Logging the Pacific Slopes 



699 



trees to some extent for braking 

 power to lessen the impact on the 

 ground. Sometimes a nesting place of 

 level ground or windrowed slash is pre- 

 pared to receive the trees. 



As the valuable, large, high-quality 

 trees become scarcer, one can expect 

 the development of improved timber- 

 falling units that will cut and let tim- 

 ber down in places more accessible for 

 cutting into logs and moving to yards. 



Loggers have done much more in- 

 genious things than that, and when the 

 challenge becomes acute, they will 

 meet it; they will perfect some device 

 that will eliminate breakage and allow 

 them carefully to analyze the tree, cut 

 it to quality sections, and recover the 

 poorer grades in sizes that are easy to 

 handle. Our logged-over areas, covered 

 with large-diameter broken chunks, 

 mixed with small poles, have been and 

 still are the eyesore and the shame of 

 the industry and the public. Things 

 will be changed, I am sure. 



So, ALSO, must the wood-using in- 

 dustry be ready to welcome change, 

 because it is affected by a growing de- 

 mand for products from the forest. In 

 this, the handling of raw products of 

 the forest is always the challenging 

 problem. Research in forestry has 

 pointed the way to greater yields on 

 forest lands; research in chemistry has 

 enlarged the scope of utilization; next 

 must come the economical harvesting 

 of forest wastes. Those who preach the 

 unfailing abundance of forest supply 

 may have overlooked the steady in- 

 crease in world population and the 

 growing demands for products from 

 trees. 



To meet these demands and keep 

 the lands productive, the logger is face 

 to face with the need for more in- 

 tensified harvesting of lower-quality 

 material, on rougher ground over 

 longer hauls. For that, he has the help 

 of forest technicians and civil and me- 

 chanical engineers. The science of 

 forestry must be linked more closely to 

 the mechanics of logging if forest land 

 is to produce its maximum growth. 



Logging remains a problem in trans- 

 portation, with good roads a control- 

 ling factor. The life of a road is its 

 foundation and drainage system. For 

 years operators have built railroads 

 and truck roads with a view to later 

 abandonment, because they were built 

 only to serve the timber the operators 

 themselves owned. Often permanent 

 construction was unnecessary, but as 

 public timber becomes more in de- 

 mand and truck logging more univer- 

 sal, permanent roads will be more com- 

 mon and requirements of base and 

 drainage more exacting. As hauls get 

 longer, heavier loading is required and 

 higher speeds demanded; therefore, 

 heavy-surfaced roads have to be built. 



Further, a well-built road system, 

 the foundation of good forest manage- 

 ment, makes possible the removal of 

 overmature timber; closer utilization 

 of low-grade material, which is a re- 

 quirement of good forestry; more 

 orderly cutting; and the seasonal har- 

 vesting of the higher-elevation timber 

 in summer and the lower-elevation tim- 

 ber in winter. Species in demand can 

 be cut when needed and the others left 

 for future harvesting. The cutting sys- 

 tems necessary to the practice of good 

 silviculture and good fire protection 

 can then be used more successfully. 



Years ago, it was found that better 

 equipment was needed to speed up 

 road construction. The pick and shovel 

 and wheelbarrow were replaced by the 

 power shovel now in common use on 

 construction jobs. In 1925, while con- 

 structing roads on a forest project, 

 technicians of the Portland office of the 

 Forest Service fastened a revamped 

 grader blade on the old tractor in such 

 a way that they could push dirt with it. 

 They proved that this arrangement 

 would greatly exceed the grading work 

 done by several horse teams working 

 with Fresno scrapers. Their experi- 

 mental piece of equipment was the 

 forerunner of a great development in 

 dirt-moving practice the bulldozer, 

 one of the most valuable pieces of log- 

 ging and road-building equipment now 

 in use. 



