DISPOSAL OF FIRE-KILLED TIMBER ON THE SOPRIS 



NATIONAL FOREST 



By JOHN McLaren 



Forest Supervisor 



^j^ITH approximately 138,000,000 board feet of fire-killed timber on the 

 \^y Sopris National Forest, Colorado, the disposal of this material is one 

 of the principal problems that confronts the officers of the Forest, not 

 only to gain a market for that which is merchantable, but to secure the removal 

 of a fire menace. 



No watershed on the Sopris has escaped devastation by fire. This does 

 not mean that there is no live timber on tlie Forest, or that there are not some 

 portions of watersheds which are virgin timber and have never been cut or 

 burned over. As a matter of fact, there is more than three times as much 

 live timber as dead, though this estimate is ocular; it is nevertheless conserva- 

 tive, and it will probably be found that the proportion of live timber will 

 be even greater when actual reconnaissance work is finished. 



The dead timber is of all sizes, from small seedling growth to large trees 

 which were fully mature before they were killed. The greater part, however, 

 consists of poles and log timber of merchantable size. Since the burns are 

 from six to more than thirty years old, the timber represents all stages of 

 decay. Yet it has deteriorated but slowly, possibly because of the altitude 

 and climatic conditions, and there are but few localities where the largest 

 portion of the timber is not still merchantable. These things have brought 

 about a concentration of thought on this one problem, but the dominant idea 

 has been to find new markets and new methods for the disposal of the dead 

 timber, so that the burned areas may be cleared and the live stands improved. 

 That such concentration has had excellent results is shown in the following 

 figures : 



TIMBER SALES^ SOPRIS NATIONAL FOREST 



Total 12,658,000 " 22,220,000 " 



Sale value, live, 26,439. Sale value, dead, $26,128. 



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