Up until 1997, forested land that was used as pastureland or that was a part of farmstead windbreaks was not included in the forestland designation. After 1997 such land was counted as forestland, as long as it met all other requirements to be so designated. Most of the increase in forestland noted between 1997 and 2002 was due to this change in definition.

It is worth noting that the vast majority of urban forests across the United States are not counted as forestland for purposes of developing national, regional, or state forest statistics.

 

"Timberland" differs from forestland in that this is land that fits the definition of forestland, but that also has a growth rate of at least 19 cubic feet per acre per year, that is economically accessible, and that is not in a reserve status. As shown in Figure 9, timberland makes up almost exactly two-thirds of the area of fore stland nationally, a percentage that has not changed in 50 years. In the East, timberland makes up a much greater percentage of forestland than nationally; in this case the timberland area is 94 percent of the area of forestland (Figure 10). In both cases the area of timberland is stable or increasing slightly.