BULLETIN OF THE 



i 



Contribution from the Forest Service, Henry S. Graves, Forester 

 July 12, 1915. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER. 



UTILIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LODGEPOLE 

 PINE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 



By D. T. Mason, Assistant District Forester, District 1. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Ownership and supply 1 



Characteristics of the wood 3 



Uses 4 



Fire-killed timber 7 



Size and contents of various products 8 



Annual cut 9 



Methods of lumbering 10 



Costs and selling prices 14 



Charcoal making 20 



Page. 



Management of lodgepole stands 21 



Rotation 22 



Methods of cutting 23 



Brush disposal 32 



Regulating the cut 35 



Reforestation 39 



Protection 46 



Summary 48 



Appendix — Volume tables 49 



OWNERSHIP AND SUPPLY. 



Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) is the most important timber 

 tree of that portion of the Rocky Mountains lying between northern 

 Colorado and central Montana. Once considered practically worth- 

 less, it now brings the Federal Government a revenue of from $10 to 

 $100 an acre in National Forest timber sales. 



By far the greater part of the present supply of lodgepole pine is 

 included within the National Forests. As will be seen from Table 1, 

 it is the most important tree species on a number of Forests in 

 Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah, forming in such 

 cases from 30 to 92 per cent of the total stand of timber, and is of 

 commercial though not primary importance on still other Forests in 

 these States and in Washington, Oregon, and California. The principal 

 privately owned bodies of lodgepole pine of any size are in Montana, 

 where the State and the Northern Pacific Railroad hold considerable 

 tracts. The total stand of lodgepole pine on those Forests where it is 

 commercially important has been estimated at about 40 billion board 

 feet (Table 1). Figure 1 shows by National Forests the regions 

 where lodgepole pine occurs, either commercially or botanically. 



89546°— Bull. 234—15 1 



