Wyoming’s Forest Resources, 2011–2015

This report summarizes the most recent inventory of Wyoming’s forests based on field data collected between 2011 and 2015. The report includes descriptive highlights and tables of area, numbers of trees, biomass, carbon, volume, growth, mortality, and removals. Most sections and tables are organized by forest type or forest-type group, species group, diameter class, or owner group. The report also describes the inventory design, inventory terminology, and data reliability. Results show that Wyoming’s forest land covers 10.5 million acres. Fifty-five percent (5.8 million acres) of this forest land is administered by the USDA Forest Service, and another 26 percent (2.8 million acres) is administered by other Federal agencies. There are approximately 1.5 million acres (14 percent) of privately owned forest land in Wyoming. Wyoming’s most abundant forest-type group is Fir/spruce/mountain hemlock, which covers more than 2.9 million acres, but is followed closely by the Lodgepole pine forest-type group, which covers more than 2.5 million acres. Lodgepole pine is the most abundant species by number of trees but is second to the Fir/spruce/mountain hemlock forest-type group in volume (and biomass), 4.2 and 6.2 million cubic feet, respectively. In total, Wyoming’s forests contain more than 14.6 million cubic feet of net volume in trees 5.0 inches in diameter and larger. Gross growth of all live trees 5.0 inches in diameter and larger averaged 270.4 million cubic feet per year. Average annual mortality amounts to 578.3 million cubic feet per year. Therefore, average annual net growth was-361.2 million cubic feet per year. The primary mortality causing disturbance agents were, in descending order, insects, fire, and disease, which affected 1,415.3, 446.3, and 382.8 thousand acres, respectively.