Factors Influencing Logging </;/</ Lumber Costs 9 



labor are paid on the eastern slope of the Continental Divide, 

 and in the southern part of the State, where climatic conditions 

 are best and the timber is located nearer to the labor supply. 

 The highest prices are as a rule paid in the northern part of the 

 State on the Routt and the Medicine Bow National Forests, 

 where winters are long and .severe, transportation facilities are 

 poor, and it is a long distance from towns of any size. 



CUTTING. 



As a usual thing Western Yellow Pine can be cut somewhat 

 cheaper than the other species. The general factors influen- 

 cing cost favor it on account of its growing at low altitudes 

 and being more favorably situated climatically. The logs are 

 larger and other things being equal trees can be sectioned more 

 cheaply on this account. Another factor in favor of this spe- 

 cies is the small amount of rot, but this advantage is offset by 

 the fact that the wood is harder and saws somewhat more 

 slowly. The previous advantages make the contract prices for 

 cutting Western Yellow Pine about 25 cents per thousand board 

 feet cheaper than Lodgepole Pine or Engelmann Spruce. Even 

 though it saws as readily, it costs a little more to cut Lodgepole 

 Pine than it does to cut Engelmann Spruce because the trees 

 have a smaller diameter and are not so tall. This usually makes 

 the cost of sawing Engelmann Spruce about ten to twenty-five 

 cents lower than that of Lodgepole Pine, but no difference is 

 made in contract prices. 



The cost of cutting varies from $1.00 per thousand for 

 Western Yellow Pine, to $2.00 for Lodgepole Pine and Engel- 

 mann Spruce in deep snow. The average cost for Western Yel- 

 low Pine is about $1.25 per thousand and for other species 

 about $1.50. 



SKIDDING. 



The cost of skidding will depend, like that of cutting, upon 

 the accessibility to labor and food supplies, and upon the cli- 

 matic conditions. Other items affec'ing it are the topography 

 of the area being logged, the cost of horses and of horse feed, 

 the density of the stand, and the amount of fallen timber and 

 undergrowth. 



The difference due to accessiHlity of labor and of food 

 supply are apparent from the discussion of the cost of cutting. 



Deep snow adds greatly to the cost of skidding as a general 

 rule. When snow becomes more than three feet deep it usually 

 becomes necessary to dig out skid trails and the increased cost 

 in doing this is evident. In the snowy regions, timber cut and 



