916 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



that would protect the communities concerned. Payment in such 

 case might be in special bonds bearing from 2 to 4 percent interest. 

 A method of handling such purchases has been outlined by L. F. 

 Kneipp (14). 



The second method is to rely on private initiative to proceed on 

 a basis of planned action that will take into full consideration the 

 economic situation of the forest industries as a whole and of the 

 West in particular. This would involve consolidating these areas 

 into sustained-yield units of 20,000 to 100,000 acres each, well planned 

 from the standpoint of topography and transportation outlets. 

 These units, it must be recognized, would not be ready for im- 

 mediate operation at their full capacity. They would be made up 

 of cheap stumpage that should be held until market pressure is 

 relieved by the discontinuance of numerous operations owing to 

 exhaustion of their raw material. Future operating plans would 

 contemplate a rate of cutting only equal to the sustained yield of 

 the properites. Above all, the overdevelopment and consequent 

 waste of capital which have characterized most of the localities 

 opened up in the past should be avoided. Where possible, the 

 safe and conservative business of forest ownership and management 

 should be kept distinct from the entirely different and rather risky 

 business of manufacturing and selling. The two lines require very 

 different managerial abilities and have rarely been combined 

 successfully. 



These suggestions contemplate an ordered management, starting 

 with virgin forest, in which capital is not wasted by overdevelopment 

 of plant facilities nor productivity destroyed by removal of the growing 

 stock. Under this policy it can be expected that in nearly every case 

 some cutting will be necessary to meet local needs and that in a very 

 few years demand will grow to larger proportions. Where income 

 cannot be obtained immediately to meet current expenses it will be 

 necessary to have access to financial reserves or credit facilities, as 

 discussed elsewhere in this report. 



MANAGING PACIFIC COAST TYPES TO MAINTAIN PRODUCTIVITY 

 DOUGLAS FIR FORESTS OF WESTERN OREGON AND WASHINGTON 



The specific measures desirable in Douglas fir forests can be better 

 understood by considering the distribution of size classes in typical 

 stands. Figure 4 shows for an old-growth Douglas fir stand of meduim 

 quality in Oregon the cubic volume, by diameter classes, on an average 

 acre (15). The stand is about 80 percent Douglas fir, which includes 

 the larger tree sizes, and 20 percent western hemlock. 



Figure 4 also indicates approximately the quantity of timber of each 

 diameter class that should be removed in the first cutting. The 

 guiding diameter limit of 40 inches is based on the knowledge that 

 from about 40 to 60 percent of the volume of the older virgin stands 

 in the region is in diameter classes above that size; that these trees can 

 be logged and manufactured the most cheaply; and that they will yield 

 the highest-value lumber and therefore by far the highest net stump- 

 age. They are the most subject to deterioration if not logged, and are 

 in general decaying at a rate equal to or exceeding the gross volume 

 growth of the stand. Some trees in thrifty condition over 40 inches 

 may well be left standing, and trees under that limit but not of a 



