3 66 



Yearboo^ of Agriculture 1949 



Pacific Northwest from southern Ore- 

 gon to the northern tip of Kodiak 

 Island. In Alaska, this coast forest is 

 predominantly a mixed stand of west- 

 ern hemlock and Sitka spruce, with a 

 small percentage of Alaska-cedar, and 

 western redcedar in some localities. 

 The forest here is almost tropical in 

 density. The main cover is western 

 hemlock with some cedar. This is over- 

 topped by scattered trees of the more 

 light-demanding spruce, while under- 

 neath is a second story of somewhat 

 suppressed saplings of the more shade- 

 resistant hemlock and cedar. At a still 

 lower level are great clumps of blue- 

 berry, false azalea, the devilsclub, and 

 other woody shrubs. Fallen timber, 

 which decays slowly in this region of 

 all-year heavy rainfall, is everywhere 

 abundant, and the ground surface is 

 usually covered with a carpet of moss. 



The forest occurs as a relatively nar- 

 row ribbon or band along the sinuous 

 coast line of the mainland and the 

 hundreds of islands, and extends from 

 the edge of tidewater to an elevation 

 varying from 1,000 feet in the more 

 northerly and westerly sections of the 

 region to 2,000 and 3,000 feet in south- 

 eastern Alaska. Because of the moun- 

 tainous character of the country, the 

 entire area of tree growth is usually 

 within sight of tidewater and rarely 

 extends more than 5 or 6 miles inland. 

 Three-fourths of the commercial tim- 

 ber is estimated to be within 2/2 miles 

 of the coast line. 



The timber stands of present mer- 

 chantable quality are seldom continu- 

 ous over large watersheds, but are 

 interspersed by areas of somewhat 

 stunted stands of the same species, 

 designated as "scrub," and by un- 

 timbered bogs of peat moss locally 

 known as "muskegs." The best of the 

 Alaska forests is found in southeastern 

 Alaska and, in general, the quality of 

 the timber and the proportion of 

 forested land decreases with progress 

 northward. Thus the trees are smaller 

 and the timber band narrower in the 

 Prince William Sound country than in 

 southeastern Alaska, while the trees at 



the very tip of the hemlock-spruce 

 range on Afognak and Kodiak Islands 

 are largely unmerchantable, and the 

 stands patchlike in occurrence. 



As a whole, the quality of the hem- 

 lock and spruce timber of the south 

 coast is poorer than that of Washing- 

 ton and Oregon. More trees of the 

 medium and larger sizes are affected 

 by rot, and more of the hemlocks have 

 a "fluted" base that extends upward 

 into the first log section of the tree. 

 However, there are many stands of 

 uniformly excellent trees and many 

 good individual trees in the poorer 

 stands. 



During the Second World War a 

 special logging project, designated as 

 the Alaska Spruce Log Program, was 

 established to obtain Sitka spruce from 

 southeastern Alaska for the construc- 

 tion of military airplanes. Logs from 

 this operation were rafted 800 miles 

 south to Puget Sound sawmills, which 

 were specializing in the production of 

 airplane stock. The Alaska material 

 was fully equal in quality to that taken 

 from the forests of Washington and 

 Oregon. Much of the Alaska hemlock 

 is suited to the highest uses for hem- 

 lock, such as flooring and interior trim 

 for residences. The wood of Alaska- 

 cedar and of western redcedar is well 

 adapted to the manufacture of a great 

 variety of specialty items that are in 

 demand in the United States. A few 

 such items are furniture parts, battery 

 separators, wooden handles of many 

 kinds, and rollers for window shades. 

 Processing is ordinarily done in small 

 plants and requires much labor. It is 

 believed that such wood-using indus- 

 tries might profitably be established in 

 the coastal towns of southern Alaska. 



Most of the timber is, however, more 

 suitable for pulp than for any of the 

 above uses. The woods run of logs from 

 the hemlock and spruce forests of 

 Alaska are equal in quality to logs 

 (No. 2 and No. 3 grade) from the 

 Washington forests that are used by 

 the pulp mills on Puget Sound for the 

 highest grades of pulp. 



The economy of the south-coast re- 



