276 



Yearbook of Agriculture 1949 



Finally, if we are going to grow trees 

 and manage forests, we must protect 

 them from fire, insects, disease. 



Of the three requirements, volume 

 control, to insure continuity of pro- 

 duction, is now the greatest problem. 

 In large measure the pattern is already 

 set, for, despite the shorter history and 

 large timber inventory of the West, the 

 forest-products industry here is by no 

 means in its infancy. Development of 

 private lands has been rapid. 



The largest sawmills in the world 

 are here. In Oregon and Washington, 

 1,200 sawmills annually produce as 

 much lumber as do 37,000 sawmills in 

 the East and South. Amortization of 

 large-plant investments usually neces- 

 sitates a large annual production. Even 

 where this is not the case, a mill that 

 is designed to turn out 100, 200, or 

 300 thousand feet of lumber each day 

 cannot be operated economically on 

 much less. When a plant or group of 

 plants is once installed, therefore, tim- 

 ber requirements become inflexible, 

 except within narrow limits. If the ag- 

 gregate plant capacity is not geared 

 to the capacity of the tributary land 

 to grow timber, an excessive rate of 

 cutting, ultimate timber shortage, and 

 curtailed production are inevitable. 

 Excess installed capacity was the fault 

 most commonly committed in the early 

 days by many of the older plants. 



More important for the future is the 

 character of plant installation now 

 being made in hitherto undeveloped 

 areas, in southwest Oregon and north- 

 west California, for example. If, 

 somehow, the lessons learned from 

 experience were brought to bear on the 

 pattern of mill installation in the new 

 areas, volume control, sustained yield, 

 and stabilized communities and pay 

 rolls would be assured. But that does 

 not appear to be in prospect. We are 

 in a fair way to repeat the mistake that 

 led to transitory sawmills elsewhere. 



An illustration is in Lane County, 

 Oreg., where the wealth of timber was 

 so great that the sustained-yield ca- 

 pacity was estimated a few years ago 

 at 832 million board feet annually. In 



1938 some 86 sawmills consumed 

 about 376 million board feet of logs, a 

 moderate cut in view of the allowable 

 cut under sustained yield. By 1943 the 

 number of plants had increased to 128, 

 and they consumed 879 million board 

 feet of logs, somewhat more than the 

 sustained-yield limitations. In 1944 the 

 cut was 875 million feet; in 1946, 204 

 mills cut 955 million feet of timber. 



In other areas also the pressures to 

 overdevelop are tremendous. Commu- 

 nities want to grow; usually they wel- 

 come all mills that can possibly get a 

 foothold in the territory. Nearly al- 

 ways small holdings are available for 

 purchase, and afford new operators a 

 chance to start. New plants go up m 

 the expectation of getting more private 

 and Government timber, and before 

 long the cutting exceeds the sustained- 

 yield capacity. 



In the absence of control over the 

 volume of timber cut, everything pos- 

 sible should be done to minimize the 

 shock of the impending timber short- 

 age and to shorten its duration. Every- 

 thing depends then on keeping lands 

 fully productive and on adopting good 

 practices in cutting and utilization. 



Of the 12 Western States, California, 

 Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and New 

 Mexico have regulatory laws govern- 

 ing cutting practices on private lands. 

 The laws vary in regard to forestry re- 

 quirements and administration. They 

 are more effective in some States than 

 in others, and within States the require- 

 ments in some timber types are more 

 satisfactory from the standpoint of as- 

 suring continued productivity than in 

 other timber types. They establish 

 minimum requirements a floor below 

 which operators may not go. They do 

 not assure sustained yield. It takes vol- 

 ume control as well as good cutting 

 practices to do that. A maximum for- 

 est productivity can only result from 

 more intensive practices, which de- 

 pend, to a large extent, on individual 

 private initiative. Notable progress has 

 been made, but universal adoption of 

 the best cutting practices is hampered 

 by several factors. 



