236 A NATIONAL PLAN FOE AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Forestry" show conclusively that the financial return from the cutting 

 of large saw-timber trees is greater than that from small saw-timber 

 trees, because the products of the former are of higher value, and be- 

 cause the larger trees can be logged and milled much more cheaply 

 than the smaller ones. 



In the management of forests for saw timber there will always be 

 a large volume of by-product material which may be converted into 

 pulpwood, fuel wood, posts, or other so-called minor products. This 

 material is available alike from cultural operations, from salvage of 

 trees which may die or be killed by destructive agencies, or from waste 

 incident to removal of saw logs. " Not only, in most instances and in 

 most localities, can minor products be thus obtained to the best finan- 

 cial advantage but such use facilitates these cultural and salvage 

 operations which in themselves are a highly desirable feature of inten- 

 sive and profitable forestry. These points also are further elaborated 

 in the section on " Status and Opportunities of Private Forestry." 



In short, it seems altogether probable that the best results in 

 management, all things considered, will be achieved and that the 

 normal requirements of the country for forest products best be met 

 if regional and national programs of forestry are based upon saw 

 timber as the major object of management and if sufficiently long 

 rotations are used to produce saw timber of considerable size and 

 relatively high quality. 



PRESENT AND, PROSPECTIVE NORMAL TIMBER REQUIREMENTS 



The term "timber requirements" is used to denote the measure of 

 use by consumers who are afforded a reasonable latitude in choice of 

 readily available materials including timber and timber products. 

 4 'Normal" requirements refers to the volume of such use that might 

 logically be expected when general economic conditions are such that 

 the Nation is conscious neither of depression nor of unusual prosperity. 



The most tangible available criterion of requirements is consump- 

 tion. However, since consumption of timber is likely to vary with 

 the abundance, suitabilitj^, and cheapness of the supply, it affords 

 only an approximate measure of requirements; it is likely to be less 

 than requirements when ample suitable supplies are not readily 

 available. 



The impossibility of measuring accurately the net future effect of 

 a complex of many influencing factors renders it impractical to make 

 a precise forecast of future requirements. However, the section "Our 

 National Timber Requirements", which follows, discusses in some 

 detail the influence of various factors upon recent and prospective 

 trends for the more important classes of timber commodities. That 

 discussion indicates that 31 to 34 billion board feet is a fair measure 

 of present normal requirements for lumber. It is not unlikely that 

 research and improved manufacturing and marketing practices may, 

 in the future, expand this normal requirement. On the other hand, 

 in some regions and with respect to special commodities there is, for 

 many years at least, the prospect of limited supplies. All things con- 

 sidered it appears reasonable to include a figure of 32 billion board 

 feet of lumber in our estimate of normal timber requirements. This 

 is appreciably below the consumption prior to the current economic 

 depression. 



