Evolution of Management on Chippewa 



3*7 



tional forest. An additional 1.6 cents 

 an acre was returned to the Forest 

 Service for road and trail construction. 



Larger payments to the counties will 

 be made in the future as the timber 

 grows into more valuable products. 

 In 30- to 40-year stands, light cuts of 

 timber on a stand-improvement basis 

 bring in relatively low returns, but they 

 can be handled at a profit to the Gov- 

 ernment and to the purchaser as well. 

 For example, in 1947, on a 37-acre 

 tract of 40-year-old red pine mixed 

 with 40- to 60-year-old jack pine, 33.03 

 cords of jack pine box bolts, 15.23 

 cords of pulpwood, and 2,500 board 

 feet of red pine were cut to bring the 

 Government an average stumpage re- 

 turn of $5.14 an acre; the operator 

 made $8.23 a day after expenses for 

 cutting, skidding, and hauling. A per 

 acre average of only 1.25 cords and 

 67 board feet was harvested. Another 

 sale in the same general locality aver- 

 aged only 1.16 cords an acre and gave 

 a stumpage return of $3.71 an acre. 

 The lightly cut stands are now in a po- 

 sition to make maximum growth. 



In contrast to those low returns from 

 improvement cuts in young stands is 

 the average per acre receipt from two 

 sales made in 1945 in an 80-year-old 

 red pine and jack pine stand. From an 

 area of 252 acres, 422,000 board feet 

 of jack pine, 36,500 board feet of red 

 pine, 202 pieces of red pine piling, and 

 417.4 cords of mixed pine pulpwood, 

 that had a total stumpage value of 

 $6,880.13, were cut. Of this area, 150 

 acres had been given a light improve- 

 ment cut 5 years before, at which time 

 $1,158.12 was received for stumpage. 

 The average return was $3 1 .90 an acre. 

 Stumpage values on the two sales in 

 1945 averaged $12 a thousand board 

 feet for jack pine sawlogs, $13 a thou- 

 sand board feet for red pine sawlogs, 

 7 to 14 cents a linear foot for piling, 

 and $1.50 a cord for pulpwood. After 

 the cutting, an average of 185 thrifty 

 trees remained to the acre; their vol- 

 ume was 10,800 board feet and 4.4 

 cords of pulpwood. The trees will con- 

 tinue to grow in volume and value. 



Truly, intensive management has 

 evolved in the Chippewa Forest, es- 

 pecially in the original forest area. 

 Timber can be harvested in increasing 

 amounts at higher values. Yet the pic- 

 ture is not wholly bright. Only 589,1 17 

 acres out of a gross area of 1,313,656 

 acres are in Federal ownership and 

 thus susceptible to intensive manage- 

 ment as a part of the national forest. A 

 considerable mileage of roads remains 

 to be constructed or improved, par- 

 ticularly in the purchase-unit addition. 



With the passing of CCG and other 

 emergency programs, it has been necr 

 essary to discontinue most of the road 

 construction as well as the noncom- 

 mercial stand-improvement operations 

 and to reduce the reforestation pro- 

 gram to about 20 percent of what it 

 should be. The large nursery invest- 

 ment at Cass Lake is wholly inactive. 

 The production of seedlings for Chip- 

 pewa Forest had to be concentrated 

 at another nursery to reduce overhead 

 costs to a minimum. 



The Knutson-Vandenberg Act is 

 helpful, because it provides funds for 

 stand-betterment work, including fill- 

 in planting on timber-sale areas. It 

 does not, however, help any in bringing 

 about a productive timber stand on 

 areas where sales are not practicable. 



That plantations will pay their way 

 is shown by data taken more or less at 

 random in the many plantations estab- 

 lished in the forest. The figures used 

 are average. 



In the spring of 1937 one 178-acre 

 plantation of jack and red pines was 

 established with 1,564 trees to the acre, 

 at a cost of $19.19 an acre. Ten years 

 later 1,400 trees were making fine 

 growth. The height of the dominant 

 trees was 23 feet, and the trees were 

 just reaching minimum pulpwood size. 

 The stand contained 2.18 cords to the 

 acre, worth $4. In another 10 years, 

 the first partial cut can be made to give 

 the best trees more growing space. 



In the fall of 1934 an experimental 

 plantation of jack pine was made in 

 the Pike Bay Experimental Forest to 

 determine the feasibility of converting 



