Forest Resources of the Pacific Northwest 



37 



be reached for centuries. The ilchiy will he greater 

 than in Oroti'on and Washington heciuisc, in Idaho, 

 present logginj;; is idniost exclusively conlined to the 

 Idaho white pine and ponderosa pine tyi)es; at the rate 

 of cut j)ostuIated in the preceduij;; section, the c.\p(>cted 

 life of the miscellaneous species in Idaho would he over 

 300 years. 



The situation in noi'thorn Idaho is ohviously serious. 

 The life of the Idaho white pine at the hypothetical rate 

 of cut is only 30 3'ears, and this period is based on com- 

 plete utilization of the badly scattered and inaccessible 

 remnants of the original stand. The growing capacity 

 of the lands on wliich Idaho white pine can grow is 

 adt'<[uate to su])|}ort the present industry, but tliere will, 

 apparently, inevitably be a period in the near future 

 during which lumber operations must be heavily 

 curtailed. 



Montana is, in general, a region of slow growth. A 

 principal enemy of the forests of this State is the moun- 

 tain pine beetle, which at times decimates large areas of 

 overmature lodgepole pine. Since lodgepole pine is cut 

 only in small quantities for local use, the economic loss 

 from this pest is as yet of irunor importance. 



The present current growth of tlie forests of this 

 State is only 0.2 billion feet, while the potential growth 

 is about 2.1 billion feet. The timber is being cut so 

 slowly that the current growth will rise very gradually 

 to an ultimate level of about 1.5 billion feet. This is 

 far above the hj^pothetical cut, so that shortages of 

 timber probably will be entirely local in their importance. 



The foregoing discussion of net growth has diverted 

 attention from the extent of the losses from fire and 

 other destructive agencies. It has already been ex- 

 plained that reliable annual averages, suitable for pur- 

 poses of prediction, are impossible to obtain. However, 

 accoriiiiig to Forest Service estimates, the annual losses 

 of the past decade from all causes have approximated 

 3K billion feet. 



To recapitulate, the nc't current growth of the Region 

 as a whole, after deduction of all losses, is about 3.7 

 billion feet, or slightly over one-fourth of the assumed 

 demand. This current growth will rise more or less 

 rapidly to somewhat over 16 billion feet, a figure wluch 

 is somewhat over the assumed demand, but this rise will 

 not be rapid enough to prevent man}' local shortages of 

 timber and many industrial migrations. The potential 

 growth of the Region is over 23 billion feet, or nearly 

 twice as much as the foreseen need, so that intensive 

 forestry on the poorest and least accessible lands is of 

 speculative advisability. If, however, the Region's 

 timber requirements are to be produced on the best half 

 of the land (best in fertility and accessibility) so as to 

 maintain the most favorable position for competition 

 with eastern tind)er i)roducing regions, intensive forestr}- 

 must be practiced on these lands. 



Policies of Forest Land Owners 



If forest land is so managed that the forest is pro- 

 tected, reproduced, and harvested at an annual rate 

 that will |)ermit a continuous, permanent outj)ut of 

 forest products, it is said to be under "sustained-yield 

 management." It is not necessary that each and every 

 annual cut be identical in amount, for fluctuations hi 

 market demand must, of course, be followed. It is not 

 necessary to restrict the cut to the current growth, if the 

 anticipated future growth is adequate to prevent a 

 future shortage. 



The most obvious ailvantages of sustained-yield 

 management are that it assures a continuous supplj^ 

 of forest products to the consuming jiublic of the Nation, 

 that it assures the Region a continuous quantity of 

 export commodities which will permit the purchase and 

 importation of other needed commodities and that it 

 will perpetuate the conununitics budt around the wood- 

 using industries, thus permitting a more substantial 

 development and a higher standard of living. 



There arc many difficulties in the path of establishing 

 this form of management on an area of previously 



OWNERSHIP OF MORE VALUABLE 



SPECIES OF TIMBER 

 IN COLUMBIA BASIN STATES 



EASTERN 

 WASHINGTON 



WESTERN 

 WASHINGTON 



10 20 30 40 50 60 70 90 90 100 



PERCENTAGE OF SUBDIVISION TIMBER 



^^ NATIONAL FORESTS STATE LAND ^^^ 



^^^ NATIONAL PARKS COUNTY LAND l^H 



REVESTED LAND 



INDIAN LAND 



OTHER PUBLIC 

 LAND 



PRIVATE LAND 



AREA OF SQUARE REPRESENTS MORE VALUABLE SPECIES 

 OF TIMBER IN REGION — 576 B ILLION FEET 



AREAS OF RECTANGLES REPRESENT TIMBER OWNERSHIP 

 ACCORDING TO ABOVE LEGEND 



NUMERALS ARE BILLIONS OF FEET 



Figure 20. 



