THE FORESTS OF ALASKA 



29 



A TYPICAL STAND OF BIRCH IN THE INTERIOR OF ALASKA 



The timber in the interior of Alaska is not large and consequently will not be of importance from the standpoint of the general lumber industry, 

 fhese forests are, however, of great value locally, for the presence of readily available timber is indispensable for the settler, for the miner, 

 for road building and other pioneer work of development. It is of great importance for the Government to put a stop to the present great 

 destruction of these forests by fire. 



The region falls within the same general climatic zone 

 as southeast Alaska. A heavy and well-distributed rain- 

 fall and a fairly long growing season cause a forest of 

 excellent yield wherever the soil is suitable. The Chug- 

 ach Forest unit extends, however, at its northwestern 

 limit into the dry zone and includes a large area of tim- 

 ber of the interior type. Approximately 80 per cent of 

 the whole area is of the coast type, the remaining 20 per 

 cent of the interior type. 



The conditions for forest growth are somewhat less 

 favorable than in southeast Alaska. The chief cause of 

 the difference is the more rugged topography. A larger 

 proportion of the area is on the mainland, and the islands 

 are bolder and have a more rugged topography than the 

 average on the Tongass. In consequence, the forest often 

 forms a strip along the coast of not over a half mile to 

 two miles in depth. Again the forest is at a higher lati- 

 tude which, combined with the local effect of the numer- 

 ous ice fields and glaciers, gives somewhat less favorable 

 conditions of growth. 



The coast type of forest on the Chugach is composed 

 almost wholly of Sitka spruce and hemlock. A little 

 yellow cedar has been found, but it is very localized and 

 not in sufficient quantities to be of any economic 

 importance. Cottonwood also occurs in the coast type, 

 but it is of but little commercial importance. Spruce on 

 the Chugach Forest reaches a height of over 125 feet 

 and a diameter of (> feet. The average run of merchant- 

 able spruce is from two to three feet in diameter and 80 

 tc 110 feet in height. The hemlock averages less in size 

 than the spruce. In one sale on Montague Island there 

 were cut two million feet on 100 acres, in addition to 

 35,000 linear feet of piling and a large quantity of mate- 

 rial used for cordwood. I have examined a number of 

 stands, selected at random, which carried 20 to 25 thous- 

 and feet of lumber, with individual spruce trees averag- 

 ing from 1200 to 2500 board-feet each. 



The hemlock on the Chugach is in general less sound 

 than that on the Tongass. Not uncommonly hemlock 

 growing on unfavorable soil is very unsound, the major- 



