UTILIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LODGEPOLE PINE. 



21 



Per cord of 

 wood. 



Per bushel of 

 charcoal. 



Stumpage 



Cutting and burning: 



Grading 



Cutting 



Hauling 



Covering 



Burning 



Hauling to railroad 



Loading on cars 



Freight, Bernice to Helena 



Total 



Price received at Helena 



SO. 50 



SO. 17 



.90 



.45 



.56 



1.12 



3.20 



1.20 



.05 



.81 



5.76 

 6.00 



SO. 0125 



SO. 0043 

 .0225 

 .0112 

 .0140 

 .0280 



.0800 

 .0300 

 .0012 

 .0202 



.1439 

 .1500 



MANAGEMENT. 



OBJECTS. 



The two main objects to keep in mind in the management of lodge- 

 pole-pine forests are (1) watershed protection and (2) a maximum 

 sustained yield of merchantable timber of the most desirable sizes. 



Its wide range and the fact that most of the stands are located at 

 the higher elevations, where rainfall is greatest and the slopes steep, 

 give lodgepole pine a peculiar importance in regulating the flow of 

 streams which have their headwaters in the region. Even the Mis- 

 sissippi receives a considerable part of its summer supply of water 

 from some of these streams. Thus the value of lodgepole-pine forests 

 for the conservation of water is probably as great as their value for 

 timber production, especially when one considers their slow growth 

 and relatively small yield. Nevertheless, lodgepole pine is an im- 

 portant timber tree, and every effort should be made to produce the 

 greatest possible amount of merchantable timber consistent with the 

 maintenance of an adequate forest cover on the watersheds. Many 

 classes of material produced by lodgepole-pine stands, from small 

 poles to the largest timber, can now be marketed, though the demand 

 for each class is not proportionate to the supply. Small stulls, mine 

 props, lagging, converter poles, fence poles, and cordwood, for ex- 

 ample, are produced in far greater quantities than the market can 

 absorb, while the demand for large stulls, ties, telephone poles, and 

 saw timber is much greater in proportion to the available supply of 

 this class of material. For this reason every effort should be made to 

 produce large trees, 9 inches or more in diameter. There will inevi- 

 tably be produced at the same time sufficient small timber to meet 

 every demand. 



Throughout most of the lodgepole-pine belt the species should be 

 perpetuated on areas now occupied by it. Exceptions to this rule, 

 however, should be made at the lower and upper edges of the belt, 

 where other species are better suited to the conditions. Thus at the 

 lower elevations the stand should be allowed to revert to Douglas fir 

 and at the upper to Engelmann spruce. Between these two ex- 

 tremes, however, lodgepole pine should be favored against these and 

 such other species as may occur in mixture with it. 



