A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 937 



In view of the silvicultural desirability of this mixture it is unfortu- 

 nate that some of the species are of inferior value. This is especially 

 true of the hemlock and white fir, which are not only intrinsically of 

 low value in the region but very defective as well. The growth of 

 the subordinate species, however, is probably in considerable measure 

 a surplus over what can be produced by pine alone. It seems neces- 

 sary, therefore, to perpetuate the mixture, striving to increase the 

 pine with cedar as a preferred understory. 



By what method this type should be managed is a somewhat con- 

 troversial question. The selection system is here suggested. Although 

 the type is very productive there are a number of difficult management 

 problems to be solved. The growing stock cannot be brought by one 

 cutting to the volume suggested in figure 10 as permanently desirable. 

 A series of cuttings, preferably at intervals of not more than 10 

 years, is indicated, though present practice contemplates intervals 

 of 20 years or more. Where permanent main transportation systems 

 can be maintained combined with the prevailing combinations of 

 tractor and horselogging no very serious additional costs are created 

 by short cutting cycles. The utilized yield is almost invariably 

 increased through cutting, at each return to the area, trees that would 

 die and decay in the interval of a long cutting cycle. If white pine is 

 to be maintained in the stand it will be necessary to make small 

 openings at each cutting so that pine can seed in. The white pine 

 areas of the Rocky Mountain region lack balance in their wood-using 

 industries and it is therefore difficult to dispose of the inferior mate- 

 rial. Owing to this difficulty, in the early cuttings the openings to 

 encourage pine reproduction must necessarily be located where pine 

 makes up most of the stand. It is reasonable to expect the market 

 for inferior species to improve with time. Defective trees constitute 

 an additional silvicultural problem. Where they occur in groups to 

 be cut they should be felled and destroyed with the slash. When 

 the new stand on cut-over spots has developed to seed-bearing age the 

 remainder of the old stand can be removed more freely than in 

 the early cuttings, if in the meanwhile a market has developed for 

 the remaining subordinate species. 



Owing to the heavy costs of blister-rust control, effective fire con- 

 trol, the elimination of defective inferior species, etc., forestry in the 

 western white pine type is somewhat expensive. The high value of 

 white pine together with its high rate of productivity justify these 

 costs, at least on the better sites. Intensive methods are indicated as 

 the cheapest means of production. 



PONDEROSA PINE 



Conditions in the ponderosa pine type are somewhat as shown in 

 figure 9 for eastern Oregon. Large areas where rainfall is especially 

 deficient have much smaller stands per acre than those shown and 

 very slow rates of growth. Successful management of these areas 

 depends on keeping capitalization low, utilizing conservatively both 

 the grazing and the timber returns, and through a policy of very 

 light cuttings insuring natural regeneration and development of trees 

 to merchantable size with very little direct money outlay. 



