358 



Yearboo^ of Agriculture 1949 



lamation by clearing and planting be- 

 comes increasingly more difficult. Such 

 intensive treatment depends heavily on 

 the findings of research; it also re- 

 quires detailed working plans, and, 

 above all, well-planned and well-con- 

 structed logging roads. Establishing in- 

 tensive management costs more, but it 

 is cheapest in the long run. Timber 

 growth and, ultimately, cutting can 

 be increased to twice what they are 

 now, and maintained at that level. 

 That can be done without endanger- 

 ing California's vital water supply, 

 harming the mountain soils, or jeop- 

 ardizing recreation and other values. 



B. O. HUGHES has been chief of the 

 Division of Timber Management in 

 the California Region of the Forest 



Service since 1944. He began work 

 with the Forest Service in 1923; his 

 experience since that time includes as- 

 signments on the Eldorado, Shasta, and 

 Lassen National Forests and timber- 

 management work in the California 

 and the Southern Regions. From 1940 

 to 1943 he was supervisor of the Mis- 

 sissippi national forests. He holds de- 

 grees from Cornell University and the 

 University of California. 



DUNCAN DUNNING, since 1927, has 

 been in charge of forest-management 

 research at the California Forest and 

 Range Experiment Station. He began 

 work with the Forest Service in 1916 

 on the Shasta National Forest and at 

 the Feather River Experiment Station. 

 He is a graduate of the University of 

 California. 



SMALL RANCHERS AND THE FORESTS 



WILLIAM L. ROBB 



From the 104 national forests near 

 which they live in the West, operators 

 of small ranches obtain many millions 

 of board feet of timber products. 



Practically all of this timber is 

 obtained through small sales that in- 

 volve a stumpage value of $500 or less. 

 The number of such small sales made 

 yearly in a typical period, from 1941 

 through 1945, ranged from 10,895 in 

 1943 to 15,938 in 1941. 



The largest demand is for saw tim- 

 ber, followed in order by fuel wood, 

 corral and fence poles, fence posts, and 

 miscellaneous products such as house 

 logs, derrick sets, and cellar poles. 



The buyers use most of these timber 

 products for maintaining and improv- 

 ing their own property, but many cut 

 and sell lumber, poles, posts, and mine 

 props during otherwise slack seasons. 



In a typical case, the rancher or 

 farmer applies to the local forest ranger 

 for the type and amount of timber he 

 wants. The ranger issues a sale permit 

 to the applicant and, upon receipt of 

 notice that payment for the timber has 



been made, marks the trees to be cut. 

 The rancher then does the cutting; the 

 ranger checks at intervals to see that 

 terms of the permit are fulfilled. Under 

 the sales agreement, the rancher must 

 complete the cutting and removal of 

 the timber within a given time; cut low 

 stumps, and otherwise make the fullest 

 use possible of each marked tree; dis- 

 pose of limbs and tops so as to provide 

 for the establishment of new growth of 

 young trees and reduce the fire hazard ; 

 move the logs so as not to damage the 

 young trees or cause soil erosion; and 

 follow other operational requirements 

 to assure the best use of the forest. 



For some years the timber purchaser 

 was required to assemble, or deck, his 

 logs on the timber-sale area (or at 

 some other agreed-upon location) for 

 scaling or measurement by the forest 

 officer before removal. The common 

 practice now is to make small sales by 

 what is known as the tree-measure- 

 ment procedure. The volume of in- 

 dividual trees is determined at the time 

 they are marked for cutting. 



