FORESTRY IN THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION 



203 



in the ground. If the slash is burned immediately after 

 logging and before the succeeding germinating season, 

 which is the month of May, reproduction is almost sure 

 to result. Then if the area is protected from subsequent 

 fires, satisfactory reforestation is assured. Falling of 

 the "snags" or dead trees is a most desirable fire-pro- 

 tective measure, for these in the event of accidental fire 

 become torches which throw sparks high in the air and 

 are the greatest hindrance to the suppression of a fire. 

 If the burning of the slash is delayed too long after the 

 logging, the repro- 

 duction resulting in 

 the interim from 

 the seed stored in 

 the forest floor will 

 be killed and refor- 

 estation will take 

 place only from 

 chance seed trees 

 or from adjacent 

 green timber, if 

 any. For a further 

 assurance of natu- 

 ral r e p r oduction 

 and as a precaution 

 against accidental 

 fires it is well to 

 leave occasional 

 seed trees one or 

 two to the acre 

 should suffice. This 

 is not a difficult 01 

 expensive provision 

 for the logger to 

 make, for in nearly 

 all Douglas fir 

 stands are misshap- 

 en and "conky" 

 Douglas firs, which 

 are so defective as 

 to be hardly worth 

 'ogging, yet are 

 perfectly good seed 

 trees. 



The silvicultural 

 prescription for the 

 practice of fores- 

 try in Douglas fir region then 



i. Log clean as at present. 



2. Leave occasional defective trees as seeders, when- 



ever such are available. 



3. Fall the snags, which are a fire menace, at the 



time of logging. 



4. Burn the slashing broadcast the first spring or fall 



after logging. 



5. Keep subsequent fires out of the areas once burned. 

 The last provision is the one difficult of accomplishment 



and the one that costs money, but it means the difference 



A SECOND-GROWTH FOREST OF DOUGLAS FIR 



This is typical of many in Western Washington and Oregon and is nearing merchantable age. 

 Under proper methods of logging and fire protection the Douglas fir lands now being cut over 

 can be made to produce successive crops of timber as fine as this. , 



condenses to this 



between denuded wastes and richly productive second 

 growth timber. 



The reader may here ask what is being done to put 

 these simple principles into practice, why is more not 

 being done and what constructive action must be taken 

 to put them into effect. It must be acknowledged that 

 practically nothing in the way of a conscious effort to' 

 secure the reforestation of the cut-over lands is being 

 done on private lands. There have been one or two 

 sporadic attempts to practice forestry which were aban- 

 doned not because 

 they were not suc- 

 cessful but because 

 the companies were 

 more concerned 

 with other prob- 

 lems of their busi- 

 ness. On the Na- 

 tional Forests the 

 cutting of timber is, 

 of course, done ac- 

 cording to the 

 above silvicultural 

 principles, and has 

 been in the main 

 fruitful of good re- 

 sults. The still im- 

 perfect control of 

 the fire menace is 

 the only factor 

 which has prevent- 

 ed ideal results. 



More progress 

 has not been made 

 in the practice of 

 forestry largely for 

 one very good rea- 

 son t h e timber- 

 land owner is not 

 interested in a long 

 time proposition 

 under existing' con- 

 ditions. You can 

 prove on paper, to 

 him that cut-over 

 land if cared for 

 and protected will 

 yield a crop in 



eighty or a hundred years which might net a fair rate 

 of interest, but he is not in a mood to engage in any 

 such long-term and uncertain investment. He is, . at 

 present, embarrassed by a surfeit of virgin timber which 

 is expensive to carry. His business is gauged on a 

 quicker turn over; his capital is needed for present ope- 

 rating expenses. j 



But even were he interested in growing a second crop 

 there are certain economic obstacles which inhibit the 

 practice of forestry on private lands, and these must be 

 removed before the timberland owner will engage in 



