"Cornball

reverting fields ARE counted as forest. They would classified as seedling/sapling stands.

Gino "

Completely false statement. it takes a LONG time to revert to that stage due to lack of seed bank, possible soil compaction etc. It would also need to have a thick stand of saplings to be considered forested, similar to what you get when an area of timber is cut with sprouts coming from stump and the large amount of seed comparatively. Not a field full of briars with a woody stem here or there widely scattered. You dont leave a field fallow for several years and it magically becomes instant early stage succession timber.