Private Timberlands: Private Timber Harvests Not Likely to Replace
Declining Federal Harvests (Letter Report, 02/16/95, GAO/RCED-95-51).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the
potential timber supply from private timberlands in Washington, Oregon,
and California, focusing on: (1) the amount of private timberland
acreage and volume of timber harvested through 1992; (2) reforestation
requirements and the use of active timber management practices on
private timberlands; (3) the incentive programs that encourage private
landowners to actively manage their timberlands; and (4) how changes in
the Tax Reform Act have affected private landowners' timber management
decisions.

GAO found that: (1) from 1952 through 1992, private timberland acreage
in the three states decreased from 31 to 23 percent; (2) most of the
acreage decrease resulted from the conversion of timber land to
agriculture, urban areas, or other nontimber uses; (3) between 1989 and
1993, Oregon's and Washington's combined timber harvests from private
timberlands decreased from 2.5-billion to 2.3-billion board feet; (4)
since 1970, state laws have guided private timberland operations and
required private landowners to reforest harvested timberlands unless the
land is converted to other uses; (5) although federal and state programs
offer technical, educational, and financial assistance to encourage
private landowners to actively manage timberlands for long-term
production, these programs do not provide assurances that these
landowners will do so; (6) landowners' timber management and harvesting
decisions are affected by federal and state tax provisions, future land
use restrictions, and current timber market prices; (7) historically,
the federal tax code has benefited private timberland owners by lowering
their tax rates on capital gains and providing tax credits and
deductions for reforestation costs when timber is cut and sold; and (8)
although the Tax Reform Act maintained the timber capital gains
classification and the reforestation tax credit, it reduced the tax rate
differential between capital gains and ordinary income and limited
landowners' deductions unless they are actively involved in timber
operations.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  RCED-95-51
     TITLE:  Private Timberlands: Private Timber Harvests Not Likely to 
             Replace Declining Federal Harvests
      DATE:  02/16/95
   SUBJECT:  Capital
             Forest management
             Tax administration
             Timber sales
             Forest conservation
             Forest products
             Profits
             Tax credit
             Land management
             State law
IDENTIFIER:  Washington
             Oregon
             California
             Oregon Forest Resource Trust Program
             
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