1378 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



SELECTIVE LOGGING FOR SUSTAINED YIELD 



Broadly speaking, all lumbering operations are carrying on without 

 definite information as to which qualities and sizes of logs are yielding 

 a profit and which are entailing a loss in conversion. Small trees that 

 are being felled and logged at a loss would comprise the nucleus for a 

 new crop if left to grow. A new complexion is given to present values 

 when only logs and trees which pay their way are harvested. In- 

 tensive studies of Lake States hardwoods, southern pine, and western 

 softwoods bring out clearly that operators are logging and milling 

 timber which carries hidden losses as high as $10 per thousand board- 

 feet. When current costs and returns are considered along with the 

 facts coming from silvicultural studies as to rate of growth and proper 

 methods of cutting, the way is open to markedly sounder economic 

 practices than now prevail, and means are provided for decreasing 

 the current overproduction of low-grade material and in giving so-called 

 cut-over lands new values readily recognized by timber owners and 

 bond and banking institutions. 



The industry can make distinct improvements by operating on the 

 basis of facts already brought to light. However, questions are 

 involved that cannot be answered from present information. The 

 investigations that have been made have dealt almost entirely with 

 lumber as the product and with operating equipment designed pri- 

 marily for large timber. Basic operating guides to the forest in- 

 dustries need to be worked out in the way of time-output values for 

 each timber product as produced from different sizes and qualities of 

 logs and trees. They need to be in such terms that varying wage 

 scales, overhead charges, and market prices can be applied to them 

 to give exact figures applicable to the individual operator. 



LOGGING EQUIPMENT AND METHODS 



Realization of the full economies in selective logging calls for cer- 

 tain changes in logging equipment. Despite the great advances in 

 logging methods that have been made in recent years, particularly 

 in the West, research has shown that the ultimate has not been 

 reached. Large reductions in cost become possible when more 

 flexible methods are used in connection with selective logging. From 

 the detailed information already obtained it is found that tractor 

 logging can be used to a larger degree than at present to reduce heavy 

 expenditures for closely spaced railroad spur lines and for heavy 

 skidders. Only a start has been made in the accumulation of detailed 

 knowledge along these lines, but it is sufficient to show what may be 

 expected as full information becomes available. Power saws also 

 for woods operations have already made their appearance as a means 

 of reducing costs, but their real merit over present methods remains 

 undetermined. 



The heavy loss in breakage in felling large timber in the West has 

 been found susceptible of considerable control. Accurate examina- 

 tions have shown that the breakage in the merchantable volume of 

 Douglas fir and western hemlock varies from 3 to 16 percent accord- 

 ing to the felling methods and the topography. Appreciable 

 reductions in breakage can be realized, as the influencing factors of 

 slope, bedding, direction of felling, methods of payment, and super- 

 vision are singled out and individually dealt with. 



