S2The first completed annual inventory of Kansas forests reports 2.1 million acres of forest land, roughly 4 percent of the total land area in the State. Softwood forests account for nearly 5 percent of the total timberland area. Oak/hickory forest types make up 56 percent of the total hardwood forest land area. Elm/ash/cottonwood accounts for more than 30 percent of the timberland area. The proportion of Kansas' timberland with trees 19 inches and larger remained about the same over the last 40 years (38 percent in 1965 versus 38 percent today). Kansas' forests have continued to increase in volume. In 2005, net volume of growing stock on timberland was an estimated 1.5 billion cubic feet compared with 0.5 billion cubic feet in 1965. Live-tree biomass on forest land in Kansas amounted to 72.3 million dry tons in 2005. More than 3 percent was in small stands, 26 percent was in medium-size stands, and 71 percent was in large stands. Oak species account for nearly 15 percent. About 95 percent of Kansas forest land is held by private landowners. The first completed annual inventory of Kansas forests reports 2.1 million acres of forest land, roughly 4 percent of the total land area in the State. Softwood forests account for nearly 5 percent of the total timberland area. Oak/hickory forest types make up 56 percent of the total hardwood forest land area. Elm/ash/cottonwood accounts for more than 30 percent of the timberland area. The proportion of Kansas' timberland with trees 19 inches and larger remained about the same over the last 40 years (38 percent in 1965 versus 38 percent today). Kansas' forests have continued to increase in volume. In 2005, net volume of growing stock on timberland was an estimated 1.5 billion cubic feet compared with 0.5 billion cubic feet in 1965. Live-tree biomass on forest land in Kansas amounted to 72.3 million dry tons in 2005. More than 3 percent was in small stands, 26 percent was in medium-size stands, and 71 percent was in large stands. Oak species account for nearly 15 percent. About 95 percent of Kansas forest land is held by private landowners.S3.

The USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis (NRS-FIA) program is changing to a Web-based, dynamically linked reporting system. As part of the process, this year NRS-FIA is producing this abbreviated summary of 2005 data. This resource bulletin reports on area, volume, and biomass using data from 2001 through 2005. Estimates from this inventory showed a total of 2.1 million acres of forest land in the State, with almost all of it, 2.0 million acres, classified as timberland. The estimate of total net volume of live trees on forest land was 2.7 billion cubic feet. Kansas net growing-stock volume on timberland was 1.5 billion cubic feet. Aboveground live-tree biomass on timberland was estimated at 70.1 million dry tons.

"Drawing on the writings of scientists, foresters, surveyors, and settlers, Joseph Giacomelli shows that climate uncertainty infused Gilded Age thinking about economic growth and national development. He details a multivalent discourse on climate that infused both practical concerns and overarching political themes, not least Manifest Destiny. Giacomelli makes it clear that uncertainty drew together concerns about human-induced climate change and cultural worries about the sustainability of capitalist expansionism. A rising belief in scientific positivism was matched by a growing awareness of the illusory nature of scientific certainty; faith in society's power to improve landscapes tussled with persistent fears of environmental catastrophe"--