TIMBER DEPLETION, PRICES, EXPORTS, AND OWNERSHIP. 



61 



The annual cut of 11 of the largest hardwood operators in 

 the southern Appalachians is about 400 million feet. This 

 represents 12J per cent of the cut of the region. The remain- 

 ing 874 per cent of the output is manufactured by companies 

 which produce less than 10 million board feet yearly in every 

 case. In the Mississippi or " Delta " region less than 30 com- 

 panies reported a lumber cut of more than 10 million board 

 feet annually. In the whole hardwood region there are no 

 holdings comparable to the large operating groups in the soft- 

 wood forests of the West and South. 



At least 10 million acres of hardwood forest in the Ap- 

 palachian Mountains are owned by coal, oil, gas, and other 

 mining corporations. One and one-half million acres have been 

 acquired by the Federal Government as National Forests under 

 the act of March 1, 1911. The remaining hardwood areas in 

 this region, and the same appears to be true of the " Delta '' 

 hardwood belt, are widely distributed and largely in the hands 

 of operating companies. 



TIMBER OWNERSHIP IN THE LAKE STATES. 



The Bureau of Corporations reported in 1910 a marked degree 

 of timber concentration in the Lake States, particularly in the 

 most valuable species. Six owners thus held 54 per cent of the 

 white and Norway pine in Minnesota, but only 2 per cent of 

 the hardwoods, then rated as of inferior value. Thirty-two 

 holdings in Minnesota, each exceeding 60 million board feet, 

 aggregated 77 per cent of the valuable pines and but 11 per 

 cent of the hardwoods. Ten holders had acquired 24 per cent 

 of all the timber in Wisconsin and 12 holders had acquired 

 28 per cent of the timber of Michigan. 



Since 1910 a good many owners have disappeared from the 

 rolls in the Lake States through the exhaustion of their hold- 

 ings. The few nonoperating holders appear to be disposing of 

 their lands, and a very large proportion of the timber in the 

 region is now attached to going operators. 



TIMBER OWNERSHIP IN IDAHO. 



In 1910, 64 per cent of the privately owned timber in Idaho, 

 or 32.3 billion board feet, was held by 10 owners. Each of 

 these holdings comprised over half a billion feet. The three 

 largest owners jointly controlled 46.2 per cent of the private 

 timber in the State. 



The concentration of timber ownership in Idaho appears to 

 have practically stopped about 1907. Since that time the 

 larger holdings have remained practically at a standstill, ex- 

 cept for depletion from cutting and exchanges between com- 

 panies to secure a better blocking of stumpage for operating 

 purposes. The stoppage of further timber purchases about 

 1907 appears to have been due to a full realization of the 

 cost of carrying stumpage for long periods in advance of oppor- 

 tunity for its manufacture and to the general period of lean 

 years which the lumber industry experienced, particularly 

 from 1913 to 1915. For the same reason a number of non- 

 operatiirg companies have constructed sawmills and become 

 manufacturers. 



Timber concentration had, however, gone very far in Idaho, 

 particularly in the case of western white pine, the most valu- 

 able timber tree of the Northwest. Of the 20 billion feet of 

 white pine in this region, 5 billion feet is owned by the Federal 

 Government, chiefly in National Forests, the State of Idaho owns 

 3 billion feet, and 12 billion feet are privately owned. A single 

 group of affiliated companies controls one-half of the privately 

 owned white pine, or 6 billion feet. With the exception of the 

 Northern Pacific Railroad, one of the largest timber holding 

 companies in this territory, there is no tendency to break up 

 or decrease the size of the larger properties. The Northern 

 Pacific is disposing of its timber as opportunity affords. The 

 State of Idaho has announced a policy of disposing of its timber 



lands. There is a marked tendency in Idaho, however, to put 

 timber holdings upon an operating basis and to construct ad- 

 ditional sawmills in sufficient number to liquidate most of these 

 great properties within 25 or 30 years. 



TIMBER OWNERSHIP IN WASHINGTON AND OREGON. 



In these States, the Bureau of Corporations found in 1910 

 the most striking examples of timber concentration. Three 

 owners controlled 191.3 billion board feet of timber. There were 

 83 owners who had acquired over a billion board feet. Their 

 aggregate holdings were 411.7 billion feet, or 59.4 per cent 

 of the privately held stumpage in the two States. 



Since 1910 the three largest holdings in this region have been 

 decreased. By decision of the Federal courts the land grant of 

 2,425,000 acres to the Southern Pacific Railroad Co. in Oregon 

 has reverted to the Government. The Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. 

 has sold approximately 250,000 acres, chiefly to operating com- 

 panies, and has itself become a large timber manufacturer. 

 The Northern Pacific Railroad Co. has sold 522,000 acres of 

 timberland in Washington, a considerable part of which has 

 gone to operating companies. 



In the State of Washington individual holdings in excess of 

 25,000 acres, or approximately 1 billion feet of timber, had as 

 a group acquired 155,100 acres of additional timberland be- 

 tween 1910 and 1919 through the consolidation of small hold- 

 ings. On the other hand, this same group had during the same 

 period decreased its holdings by 970,630 acres through logging, 

 timber sales, failures, etc. The net area of timberland con- 

 trolled by this group of approximately 32 owners had decreased 

 in the nine years 815,530 acres. 



In Oregon the holdings of the same size had, as a group, 

 dropped 959,930 acres between 1910 and 1919 and added 

 1,437,580 acres, a net increase of 477,650 acres. The increases 

 represent principally the consolidation of small properties. 

 Much of the timbered area of Oregon is still undeveloped and 

 inaccessible for lumber manufacture. Timber values in this 

 region are still low. The greater number of large holdings in 

 Oregon are in such localities. Several of them have changed 

 hands during the past 10 years, some tracts two or three times, 

 due to the inability of owners to carry taxes, interest, and pro- 

 tection costs any longer. The holdings previously carried more 

 or less as a speculation have in many cases passed into stronger 

 hands. 



There are still many thousand timberland claimants and 

 small owners in these less accessible regions who are anxious 

 to unload ; and the low values at which they are willing to sell 

 their land has permitted the blocking of small holdings into 

 large properties at prices which have attracted strong investors. 

 In a considerable number of cases, companies preparing for 

 lumber manufacture have not only blocked up small properties 

 but have also purchased extensively from the larger holders 

 themselves. A process of concentrating small properties and 

 one of breaking down the very large properties are thus going 

 on at the same time. These two movements taken together 

 presage a change in timber ownership in Oregon from a specu- 

 lative to an operating basis and a large increase in its manu- 

 facture of lumber. 



The individual holdings under 25,000 acres, or of less than 

 about one billion feet of stumpage, aggregate 17,000 in Oregon 

 and 7,000 in Washington. Many of these small holders have 

 retained their timber not from choice but from their inability 

 to sell in locations isolated from present manufacturing centers. 

 The smaller number of such holdings in Washington indicates 

 the much more rapid development of the lumber industry in 

 that State. The enormous number of timber properties of small 

 or unimportant size in the two States on the northern Pacific 

 coast not only show that there is still a very wide distribution 

 of timber ownership in that region notwithstanding the concen- 



