Highlights

• New York has more forests than any other state in the Northeast - 18.6 million acres. That's nearly an acre for each and every New Yorker!
• New York's forests are growing over 3 times faster than they are being harvested, cleared for development or lost to insects and disease.
• Are we running out of trees yet? Over 62 percent of the state is covered by forests, an increase of 23 percent since 1953.
• Over 500,000 individuals and families own most (85 percent of commercial forestland) of New York's forests.

Publications and Links

• "Just the Facts: An Overview of New York's Wood-Based Economy and Forest Resource" by Dr. Hugh O. Canham, SUNY CESF and Kevin S. King, ESFPA, 1998 (limited quantities available, call for more information)

Land Use In New York State

May 3, 2005

• Area within State Boundary – 30.2 million acres
• Forest Land – 18.6 million acres
• Timber Land (Forest Land available for harvest) – 15.4 million acres
• Forest Land Certified in Tree Farm Program – 911,694 acres (1,661 Tree Farmers)
• Forest Land in FSC Certification – 237,684* acres (5 landowners)
  *does not include 715,000 acres of State Forest Land
• Forest Land in SFI Program – 475,700 acres (8 landowners)
• Forest Land Certified ISO 14001 – 274,000 acres
• Forest Land in Green Tag Program - 6,217 acres

NOTE: Due to some parcels being certified by multiple organizations, the total acres of Certified Forest in New York State is less than the total for all programs listed. For example, most private land certified under FSC is also certified by SFI and/or Tree Farm. It is estimated that at least 2.2 million acres is certified by at least one of the programs listed above.

Most Forested Counties

Top Ten Tree Species