Early Day Logging 



ber for their ties, and for the towns that 

 sprang up along the way. With the advent 

 of copper mining, sawmills supplied mil- 

 lions of dollars worth of fuel for the smel- 

 ters and timbers for the tunnels. 



Montana's logging industry is centered 

 on the west side of the Continental Divide, 

 where 58 percent of the state's timber 

 grows. Montana's portion of the nation's 

 commercial forests is not large— 3 1/2 per- 

 cent, but lumbering is an important part of 

 the state's commerce. Lumber mills and 

 other industries that use timber and wood 

 products ordinarily employ about 40 per- 

 cent of the manufacturing workers in the 

 state. In 1981, 9,100 people worked in 

 these industries. Montana's forests con- 

 tain 23,200,000 acres of forested land, of 



which 14,400,000 acres are commercial 

 timberland. 



Douglas fir and larch provide over half of 

 Montana's lumber production: the most 

 valuable woods for lumber are white pine, 

 Douglas fir, larch, and ponderosa pine. The 

 long, straight trunks of the lodgepole pine 

 are used for utility poles, posts, and house 

 logs. Their use depends on their size and 

 the quality of the wood. Veneers, plywood, 

 pulp, and paper are processed in the state. 

 There is also a thriving business in Christ- 

 mas trees in western Montana. 



Four principal types of logging are used: 

 clearcut, seedtree, selective, and shelter- 

 wood (figure 2). In the clearcut method, all 

 trees are taken from an area, allowing uni- 

 form regrowth and opening the forests to 





-■*"'"i^">^« 



CLEARCUT 



SHELTERWOOO 



SELECTIVE CUT 



SEED TREE 



Figure 2. Four Methods of Cutting 



Poggy Todd 



