30 



BULLETIN 154, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



AVERAGE AND MAXIMUM STANDS. 



Reconnaissance estimates covering 65,000 acres on the Deerlodge 

 National Forest, which may be considered as fairly representative 

 of the lodgepole region in Montana, show that the average stand of 

 merchantable timber for all ages, densities, and sites is approximately 

 5,564 board feet per acre. 1 In Wyoming and Colorado the average 

 stand of merchantable timber is estimated to run from 5,000 to 8,000 

 board feet per acre. Average stands on timber sale areas are apt to 

 run much higher than this, because they usually consist of the better 

 timber, and also because the reconnaissance figures apply to a con- 

 siderable amount of cut-over land and to areas covered with young 

 growth that is barely merchantable. Average stands actually found 

 on timber-sale areas on the different National Forests are shown in 

 Table 7. 



Table 7. — Average stand per acre of lodgepole pine and associated species on 

 timber-sale areas in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. 



National Forest. 



Yield per acre. 



Lodge- 

 pole. 



Other 

 species. 



Total. 



Arapaho, Colo 



Cochetopa, Colo 



Gunnison, Colo 



Medicine Bow, Wyo 



Hayden, Wyo 



Bighorn, Wyo 



Bridger, Wyo 



Deerlodge, Mont 



Bd.ft. 



19,410 

 6,880 

 2,500 



14, 225 

 8,884 

 8,300 

 2,771 



14, 318 



Bd.ft. 



900 

 925 



2,571 



Bd.ft. 



19,410 

 7,780 

 3,425 



14,225 

 8,884 

 8,300 

 5,342 



14,318 



While the stands on the Arapaho, Medicine Bow, and Deerlodge 

 National Forests are considerably better than the average, they are 

 not as heavy as the stands sometimes found on limited areas in virgin 

 forests. Five of the heaviest stands yet measured contained the fol- 

 lowing amounts of lodgepole, together with small quantities of 

 Engelmann spruce, Alpine fir, and Douglas fir: 



Board feet 

 National Forest : P er acre - 



Arapaho, Colo 27, 791 



Routt, Colo 24, 400 



White RiTer, Colo _. 36, 335 



Medicine Bow, Wyo 34, 512 



Deerlodge, Mont 35, 935 



In addition to the 35,935 feet of green lodgepole pine, the stand 

 on the Deerlodge Forest, which was 200 years old, also contained 

 4,610 feet of Englemann spruce and Alpine fir, and 8,090 feet of dead 

 lodgepole, a total for live and dead timber of 48,635 board feet per 

 acre. 



X A11 stands were considered merchantable which contained 2,000 board feet per acre 

 or more, based on a minimum log 16 feet long and 6 inches in diameter at the smaller 

 end. Many 7-inch lodgepole trees will yield such a log. 



