Kansas Forest Facts

Kansas Forest Types By Area

The state tree of Kansas is the Cottonwood. It is the most common tree in our state reaching a height of over 100 feet with potential trunk circumferences greater than 12 feet. It is usually found on flood plains and river banks where it helps to stabilize soil and filter out pollution. It also provides perches for important wildlife like the bald eagle. More Cottonwood is harvested and processed than any other tree in Kansas. The lumber is used as core material in the manufacturing of furniture and extensively in the construction of pallets, boxes and crates for transporting merchandise. Since 1936, the acres of Cottonwood have declined by over 40,000 acres. Since Cottonwood requires flooding to regenerate, some people think the reduction in periodic flooding may be responsible. Other common trees found in Kansas are Hackberry, Green ash, Black walnut, and Bur oak. Black walnut is the most commercially valuable tree in the state.

• Based on the 1997 Census, wood and lumber manufacturers in Kansas employed over 3,548 people with a payroll that generated over $93.3 million. The value added by the manufacture of Kansas forest products is over $208 million!
   

• Kansas has over 70 active sawmills and timber buyers. In 1998, Kansas mills processed 21,716 million board feet of saw logs. Listing of sawmill operators and timber buyers are available in the Kansas Sawmills PDF and Kansas Timber Buyers PDF.
   

• 96% of Kansas woodlands are privately owned by close to 40,000 people and 61% of those owners have woodlands 50 acres in size or less.
   

• Half of our woodlands consist of sawlog-sized trees with a 40" circumference or greater and each year these woodlands grow enough wood to build over 1,000 homes. Surprisingly, only about 33% of that wood is harvested annually.
   

• 48% of the volume of Kansas trees is considered cull. Cull trees have no commercial value because of the species type or due to defects such as rot, form or length of potential logs.
   

• Kansas has over 78,000 windbreaks which cover 114,000 acres.
   

• Kansas forests provide critical habitat to forest dependent wildlife species. Species of special concern include the eastern spotted skunk, bald eagle, broadhead skink, and northern spring peeper. Kansas forests also provide important habitat to wild turkey, neo-tropical migrants, such as the scarlet tanager, and white-tailed deer. Deer harvests alone generate over $44 million annually.
   

• Though Eastern redcedar comprises a little over 6% of the total forest type in Kansas, it is expanding in area at a remarkable rate. Between 1981 and 1994 Eastern red cedar increased in area by 174%.

Additional information about the forest resources of Kansas may be obtained by reviewing the latest annual inventory report.