Montana Forests

Of Montana's 93 million acres of land, nearly 23 million acres are forested. Most of these forested lands are located in the western part of the state, where pacific weather systems, intercepted by high mountains, deliver enough moisture for forests to grow. In the eastern part of the state, forested areas are associated with the many isolated mountain ranges like the Snowy's, the Belt's and the Bear Paw's.

Nearly 4 million acres of these forest lands are permanently reserved as either wilderness areas or National Parks. Eleven million acres of the remaining forested land is administered by the U.S. Forest Service, with 5.2 million acres of this public estate designated by current forest plans as suitable for timber production.

Private forest lands occupy some 6 million acres, with 2 million owned and managed by timber companies like Plum Creek, F.H. Stoltze and R - Y Timber. Another four million acres of private forest lands are owned by some 11,000-plus private individuals.

The rest of the forested estate is comprised of State, BLM, Tribal, County and other land ownerships.

Montana Forests contain 27native species of trees - 17 conifers and 10 deciduous. The types of trees are:

*Most valuable commercial timber species.

Montana Logging Association
2224 Montana Hwy. 35
PO 1716
Kalispell, MT 59903
406.752.3168

e-mail: mla@logging.org