Large Private Holdings in the North 



259 



returns from the timber property. That 

 may be due in part to reluctance to see 

 organized towns develop that will un- 

 doubtedly increase the tax rate on the 

 forest holdings. Special taxes have been 

 levied in the unorganized towns to pro- 

 vide good protection against fire, but 

 many owners have resisted attempts to 

 open up the land for development. 



As interest in forestry began to de- 

 velop in the early 1900's, men with 

 training in forestry offered their serv- 

 ices to the owners on a consulting basis. 

 A few firms of consulting foresters are 

 well established and deal chiefly with 

 family-type holdings. They have un- 

 doubtedly been a stabilizing influence 

 in this type of ownership. 



Family and investment holdings also 

 played a considerable role in forest his- 

 tory in the Lake States, but there the 

 speculators, lumber companies, and 

 others who were interested more in 

 short- than long-term management 

 gained control. Because fires and other 

 hazards were greater, and agricultural 

 values more promising in the Lake 

 States than in the Northeast, perma- 

 nent holdings of the land for forest pro- 

 duction was given little consideration. 

 Throughout the other Northern States, 

 permanent holdings of timberland in 

 large blocks on strictly an investment 

 basis was essentially unknown. 



LUMBER COMPANIES are one of the 

 less important groups of large tim- 

 berland holders in the North. The 

 practice in the past was chiefly to cut 

 the land clean of all timber of mer- 

 chantable size and to sell the land to 

 others, or allow it to revert to the pub- 

 lic for taxes. Some areas stripped for 

 saw timber were cut over immediately 

 thereafter for pulpwood and chemical 

 wood. Such a practice in western 

 Pennsylvania caused extensive decline 

 in forest productivity especially if 

 fire followed. Aspen, pin cherry, and 

 gray birch that seeded in after fire pro- 

 duced no real values. Scrub oak was 

 even less useful. All hindered valuable 

 seedlings. On areas having poor air 

 drainage, there developed permanent 



frost pockets covered with grass, ferns, 

 or low brush. 



Lumber companies, by and large, 

 and certain other timber industries, 

 have an indifferent record. When con- 

 ditions are favorable, they may initiate 

 progressive forestry measures, only to 

 drop them later. Two large lumber 

 companies recently dropped their pro- 

 grams entirely. Others that adopted 

 selective cutting are not on the sus- 

 tained-yield basis. In some companies, 

 which do have good programs, only 

 one or two persons in the management 

 are convinced of its necessity. Indiffer- 

 ence, conviction that forestry will not 

 pay, even spirited opposition to selec- 

 tive logging for saw timber and veneer 

 are still reported to be widespread in 

 the industry. 



An outstanding exception among 

 the northern lumber companies is the 

 Goodman Lumber Company, of Good- 

 man, Wis. Organized about 1906, the 

 company for 20 years made little effort 

 to practice forestry. By 1920 it became 

 evident that the land was not well 

 suited to agriculture and the enact- 

 ment of the Wisconsin Forest Crop 

 Law, substituting a 10-percent sever- 

 ance tax for the annual property tax, 

 turned Mr. Goodman's attention to 

 forestry. State protection of forest land 

 against fire also improved. 



The company began its first cycle of 

 selective cutting in 1927. Cutting was 

 restricted to 35 to 55 percent of the 

 merchantable volume; trees of me- 

 dium size, but still capable of vigorous 

 growth, were left. This first cycle of 

 selective cutting was completed in 

 1944. Plans for the second cutting 

 cycle were outlined by Robert Martin 

 in an article published in the Journal 

 of Forestry in 1945. The interval be- 

 tween cuts is being reduced from 1 7 to 

 10 years. The volume to be removed in 

 the second cycle will be 10 to 20 per- 

 cent, or a minimum of 2,000 board 

 feet. An extensive road system and 

 improved utilization has made this 

 possible. Sustained yield is now the 

 rule. Lands cut over in 1927 and later 

 are increasing in the volume of prod- 



