TIMBER DEPLETION, PRICES, EXPORTS, AND OWNERSHIP. 



23 



LOCAL NEEDS. 



In Montana and Idaho the present cut of saw timber is In 

 excess of the local needs, which are about 850 million board 

 feet. Arizona and New Mexico are not self-sustaining. In 

 1914 about 350 million board feet of timber was used and only 

 132 million feet was produced. Wyoming, although It produces 

 more than 600,000 railroad ties and a large number of poles, 

 posts, props, and mine ties, manufactures only about 15 million 

 feet of lumber, less than enough for Its population. Colorado, 

 although It produces 550,000 railroad ties and large quantities 

 of posts, poles, props, and mine ties, manufactures less than 

 100 million feet of lumber, and is not self-sustaining. 



THE FUTURE OF THE LUMBER INDUSTRY. 



Of the Rocky Mountain States, only western Montana and 

 Idaho now produce lumber above their needs and can increase 

 their output in the near future. It would seem that the forests 

 of Montana and Idaho, with some 130 billion feet of saw timber 

 and a present cut of only 1 billion ; Colorado, with over 25 billion 

 feet and a cut of 100 million; Arizona and New Mexico, with 

 39 billion feet and a cut of only 132 million, are capable of sus- 

 taining a larger lumber industry for a considerable time, 



It should be remembered, however, that the region is still 

 underdeveloped and that its requirements for lumber may also 

 he expected to increase with its rapidly growing population. 

 Furthermore, within the next 12 years over 95 per cent of the 

 existing sawmills in the southern yellow-pine region will cut 

 out. The Pacific coast and western Montana and Idaho will 

 have to assume the main burden of supplying saw timber to the 

 entire country. This means more rapid cutting of the remain- 

 ing stands and a big increase in the existing deficit in annual 

 growth. A large amount of the standing timber is relatively 

 inaccessible. The future supplies of accessible timber are 

 therefore much more limited than is indicated by the estimates 

 of the total standing timber. The privately owned timber in 

 the territory tributary to Spokane will be cut out in 25 or 30 

 years if the present rate of cutting continues; and the cut, 

 which now amounts to approximately 550 million feet of logs, 

 will drop to 100 or 125 million feet, which the local National 

 Forests can produce annually on a continuous basis. The lum- 

 ber industry will then move to other timbered regions, probably 

 to the Clearwater territory, which is tributary to Lewiston, 

 Idaho. Even if the rate of consumption should not increase 

 above the present figure, it appears that the bulk of Idaho's 

 privately owned timber, including 75 per cent of the remaining 

 white pine in the United States, will be gone in about 40 years. 



The western red cedar Is now being cut extensively in Mon- 

 tana and Idaho for poles, piling, posts, and shingles. The pres- 

 ent average annual shipments of poles, piling, and posts from 

 Montana and Idaho amount to 216,360 poles and piling and 

 s.TMi.OOO posts. The regions which are now being exploited 

 will probably be exhausted within the next 20 years and opera- 

 tions will be transferred to more remote areas. The present 

 cedar lumber prices have diverted into lumber a large portion 

 of the material ordinarily manufactured into posts and shin- 

 gles. Continuation of this demand might easily exhaust the 

 entire available supplies of post and pole material In 20 years. 



The future of the lumber industry in western Montana and 

 Idaho will not be unlike that of the Pacific Northwest. There 

 is tliis difference, however, that the supplies in western Mon- 

 tana and Idaho are much smaller than those in Washington 

 and Oregon, and comprise three-fourths of the remaining sup- 

 lily of one of the most valuable softwood timber trees of- the 

 country western white pine. Now that the eastern white pine 

 is practically exhausted, the demand upon the western species 

 will tend to increase. The other States of the Rocky Mountain 

 group will not be Important factors in the lumber production 

 for the general market. 



PACIFIC COAST. 



GROWTH OF THE LUMBER INDUSTRY. 



The development of the lumber industry on the Pacific coast, 

 our last great coniferous timber reserve, lias already progressed 

 far. The first sawmill in the Northwest began operations on 

 I'lucl Sound in 1S45. Within a decade lumbering became, and 

 still is. the chief industry in western Washington. The cut for 

 a good many years was used locally or shipped into California 

 or exported. Not very much timber was cut until after the 

 completion ,,f UK- Northern Pacific Railway in 1SS2. and then for 

 a number of years only in special trades. Twelve years later 

 lower freight i-ilcs were made on eastern lumber shipments and 

 the pronounced development of the west coast industry began. 



Very little lumber was cut in California prior to the begin- 

 ning of gold mining In 1849. Lumbering in the redwood belt 

 began about 1860 and grew steadily. In 1899 Washington, 

 Oregon, and California cut a little more than 2,900,000,000 

 board feet. Production increased slowly until in 1918 the total 

 was slightly in excess of 8,590,000,000 board feet. Washington 

 became the leading State in lumber production in 1905 and has 

 since held this place, except only in 1914, when it fell slightly 

 below Louisiana. The present cut is about 4,500,000,000 board 

 feet annually. Oregon at present is the third State, with a lum- 

 ber cut for 1918 of a little more than 2,700,000,000 board feet. 

 That for California has never exceeded 1,500,000,000 feet. 



In the 12 years between 1906 and 1918 the cut of the West 

 Coast increased only about 1J billion feet, largely because of 

 the inability of the product to displace southern pine in the 

 eastern and middle western markets under the handicap of 

 higher freight rates. Within the last year, however, shipments 

 have increased and yellow-pine markets up to the very boun- 

 daries of the producing territory have been Invaded. 



ORIGINAL AND REMAINING FORESTS. 



The commercial forest area of the Pacific Coast States has 

 been reduced to approximately 57,586,000 acres. A large per- 

 centage of this, about 39,370,000 acres, Is in virgin stands, not 

 all, however, of accessible high-grade timber, for there is a 

 large percentage of relatively inferior and inaccessible areas. 

 This is an important factor which is usually overlooked In the 

 consideration of the western timber supply. Second growth of 

 saw-timber size covers about 5,292,000 acres and smaller second 

 growth 6,425,000 acres, while nonrestocking areas cover 

 6,500,000 acres. 



Of the volume of the original forest no satisfactory statis- 

 tics are available. The present stand, however, Is about 1,141,- 

 031 million board feet, or practically half of the remaining 

 saw timber in the United States. Oregon leads with a total 

 stand of 493,700 million feet ; that of Washington is 334 billion ; 

 and that of California, 313,331 million. Six hundred and eighty- 

 six billion, or more than half of the total, occurs in the Doug- 

 las fir belt of western Oregon and Washington. 



Douglas fir comprises 558,571 million feet, and of this 505 

 billion, or nearly one-fourth of the remaining stand of saw 

 timber in the United States, is in Washington and Oregon. 

 Est imates by species are as follows : 



Board feet, lumber 

 scale. 



Douglas fir .. 558,571,000,000 



Western yellow pine and Jeffrey pine 183,453,000,000 



Western hemlock (largely in western Wash- 

 ington and Oregon) 94,000,000,000 



True firs 82, 479, 000, OOO 



Redwood (California) 72,208,000,000 



Sugar pine anil western white pine (largely 



sugar pine in California) 38,485,000,000 



Western red cedar (western Washington and 



Oregon) 49,000,000,000 



Spruce (Washington and Oregon) ' 13, :i.V>, (MM), 000 



Lodgepole pine 4, riliG, 000, 000 



Others 44, 914, 000, 000 



Total 1, 141, 031, 000, 000 



