352 



ventory of the raw material and an- 

 alyzing the potential market, so as to 

 determine the best location for a treat- 

 ing plant and to interest prospective 

 operators. 



Another possibility is to use the trees 

 of small sawlog size (12 to 18 inches 

 in diameter) in a log gang or small 

 band mill that would be built espe- 

 cially to handle small logs economi- 

 cally. At several locations such an 

 operation would be feasible. 



Forest officers are working with mill 

 operators to promote more efficient 

 manufacture of lumber by small cir- 

 cular mills and the replacement of cir- 

 cular mills with band mills. They also 

 advocate the further finishing and re- 

 manufacture of forest products and 

 increased use of waste. 



Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



Such management devices in the 

 Southwest will strengthen the economy 

 of tomorrow and provide further em- 

 ployment opportunities for those in 

 rural communities in and near the 

 forests. They also will improve the 

 forest, and, in turn, will increase wealth 

 and employment. 



C. OTTO LINDH, assistant regional 

 forester in the Division of Timber 

 Management, is stationed in Albu- 

 querque, N. Mex. Upon graduation 

 from Oregon State College in 1927, he 

 joined the Forest Service, and has 

 held various positions, from assistant 

 ranger to assistant regional forester. 

 His work has been in the fields of fire 

 control and timber management in the 

 Northwest and Southwest. 



PINE FORESTS OF CALIFORNIA 



B. O. HUGHES, DUNCAN DUNNING 



The national forests of California 

 have 7.7 million acres of land suitable 

 for growing timber as the primary 

 crop. Of this total, 5.6 million acres 

 bear virgin or old-growth forests un- 

 affected by lumbering and 1.2 million 

 acres have younger stands left in the 

 first logging operation. The rest is not 

 stocked with trees, mostly because of 

 fires before the late 1890's. 



In converting these three kinds of 

 areas to well-ordered croplands, for- 

 est managers must reckon with a com- 

 plex mixture of assets and liabilities. 

 Generally speaking, the national for- 

 ests are not the most favorably situ- 

 ated timberlands in the State. The 

 more accessible, more productive lands 

 passed to private ownership before the 

 forests were established. 



Five conifers make up more than 95 

 percent of the volume of the standing 

 timber. Of these, ponderosa pine is the 

 most generally useful and of widest 

 occurrence. The fine-textured sugar 

 pine commands the highest price, but 

 constitutes only one-tenth of the vol- 



ume. Both pines reach their best de- 

 velopment along the western slope of 

 the Sierra Nevada. 



Douglas-fir and white fir each make 

 up about one-third of the timber vol- 

 ume and are important components 

 of the mixed forests of both the Sierra 

 Nevada and Coast Range, sometimes 

 forming almost pure stands. 



California incense-cedar occurs in- 

 termingled with the other species, 

 forming only one twenty-fifth of the 

 volume. It is presently the world's most 

 important pencil wood and is prized 

 for fence posts, rails, and other uses 

 requiring resistance to decay. 



Native hardwood trees are of rela- 

 tively minor importance in California. 

 The introduction of valuable timber 

 hardwoods from the Eastern States or 

 elsewhere has not been successful. Nor 

 are any introduced conifers known 

 that are more generally useful and that 

 could survive and grow better than the 

 natives. Several promising hybrid pines 

 are now being tested; some of these 

 may prove useful in certain localities. 



