Tracking Those Other Forest Products

摘要

The roots of American ginseng have been harvested from the hardwood forests of eastern United States, along-side timber, since the mid-1700s. Very little is known about this non-timber commodity relative to timber although significant volumes of ginseng root have been harvested from the same forests along with timber. Timber is certainly the best-known forest product, but since before the time of European settlement, people have harvested other plants from the forests for a wide range of purposes. The U.S. Forest Service National Forest Inventory and Analysis (F1A) program has assessed timber product output (TPO) for more than 60 years by surveying the primary producers of industrial roundwood in each state on a three- to five-year cycle. TPO assessments track which tree species are cut, where logs originate, and the types of products that result. In the South, the Forest Service Southern Research Station FIA program tracks TPO for the 13 southern states.