land (- 1,268); and, total land difference / erosion, etc. (+ 31).
The largest percentage increase in a single category measured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was in “rural parks and wildlife areas,” which increased 345 percent between 1949 and 1992, from 84,000 acres to 374,000 acres (Table 11, op. cit.).
[5] Source: Note 3 and Table 16, “Total Land, by Region and State, United States, 1945-1992,” Major Land Uses, 1945-1992, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
[6] Note 2 and Table 16, op. cit. The largest acreage increase came in the category “forest-use land not grazed,” which increased 4,324,000 acres (or 162 percent) during the period (Table 8, op. cit.). Total acreage equaled 26,240 thousand acres in 1949 and 26,209 thousand acres in 1992.
[7] Research confirms this thesis. See, for example, Iddo K. Wernick, Paul E. Waggoner, and Jesse H. Ausubel, “Searching for Leverage to Conserve Forests: The Industrial Ecology of Wood Products in the United States,” Journal of Industrial Ecology, Vol. 1, No. 3 (1997), pp. 125-145. See also Anne Simon Moffat, “Temperate Forests Gain Ground,” Science, Vol. 282 (November 13, 1998), p. 1253.
[8] Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/ODNR/ Education/infofun.htm.
[9] Ibid. The Wayne National Forest in southeastern Ohio, which contains 211,707 acres of government-owned and -managed land, came into existence in the 1930s when large numbers of poor farmers abandoned their farms and moved out of state. The land was often abandoned because of delinquent property taxes. As the amount of tax delinquent land grew, the state legislature requested that the federal government buy the land.
