RECONNAISSANCE: ITS RELATION TO FOREST PLA> 



ALPINE TYPE, MT. LASSEN MOUNTAIN HEMLOCK OF LITTLE COMM KKUAI. 



IMPORTANCE. 



waste lands such as lava beds, and water 

 areas. It shows the composition of the 

 timberlands ; in other words, what spe- 

 cies of congmercial importance are on 

 each "forty," and also the relations that 

 exist between the distribution of the 

 various species and the factors of to- 

 pography and altitude. Furthermore, it 

 serves as a basis for applying tables 

 which show the yield of each forest 

 type. 



The timber estimate serves a three- 

 fold purpose. It gives us an inventory 

 of our timber resources that is more ac- 

 curate than any we have had. The esti- 

 mate supersedes all former guesses, 

 mountain-top estimates, and rough re- 

 connaissance calculations ; in itself it is 

 an exact working plan estimate. Com- 

 paring this with the best figures we have 

 had heretofore, one gets an idea 

 what reconnaissance estimate means. A 

 rough reconnaissance made in 1910 for 

 certain townships on the Lassen Na- 

 tional Forest showed about 316 million 

 feet of timber. An intensive reconnais- 

 sance for the same area, made two years 

 later, showed 808 million, or about two 

 and one-half times as much. These fig- 

 ure?, based on the stand upon ah' mi 

 So. i MM i acres, are fairly indicative of 



how the total forest estimate would 

 compare. 



The second purpose of the reconnais- 

 sance estimate naturally follows from 

 the first, for, after knowing how much 

 we have the next question is how much 

 can we sell? In other words, what i- 

 the sustained annual yield for the- i 

 est? At the present time this cut i^ fig- 

 ured from the best available data, 

 namely, the "rough" reconnaissance 

 mentioned above. The intensive- mon 

 naissance figures would mean that \\ r 

 had, yearly, about two and one-hall 

 times more timber for sale than we did 

 under the old method. \Yhile verj in- 

 teresting and important in the future, 

 these figures are not essential at pres< 

 because we are at the pre^'iit rutting 

 only a fraction of one per cent of our 

 annual yield, and there is no danger 

 reaching or exceeding the annual yield 

 for many years. \ati ; rally all meth 

 of regulating the cut depend nioiv or 

 less upon accurate e tim b 



The third purpose of reconn; 

 estimates, and probably the nio>t im- 

 portant from the standpoint of pi 

 \alue. is thai they sen 

 making timber sales. ! g prop* 



tions i" attract purchasers of timber can 



