American Forest Congress 133 



off, and logging railroads are yearly being introduced 

 for the purpose of going further into the heart of the 

 forest. Much timber is annually destroyed by the 

 ranchers, who burn off large areas for clearing pur- 

 poses. The time, therefore, is not far off when the 

 logging operations must be transferred to the moun- 

 tains. Therefore the shrewd lumberman is giving 

 some thought to preserving the existing forests and 

 the propagation of new timber. 



Reproduction of trees without assistance is a slow 

 process and not entirely successful. The greatest 

 commercial wood in the Pacific Northwest is Douglas 

 fir. This occurs in vast bodies and is intermingled 

 with spruce, hemlock, and red cedar. The great belt 

 of spruce lies on the west side of the coast range of 

 mountains, the finest area of red cedar is found in 

 the northwestern portion of the State of Washington, 

 and British Columbia, and apparently ceases after it 

 passes the Columbia River. Hemlock is found with 

 fir, spruce, and cedar, and is more of a general char- 

 acter than the two latter woods. In Eastern Wash- 

 ington, Idaho, and Montana the principal commercial 

 woods are white and yellow pine and tamarack — all 

 reproducing readily. In Southern Oregon sugar pine 

 appears and is a continuation of the belt having its 

 origin in California. 



Observation shows that in seven cases out of ten, 

 when Douglas fir is cut, the reproduction is hemlock, 

 an inferior wood, commercially speaking, although 

 superior to the Pennsylvania variety. Where the 

 ground has been burned over by forest fires many 

 years elapse before the soil becomes sufficiently nutri- 

 tious to reproduce its species. Where hemlock is 

 found intermingled with fir it becomes necessary to 

 cut the former at once, because when left without 



