Chuck...you are correct about data being needed. A little checking around produced this:
Attachment 982
The current forest area in the United States is 749
million acres, or about one-third of the Nation’s land
area. The U.S. forest area was about 1 billion acres at
the time of European settlement. Of the total forest
land loss of 300 million acres, most (nearly 200 million
acres) occurred in the East (North and South regions)
between 1850 and 1900, with the loss consisting predominantly
of broadleaf forest cleared for agriculture.
For the last 100 years, the total forest area has been
relatively stable, while the U.S. population has more
than doubled.
Source: US Forest Service National Report on Sustainable Forests 2003
http://www.fs.fed.us/research/sustai...bleForests.pdf
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While it appears as though our forests are in no danger (though the issue is complex)...they appear to be 30% smaller than in colonial days. I was rather surprised by this since I had heard statements like Sway's a number of times. I wonder where that comes from? Any opposing data gents?