Private Forestry in the West 



277 



Probably the basic explanation is no 

 different here than it is elsewhere the 

 adoption of forestry practices means a 

 break with the traditional way of 

 doing things. But a few factors are 

 peculiar to the West: Western forest 

 properties are characteristically moun- 

 tainous and relatively inaccessible, 

 larger, uninhabited, and valuable 

 chiefly for growing trees. Usually the 

 properties are owned by the opera- 

 tors mill operators or logging con- 

 tractors. The timber in the virgin 

 forest is large, heavy equipment is 

 required, and roads that cost $20,000 

 or more a mile sometimes must be built 

 and maintained to move the timber. 

 Such are the factors that have discour- 

 aged frequent returns to an area to 

 make successive light cuts, to salvage 

 dying trees, to recover the values in 

 trees left for seed. The tendency has 

 been to remove all possible value and 

 volume at the time of the first cut (in 

 order to reduce the fixed per-acre cost 

 to a minimum) and be done with the 

 area indefinitely. 



Another difficulty stems from the 

 fact that most operators do not own 

 sufficient timber for the plants whose 

 amortization and inflexible log require- 

 ments dictate high-level production. 

 They cannot or will not curtail the cut 

 sufficiently to prolong their life until 

 their own and the neighboring cut-over 

 lands produce another forest of usable 

 size. If that were done, then the proper 

 cutting practices, the leaving of enough 

 reserve stands, and other forestry 

 measures would be matters of immedi- 

 ate self-interest. 



A survey in 1945 attempted to ap- 

 praise the treatment that was accorded 

 all forest land then being operated. If 

 it were repeated now, it would doubt- 

 less show improvement, but in 1945 the 

 results left little doubt as to the urgency 

 of the need for better forestry prac- 

 tices. Five ratings were used: High 

 order, good, fair, poor, and destruc- 

 tive. In each instance, the basis of rat- 

 ings was productivity of the land after 

 cutting. A high-order rating required 

 the best type of cutting to assure quan- 



tity and quality yields consistent with 

 the full productive capacity of the 

 land. A destructive rating was applied 

 to land without timber values and with- 

 out means for natural reproduction. 



The cutting practices on all western 

 private timberlands rated good and 

 better on 5 percent of the 28,340,000 

 acres; fair on 34 percent; poor on 50 

 percent ; and destructive on 1 1 percent. 



Under the rating system that was 

 used, the 39 percent of operating area 

 rated at least fair was a measure of 

 definite accomplishment. It indicated 

 that much of the area received forestry 

 treatment about as intensive as was 

 practicable, considering current eco- 

 nomic feasibility. But because the 

 criterion was productivity of the land 

 after cutting, regardless of economic 

 or other conditions, the fact that 61 

 percent of the cutting was in poor or 

 destructive classifications was indica- 

 tive of the job ahead. 



SIGNS OF PROGRESS, however, are 

 at hand. Western operators have dealt 

 successfully with the problems of har- 

 vesting big timber in inaccessible coun- 

 try far from market. They have forged 

 ahead in the development of superb 

 plants and facilities. Logging tractors, 

 heavy-duty logging trucks, and road- 

 building machinery have set the pace 

 for other sections of the country. In 

 the mills that account for most of the 

 production, precision equipment and 

 perfection of manufacturing processes 

 produce products of high quality. 



Efficiency of operation enables west- 

 ern operators to compete in eastern 

 markets despite the higher wage and 

 freight rates. 



Also, there is a growing conscious- 

 ness of the need for forestry and of 

 the opportunities in that field. Only a 

 few years ago forestry and its termi- 

 nology were the stock in trade of a 

 few professional foresters. Now nearly 

 every logger knows about forestry. 



In 1947 some 212 foresters were em- 

 ployed by the private timber companies 

 in the Douglas-fir region; 44 private 

 consulting forestry firms employed 75 



