912 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



dependent communities, etc., are possible only under a complete 

 sustained-yield policy. Such a policy has been initiated by four 

 Pacific coast operators owning about 209,400 acres of land and appears 

 to be permanently established on these holdings. A number of the 

 concerns mentioned in the previous paragraph have adopted manage- 

 ment policies that could easily be altered to provide for sustained 

 yield. In addition to this the redwood region, which with associated 

 types comprises 1,400,000 acres, was formerly considered to be almost 

 entirely on a sustained-yield basis. The redwood and associated 

 forests are estimated to be capable of producing a sustained annual 

 yield of one billion board feet. During the depression period, unfortu- 

 nately, forestry practices have been discontinued on many redwood 

 areas and even fire protection is now in a very unsatisfactory status. 

 In this region the values that are subject to preservation through 

 effective forestry measures are so large that resumption of these prac- 

 tices may reasonably be expected. Since virtually all the timber is 

 in large ownerships, generally strongly financed, it is to be hoped that 

 the owners will eventually adopt the policy that promises the greatest 

 profits in the long run. 



PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF FOREST MATERIALS 



The annual lumber cut of the Pacific coast region is about one third 

 of the national cut. There is little prospect in the near future of 

 increased markets for the grades of lumber which make up the bulk 

 of the present shipments out of the region. Especially as regards 

 shipments to eastern markets for domestic consumption, other regions 

 offer very keen competition in the lower grades. The competing 

 eastern and southern forests, although now low in productivity per 

 acre, are so vast in extent that they will inevitably continue to pro- 

 duce at lower cost to the consumer much of the forest material of 

 ordinary grades required in the eastern United States. On the other 

 hand the forests of the Pacific coast provide certain products, such 

 as large timbers, wide clear boards, and veneers, that are hard to pro- 

 cure in quantity from any other coniferous forest region of the world. 

 There are good possibilities of world-wide market extension for these 

 products. If such extension is to be attempted it seems obvious that 

 forest-management methods should be adapted to the continuous pro- 

 duction of these classes of materials. Disastrous competition between 

 the Pacific coast and eastern regions is likely to continue if excessive 

 production of low-grade lumber is persisted in. The continued supply 

 of high-quality products from the Pacific coast, however, will assist 

 in effective utilization of local materials in eastern regions, through 

 maintaining the position of wood as an acceptable building and indus- 

 trial material. High-quality trees contain a large proportion of low- 

 grade material, and the production of such trees is accompanied by 

 the production of many small trees which will yield low grades if cut 

 into lumber. West coast consumption can be counted on to absorb 

 much of the lower-grade lumber produced in the region. Railroad 

 ties and other products not of the highest value will continue to find a 

 market in world trade. Table 6 shows the production and consump- 

 tion of lumber for each State and for the region in 1928 (12). 



