CHAPTER XIV 

 FIELD APPRAISALS OF TIMBER STUMPAGE 



213. The Scope of Field Appraisals. The value of timber 

 stumpage, while based on the species, quantity and quality of 

 the timber, is determined only when the value of the products 

 f.o.b. at mill and the intervening costs of logging and milling 

 have been appraised (Chapter XI) . 



The field appraisal thus deals first, with the reconnaissance 

 of the timber ( no), and second, with the appraisal of logging 

 costs. The cost of milling, depending as it does on the size of 

 the mill and duration of the operation ( 173), is affected by the 

 total volume of timber accessible to the mill, and its ownership, 

 and this cannot always be determined when examining a given 

 tract. Appraisals, except when they cover a large area, are 

 therefore most definite when made in connection with mills 

 already operating. 



The choice of general means of transportation must occasion- 

 ally be left to the field examiner, but more often this is already 

 indicated by local custom, and it remains only to determine on 

 the ground whether any modifications of the plan are necessary 

 because of the nature of the topography and the transportation 

 problems which arise. The scope of the actual field appraisal 

 of costs is usually confined to ascertaining the local costs of 

 logging. These costs should be appraised separately for each 

 so-called "logging chance," or separate body of timber forming 

 a logging unit. In flat regions, the division of a larger area 

 into units is not important and depends on the convenience of 

 locations and routes for main spurs. But in a rough or moun- 

 tainous country the "chance" is a distinct topographic unit, 

 such as a gulch or small basin, containing enough timber to 

 furnish employment for a camp of reasonable size for one or 



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