State Report for Montana

For Montana, estimated merchantable wood volume is expected to decrease from 40.565 billion cubic-feet to 39.8 billion (a change of -1.9%), while estimated sawlog wood volume is expected to increase from 27.637 billion cubic-feet to 27.763 billion (0.5%). Estimated merchantable bole biomass is expected to decrease from 574.23 million tons to 561.67 million (-2.2%), while estimated stump biomass is expected to decrease from 31.458 million tons to 28.448 million (-9.6%), and estimated tops and limbs biomass is expected to increase from 99.758 million tons to 207.76 million (108.3%). Finally, estimated aboveground biomass is expected to increase from 754.18 million tons to 858.96 million, a change of 13.9%.

Figure 1: Percent difference in volume and biomass for Montana

Species breakdown

The top ten species in Montana in terms of standing biomass are Douglas- fir, lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, ponderosa pine, western larch, whitebark pine, grand fir, western redcedar, and western hemlock. These species account for 96.7% of the total aboveground biomass and 97.2% of the total merchantable volume. For merchantable wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was western hemlock 0%, while the largest percent change was with ponderosa pine 15%. For total aboveground biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was western redcedar 2.4%, while the largest percent change was with ponderosa pine 27.5%. For sawlog wood volume, the species with the smallest percent change was western larch 0.4%, while the largest percent change was with ponderosa pine 20.4%. For merchantable bole biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was western redcedar 0.6%, while the largest percent change was with whitebark pine -15.3%. For stump wood and bark biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was subalpine fir -1.8%, while the largest percent change was with western redcedar 45.1%. For top and limb biomass, the species with the smallest percent change was western redcedar 21.7%, while the largest percent change was with subalpine fir 165.4%.

Figure 2: Percent difference in total aboveground biomass and merchantable volume for the top ten species in Montana

Figure 3: Percent difference in component biomass and volume for the top ten species in Montana