1642 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



No field surveys have been made to determine the extent of the 

 interior forest but information from many sources indicates that it 

 covers in the aggregate perhaps 100 million acres, of which as much as 

 40 million acres is in dense (closed) stands with trees of good timber 

 form though of very small size. The interior forest has suffered 

 severely from forest fires since the coming of the white man, the orig- 

 inal area of dense forest being materially greater than at present. 

 Practically all of these interior-forest lands, as well as the nonforested 

 lands, are open public domain of the Unite States. 



THE COAST FOREST 



The 6 million acres of western hemlock-Sitka spruce forests on the 

 southern coast of Alaska contain around 80 billion board feet in 

 stands having trees predominantly of sawtimber size and 8 million 

 cords in stands classified as cord wood. The average stand per acre 

 is around 16,000 board feet, and the trees average about 2 feet in 

 diameter and 80 to 100 feet in height. The timber is thus not so 

 heavy as that of the corresponding forest type in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington, and in addition it contains a higher percentage of defect, as 

 well as less clear stock. The Alaska timber is readily accessible, since 

 it is confined to the lower slopes and adjoins a greatly indented shore- 

 line and a net work of sheltered waterways. 



The virgin timber of this region is virtually still intact. Fire has 

 done little damage owing to a heavy precipitation well distributed 

 throughout the year and utilization has been but a small fraction of 

 the possible sustained output under forest management. The present 

 rate of cutting is less than 50 million board feet yearly and the total 

 amount removed since 1900 is about one billion board feet; but studies 

 of the tree growth indicate that fully one billion board feet could be 

 cut yearly without depleting the future supply. 



The present output of the forest is used almost exclusively to supply 

 local needs with the leading industries, fishing and mining, accounting 

 for most of it. Efficient modern sawmills producing a great variety of 

 products are within reach but only the highest grades of lumber can 

 economically be sent into the general markets outside the Territory 

 and these constitute a small percentage of the mill output. 



The development of an extensive sawmill industry in these Alaska 

 forests is considered inadvisable in view of the better opportunities 

 for lumber production in the forests of Oregon and Washington, with 

 which it would have to compete, ^ and because of the outstanding 

 chances for paper production, especially newsprint, in Alaska. Local 

 lumber production should properly be gauged to the local lumber 

 demand, and only the high grade lumber not salable locally going to 

 the general markets of the United States. This excess for the 

 general markets would approximately balance shipments of special 

 lumber orders going into Alaska, and the Territorial production or 

 consumption would therefore affect very little the general lumber 

 situation of the United States. 



The Forest Service, administering over 98 percent of the timber 

 volume of the coast forest of Alaska as a resource of the Tongass and 

 Chugach National Forests, is committed to the policy of managing 

 this forest land for the production of pulp and paper, since conditions 

 are more favorable to such use than any other. The natural advan- 



