The Stumpage Situation in the 

 Pacific Northwest 



G. C. MORBECK, M. F. 

 Associate Professor of Forestry, Iowa State College. 



Standing timber is a natural resource which permits of fairly 

 close measurement. The virgin supply in the country is strictly 

 limited. Unlike other natural resources, such as minerals, gas and 

 petroleum, the timber has all been located, and the total volume 

 more or less accurately determined. 



It is thought that the forests of the United States at the time 

 of the country's discovery contained upwards of 5,200 billion 

 board feet of timber. The latest reliable reports place the present 

 stand at somewhat more than one-half the original estimate, or 

 about 2,700 billion board feet. The commercially important stands 

 in the eastern states have been largely cut over. Michigan, which 

 for 3 decades held first place in lumber production, is now sur- 

 passed by a dozen states, none of which produced lumber in any 

 quantity 25 years ago. The cut of white pine in this state is 

 so small in recent years that no mention is made of the species 

 in the government reports. When one recalls that only a few 

 years ago Michigan was the leading state in the manufacture of 

 pine lumber, the rapid disappearance of the forests is brought 

 vividly to our minds. 



There are still large tracts of timber in the southern states, 

 but these are also being rapidly reduced through extensive ex- 

 ploitation. 



The western states are now the great reservoirs of virgin timber 

 in the country. About three-fifths of our entire supply is found 

 in the states bordering the Pacific and in Idaho and Montana. 

 The bulk of the stumpage is owned privately, and mostly in the 

 form of large holdings. Small tracts are being acquired by the 

 larger concerns, at prices usually fixed by the latter. Individual 

 claims or groups of claims not yet bought by these large holders 

 are either inaccessible, or are being held at too high a figure. 

 In a few cases where the timber may be easily logged, the small 

 holder exploits the area himself. Besides the privatetly owned 

 timber there is a vast amount of stumpage in the Government 

 forests, and on Indian reservations under Government control. 

 It is from these great western forests that the bulk of the country's 

 supply of wood will be obtained for many years to come. At the 

 present rate of cutting they are practically inexhaustible, but the 

 cut will increase many times in the next 25 years, as eastern and 

 southern forests become depleted. However, with a decreas- 



