FOEEST SERVICE. 179 



evident that control measures should be continued in California, 

 and also that there were infestations in parts of Oregon, Montana, 

 and New Mexico, any one of whioh might develop into serious 

 epidemics. These infestations are being closely watched. 



MANAGEMENT. 



TIMBEB. 



The lumber industry has been handicapped by the withdrawal of 

 many of its skilled laborers for active participation in the war. 

 The scarcity of experienced labor has been general. In some regions 

 operators have been able to maintain or even to increase their produc- 

 tion by using inexperienced labor in larger numbers than formerly; 

 but the total cut of lumber in the country decreased about 10 per cent 

 in the calendar year 1917 as compared with that in 1916. In spite of 

 the marked decrease in general construction work, the demand for 

 lumber for war uses has furnished a strong market to the operators 

 and has enabled them to dispose of almost any material they could 

 produce with the available labor. 



This general condition reacted on the timber sale business of the 

 National Forests to a less extent than might be expected. The total 

 amount of timber cut in sales on the National Forests was slightly 

 larger than in the previous fiscal year. Sharp decreases occurred in 

 the cut on some Forests in regions where labor was most difficult to 

 secure or where making the product involved the use of large num- 

 bers of laborers. These decreases, however, were offset by increased 

 cuts in other regions where labor, though inexperienced, was abun- 

 dant or where the most urgently needed war material could be pro- 

 duced. The more notable decreases were on the National Forests in 

 Montana and Idaho, where labor was extremely difficult to secure; 

 the greatest increases were in California, Arizona, and Colorado. 



In a few sales the operations were suspended or greatly reduced. 

 In one case all the officers of the purchasing company entered mili- 

 tary service, and logging ceased. Some hewed-tie operators were able 

 to secure so little labor that only a small fraction of the normal out- 

 put could be cut. On the other hand, operators producing ship tim- 

 bers, airplane lumber, box lumber, and sawed ties did their utmost 

 to increase output of these products to replace the slackening demand 

 for finishing and general construction lumber. 



The amount of dmber sold decreased sharply. Restrictions on 

 the use of capital for development work, such as the construction 

 of expensive logging railroads, prevented negotiations for the sale 

 of large bodies of timber remote from existing transportation. Un- 

 certainties in regard to future markets and labor supply led operators 

 to be very cautious in undertaking long-term contracts, and there 

 was a still more marked hesitation on the part of small operators 

 who normally sell their entire output of logs or lumber under annual 

 agreements. At the close of the fiscal year very few large sales 

 were being negotiated, but a steady demand existed for small, fairly 

 accessible bodies of timber, especially to meet the local needs of com- 

 munities near the National Forests. 



The timber resources of the Forests have been drawn on for a 

 wide variety of products needed in the war activities of the Nation, 



