A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1459 



SELECTIVE CUTTING 



Selective cutting will perhaps be the most important factor in re- 

 storing the deteriorated forests of the eastern regions to satisfactory 

 condition. This is especially true of hardwood forests and of mixed 

 stands, where the more valuable softwoods have often been crowded 

 out by the hardwoods. On many areas in the older regions, growing 

 stocks have been so reduced and deteriorated by successive clear 

 cuttings that the opportunity for profitable utilization has been 

 greatly lessened. On such areas, however, with intensive methods of 

 utilization and marketing it may still be practical to make selective 

 cuttings that aim to remove the least valuable species and the poorly 

 formed or defective trees, leaving the most promising trees to grow 

 to larger size. If in such treatment the quantity cut is always kept 

 below current growth, the growing stock will gradually be restored 

 and the total wood growth of the area will be concentrated more and 

 more on stems of saw-timber size rather than wasted on brush and 

 saplings that can never be utilized. Eventually, not only will it be 

 possible to maintain much larger annual cuts but the quality or grade 

 of the product will be substantially improved. Through such selec- 

 tive cutting it will be possible to convert many of the low-grade hard- 

 wood coppice forests of the East into the more desirable high forest 

 largely of seedling origin. 



Various modifications of selective cutting may stimulate reproduc- 

 tion of desirable species at the proper period in the life of the stand 

 and in this way maintain uninterrupted production. By reserving as 

 seed trees for final cutting the best trees of the most desirable species, 

 selective cutting should gradually improve the composition and qual- 

 ity of the forest. 



Detailed studies of operating costs in a number of forest types in 

 widely scattered forest regions, including hardwoods in Michigan and 

 in North Carolina, short-leaf pine in Arkansas, loblolly pine in Virginia, 

 and Douglas fir and hemlock in Washington, have ah 1 shown that the 

 cutting of trees below a certain size tends to reduce the average profit. 

 Selective cutting is shown by these studies to result in the production 

 of timber and logs averaging higher in value than those removed 

 under clear cutting, to remove a relatively large part of the value of 

 the stand in a minimum of volume, and to offer prospect of an early 

 second cut and probable perpetuation of the forest on a profitable 

 basis. 



The results of selective logging of a 20-acre tract of northern hard- 

 woods near Marquette, Mich., wih 1 serve as an illustration. At the 

 time of cutting the stand averaged 6,350 board feet per acre, with 190 

 trees per acre more than 3 inches in diameter. In the selective cut- 

 ting, which removed chiefly trees 22 inches or more in diameter, only 

 8 trees per acre were marked for cutting and only about 4 small trees 

 per acre were knocked down. The cut averaged 2,250 board feet per 

 acre, or 35 percent of the original stand. In addition an average of 

 about 8 cords per acre of chemical wood with a stumpage value of 

 $0.50 per cord was obtained. The cost of logging, including loading 

 on the cars, was only $10.50 per 1,000 board feet. 



As compared with an average price of $19 per 1,000 board feet 

 obtained for logs in the ordinary clear-cutting operation in this 

 vicinity, the logs from the selectively cut area brought an average 

 price of $28.93 per 1,000 board feet. 



