Colorado's Forest Resources, 2002-2006

Book excerpt: This report presents a summary of the most recent inventory information for Colorado's forest lands. The report includes descriptive highlights and tables of area, number of trees, biomass, volume, growth, mortality, and removals. Most of the tables are organized by forest type, species, diameter class, or owner group. The report also describes inventory design, inventory terminology, and data reliability. Results show that Colorado's forest land totals 23 million acres. Nearly 50 percent of this forest land is administered by the USDA Forest Service. Pinyon-juniper forests cover over 5.5 million acres whereas forest comprised of fir, spruce, and hemlock comprise 24 percent of Colorado's forest land. Aspen is the single most abundant tree species in Colorado. Net annual growth of all live trees 5.0 inches diameter and greater on Colorado forest land totaled 219.6 million cubic feet. Average annual mortality totaled nearly 421.0 million cubic feet.