Forest Resources of the Pacific Northwest 



33 



life of Douglas fir (in the fir region) of 51 years ; hemlock 

 and pulp species, 118 years; pouderosa pine, 66 years; 

 Idaho white pine, 30 years; and miscellaneous, 156 

 years. Furthermore, while the apparent life of the 

 timber industries of Idaho is 117 years, that of Idaho's 

 white pine is only 30 years, and this most valuable 

 species is the backbone of the lumber industry in that 

 State. It cannot be assumed that, as soon as this is 

 gone, an equal quantitj" of the less desirable species can 

 be marketed. 



A life of 71 j'cars, then, is impossible unless it be 

 assiuucd that industry can migrate freely from place to 

 place and can market all species with equal ease. This 

 assumption is, of course, denied by the present con- 

 centration of the industry' in certain States (see fig. 8) 

 and its specialization on certain species (see fig. 13). 

 Just how much migration and just how much species 

 interchange will later be practicable is a matter for con- 

 jecture. If a real national timber famine develops, the 

 consuming public will doubtless waive many of its 

 present prejudices in favor of the better woods and will 

 pay the additional cost of Imnber manufacture in the 

 more expensive territory. If eastern competition re- 

 mains an important factor, the Region's less desirable 

 species and more costly locations will be seriously 

 liandicapi)cd. 



Some shifting, however, is inevitable. The hj'po- 

 thetical life of the Douglas fir industry in Washington is 

 30 years, and in Oregon is 72 years. This contrast 

 assures an important continuation of the migration 

 from the former to the latter, even though the expansion 

 of the i)ulp industry in western Washington may main- 

 tain many of its existing communities. The uses of 

 Idaho wliite and ponderosa pine are sufficiently alike 

 to make it believable that when the cut of the former is 

 reduced the cut of the latter, in other States, will take 

 up the slack, although California's sugar pine is a more 

 logical successor. Some of the species classed as miscel- 

 laneous, because of their present status in marketing, 

 proiluce lumber of very satisfactory character, and at 

 least some transfer of the regional industry to them can 

 be anticipated. 



What the foregoing figures really show, however, is 

 that within about 25 to 30 years certain unportant parts 

 of tlic Region's hunber intlustry wdl be devoid of raw 

 materials unless the annual depletion is sharply reduced 

 tx'forc that time has expire<l. Thereafter, the regional 

 in<histry can be maintaineil for another 20 or 30 years 

 only by much migration and considerable substitution. 



But even these figures are far too optimistic. There 

 is a great variation in the accessibility of the Region's 

 timber. The proportion of this timber which can be 

 brought to market only at substantially higher costs is 

 not precisely known, but well-informed opinion seems 

 to agree that about half of it (probably mucli le.ss in 



Montana and Idaho) can enter production only if 

 lumber prices are materially increased. If competition 

 from eastern forest regions and from substitutes for 

 lumber will not permit such an increase, then the periods 

 of time mentioned in the last paragraph nuist be cut 

 roughly in half. 



Nor will the migration of the industry await the end of 

 these periods. It has, in fact, already begun. Witliin 

 the forests of a given species in each State, manj' saw- 

 mills have already cut all the standing timber economi- 

 cally accessible to their locations. Grays Harbor's 

 many mills produced over 17 billion feet of lumber in the 

 past 25 years, but now have only about 1 1 billion feet 

 of standing timber of the lumber species avaOable for 

 future cutting, a considerable part of which is inac- 

 cessible. For several years prior to the depression, 

 these mills were producing close to IJo billion feet a 

 year, but if this rate were to be continued from now on, 

 the entire supply would be exhausted in about 7 years. 

 Many sawmills have been dismantled, an<l their cut has 

 been absorbed by Oregon producers. Fortuiuitely, the 

 available supply of pulpwood in tliis case is large antl 

 a pulp mill (wliich requires more labor per unit of raw 

 material than does a sawmill) has nuiintaincd employ- 

 ment for the population; consequently, the migration 

 is, in this case, one of industry rather than of people. 

 In the region of Pend Oreille Lake, the origmal stand of 

 SYi billion feet of pine was reduced by 1935 to 2)2 

 billion feet, much of which was decidedly inferior, and 

 several mills have already been shut down for lack of 

 further timber, or because the remaining timber which 

 was available was so inferior or inaccessible as to 

 prevent profitable operation. These are but two of 

 the many instances which might be cited. 



Growth and Losses from Fire, 

 Insects and Other Causes 



The periods of time mentioned in the last section 

 were calculated without regard to the fact that trees 

 are living things which continuously increase in volume 

 until they die. The growth of an individual ti'ce seems 

 slow. The annual increase in volume of the stand on 

 an acre of land is not impressive. But the vast area of 

 forest land in the Region can be put to use in raising 

 verj' large crops of timber. 



The forest industries are operating on tinilx-r wiiicii 

 grew without care or attention and was found virtu.-dly 

 in its present condition l)y the first white settlers. 

 Had these white settlers arrived a centurj' earlier, they 

 would have found almost exactly the same vohnne of 

 timber. This means that whatever growth iiad been 

 added during that century had been neutralized by 

 losses from fire, insects, disease and other enemies of 

 the trees. As a l)road generalization, it may be said 

 that in any stand of virgin tind)er, growth and losses 



50859—38- 



