Forests of Ohio

ODNR-Division of Forestry
Ohio State University Extension

Highlights

These highlights reflect changes in Ohio's forest as reported by a survey done during 1990 and 1991. The 1991 Ohio Forest Survey was conducted by the USDA, Forest Service per authority in Public Law 93-378, the amended Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA).

• Ohio's forest acreage increased from 7.12 million acres to 7.36 million acres since the last survey in 1979. This is an increase of 740,000 acres; the percentage of forest land rose from 27 percent to 30 percent of the state.

• More than 329,000 private landowners own 7.19 million acres, or 93 percent of the total forest acreage.

• Public agencies manage only 7 percent of the forest land. However, since the last survey more than 100,000 acres of public forest land have been acquired by state and federal agencies.

• Some upland forest wildlife species have increased dramatically in the last decade and closely parallel the increase in forest land since 1940. In 1950 there were no known wild turkey in Ohio; in 1997 there were an estimated 123,000.

• Ohio's forests are maturing. In 1979, 42 percent of the forests were sawtimber. As of 1991, 53 percent are sawtimber, 23 percent are poletimber, and 24 percent are seedling/sapling.

• Since the 1979 survey more than 100 million seedlings have been sold from state nurseries for reforestation.

• For the 15th year in a row, Ohio leads the nation with the greatest number of Tree City USA communities. In 1997, there were 208 Tree City USA communities with comprehensive tree care programs in Ohio.

• The wood volume in sawtimber trees increased from 20 billion to 30 billion board feet from 1979 to 1991, a 50 percent increase. During that time, an estimated 5 billion board feet of wood was cut from Ohio's forests.

  dbh (diameter breast high) is the tree's diameter at 4 1/2 feet from the ground	A board foot measures 1 foot long by 1 foot wide and 1 inch deep

• Ohio boasts an estimated 65 billion trees and shrubs of 300 different species. Growth exceeds removal by a ratio of 2.4:1 for all tree species in all size classes.

• Ohio's forests are growing almost 1 billion board feet of wood each year.

• The 1991 total inventory of wood volume for all live trees, 10.1 billion cubic feet, is the largest timber supply ever surveyed in Ohio.

• Ohio's forests contribute significantly to the economy: 70,000 people earning more than $1 billion in income add more than $7 billion of value to Ohio's economy.

• Ohio has 2,200 Certified Tree Farms covering 421,424 acres. Since the start of the Forest Stewardship Program in 1990, more than 5,500 management plans have been prepared for 237,227 acres of forest land.

• Since 1973, more than 475 miles of windbreaks have been planted in Ohio's agricultural areas to curb wind erosion.