THE LOGGING ENGINEER IN THE PACIFIC 



NORTHWEST 



By A Logging Engixkivr 



'INCE entering corporation rather 

 than Government or State em- 

 ploy, I have received quite a 

 number of letters from prospective for- 

 esters asking for information as to just 

 what opportunities were offered a tech- 

 nical man with private logging and tim- 

 ber companies in this section of the 

 country. The purpose of this article 

 will be to set forth very frankly the 

 advantages and drawbacks of such em- 

 ployment ; the ultimate reward to which 

 he may look forward, if successful, and 

 the special preparation needed for this 

 particular line of work. 



In the Pacific Northwest we are not 

 yet to that stage of development in 

 which our timbermen and millowners 

 can see the end of their resources in 

 the near future and are sufficiently 

 jarred by the prospect into taking steps 

 to provide for a perpetual timber yield. 

 As a matter of fact we cannot even ap- 

 proximately utilize our present waste. 

 We are simply in the position of Wis- 

 consin and ^linnesota in the 90's with 

 the important exception that our busi- 

 ness men are wiser from past experi- 

 ence and the most of them more than 

 willing to take any necessary steps to 

 avoid the serious consequences of an 

 exhaustion of our timiber supply, pro- 

 vided they can get together, as to ways 

 and means, and can be shown that dol- 

 lars invested now will at least earn their 

 5 per cent a year. That we are pro- 

 gressing along the right lines is shown 

 by our forest fire laws and their efifec- 

 tive enforcement, and by the very able 

 work done by Mr. E. T. Allen, forester 

 for the combined timber and fire asso- 

 ciations of our Northwestern States. 

 So far this work has been mostly edu- 

 cational and tending toward the enact- 

 ment of such laws as will enable the 

 work of providing for future genera- 

 tions to be put on a sound and profit- 

 able basis. 



I would like to call attention to one 

 fundamental difference in the situation 



of these Northwestern States to day, 

 and that of Wisconsin and Minnesota 

 in a like stage of their timber develop- 

 ment, namely, the great national forests 

 occupying the greater part of our 

 mountainous country, which will not 

 only serve as an example of practical 

 conservation, but furnish a very con- 

 siderable source of permanent timber 

 supply around which, and modeled on 

 which, we can maintain our large 

 private holdings of the future. 



While these foregoing paragraphs 

 may seem quite a digression from my 

 subject, they are necessary to an intel- 

 ligent understanding of the field in 

 which the labor of the future logging 

 engineer is to be spent. It is so easy 

 for the young forester, fresh from his 

 studies of the latest and most advanced 

 methods, to make the mistake of con- 

 demning local methods before fully un- 

 derstanding the underlying principles 

 and conditions which may justify these 

 seemingly incorrect and wasteful ways 

 of going at things. Let him first ask 

 himself "Why," and after thoroughly 

 threshing it out he will be in a better 

 position to suggest changes. 



First and foremost, you must 

 specialize on the importance of the log- 

 ging railroad. The railroad is the main 

 artery of the modern logging plant, 

 and, aside from the timber itself, it is 

 the most important consideration in 

 planning for a logging operation. 



Under this head comes your topog- 

 raphy taken in connection with a thor- 

 ough reconnaissance of the entire tract. 

 You will have very little use for trian- 

 gulation or traverse methods in this 

 first preliminary examination. The 

 general mapping will be done by pacing 

 and the use of the aneroid, with checks 

 on the section and quarter section corn- 

 ers. All section lines should be run out 

 and reblazed and the mapping done by 

 the contour method using from 20 to 

 50 foot contours, depending on the re- 

 lief of the country, and accuracy re- 

 quired. 



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