UTILIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LODGEPOLE PINE. 31 



eional small openings, however, which will not seed up for from 10 to 

 20 years. The result will be a new stand with a considerable range in 

 age. A number of the 4, 5, and 6 inch trees left standing will undoubt- 

 edly be blown down. Such loss, however, will be far less than would 

 be the case if a sufficient number of the larger trees were left uncut 

 to insure the wind firmness of the smaller ones. In the latter event, 

 there would probably be a severe windfall among the larger trees; 

 the cost of logging would be increased, and a considerable part of the 

 producing power of the soil would be lost for a time. 



In mature stands, cut under the selection system, windfall will be 

 negligible if the marking is carefully done. In many of the openings 

 seedlings will start and grow vigorously; in other places, where a fair 

 number of trees still remain on the ground, they will grow slowly until 

 released by a later cutting ; while in still others the stand will be too 

 dense for reproduction to start. From 15 to 20 years later it will be 

 possible to cut the stand again, at which time the process just outlined 

 will be repeated. Later cuttings will completely remove the original 

 stand, leaving one of many age classes, the latter largely in groups. 



When immature stands of lodgepole pine are thinned one or more 

 times, the final stand will contain trees more nearly uniform in size 

 than is the case in virgin stands. When the large trees are removed 

 in one cutting, as outlined for overmature stands, the previous thin- 

 nings will have resulted in more or less reproduction, which, together 

 with the seed from cones on the ground and from small trees left 

 standing, will furnish the basis for the next stand. If the large trees 

 are removed in two or three cuttings, reproduction will be secured by 

 the shelterwood system. 



Thinnings pay well for themselves in accessible areas near Butte. 

 From 1 acre on which there was a 60-year stand consisting of 2,044 

 poles, from 25 to 45 feet tall, 1,022 lagging poles were cut. Four 

 hundred and eighty-four (about 3 per square rod) of the largest and 

 most thrifty trees, varying from 4 to 6 inches in diameter and from 

 35 to 45 feet tall, were left. In addition, there were also left 538 

 suppressed trees too small to interfere with the growth of the larger 

 ones. This thinning yielded $30.66 per acre in stumpage, and the 

 trees which were left are now splendidly placed to grow rapidly to 

 large size. 



Wherever a mature or overmature stand is accessible, and the cost 

 of removing the timber is not great, it is advisable to cut more lightly 

 than indicated by the marking rules, in order that defective and 

 deteriorating trees may be removed and growth stimulated over the 

 largest possible area. Where the timber is more or less inaccessible, 

 however, as is usually the case with lodgepole pine, it is necessary to 

 cut heavily in order to justify the expense of the necessary improve- 

 ments. 



