Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



Salvage of the material about to be 

 lost made it necessary to find larger 

 markets. Each forest officer fell to. 

 Paper companies agreed to buy up 

 to 10,000 cords of peeled pulpwood; 

 the timber-sale purchasers had to be 

 trained in the art of peeling. An owner 

 of a chain of retail lumber yards was 

 induced to bring in a portable saw- 

 mill. A number of other mills followed. 

 In the next 2 years, some 35 million 

 feet of sawlogs and 20,000 cords of 

 pulpwood were salvaged. Intensive 

 management required that the "holes" 

 in the forest be made productive. The 

 presence of a large labor supply in the 

 remaining CGG camps, plus an abun- 

 dance of trees in the nursery, made that 

 possible. Now, 9 years after the two 

 devastating storms, one hardly knows 

 where the storms hit. 



The war's heavy demands for wood 

 products opened the markets for all 

 classes of material, even material that 

 had been unmerchantable. The forest 

 was ready, and the men in charge made 

 the most of the opportunity to make 

 light, partial cuts that placed the for- 

 est in a better growing condition and 

 at the same time supplied the wood 

 urgently needed in the war. The best 

 part is that the amount of growing 

 stock has not been depleted ; today the 

 volume is larger than before the de- 

 pression and even before the Second 

 World War. 



INTENSIVE MANAGEMENT the ap- 

 plication of silvicultural practice to the 

 forest stand in full measure includes 

 cultural work in young stands below 

 commercial size, planting of nonpro- 

 ductive areas, and improvement and 

 harvest cuts on a commercial basis. 

 Management within the original forest 

 area has evolved to a high degree of 

 intensity and is well on its way within 

 the purchase-unit additions. 



In the Chippewa National Forest, 

 light commercial cuts are practicable 

 as soon as the trees are 30 to 35 years 

 old. Additional light cuts can be made 

 at 10-year intervals; each time the area 

 is left in a thrifty growing condition so 



that maximum productivity is assured. 



While the CCC is no longer avail- 

 able for work in young stands below 

 commercial size, the Knutson-Vanden- 

 berg Law is something of a substitute. 

 The law authorizes the collection of 

 money, in addition to stumpage, to 

 place timber-sale areas in good produc- 

 tive condition. It is not practicable to 

 require the purchaser to do all the work 

 that should be done. He removes only 

 trees which "have served their pur- 

 pose in the stand," and which will yield 

 merchantable products. Some fill-in 

 planting may be needed on parts of the 

 area to get full stocking. Trees below 

 commercial size may need thinning or 

 release. Other trees may need pruning 

 so that they may produce clear lumber. 



The sales of timber on the Chippewa 

 Forest show a steady upward trend. 

 Within or near the enlarged forest are 

 37 sawmills that depend to varying 

 degrees on national forest timber. Six 

 additional sawmills, located at more 

 distant points, draw somewhat on the 

 forest. The annual production of those 

 mills is about 30 million board feet. 

 About one-fourth of the raw material 

 comes from the national forest. A much 

 larger volume is shipped to more dis- 

 tant points for conversion. 



A wide diversion of species as well 

 as products comes out of the enlarged 

 forest. Sawlogs, box bolts, and ties, 

 which go through the sawmills, ap- 

 proximate 7,714,000 board feet an- 

 nually. Other products represent an 

 equivalent of about 15,000,000 feet 

 more. We figure that the timber har- 

 vested in 1947 represents 1 15,000 man- 

 days of employment in the woods and 

 in the primary milling process. It is not 

 desirable as yet to cut the full annual 

 growth. Growing stock must be built 

 up to a maximum. As this point is 

 reached in different areas the annual 

 cut can be increased. 



In 1947 the counties in which the 

 forest is located received 4 cents an 

 acre for each acre of national forest 

 land, under the act of May 23, 1908, 

 which provides for the return of 25 

 percent of the total receipts on a na- 



