UTILIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LODGEPOLE PINE. 35 



thousand. The cost varied with the number of brush piles per acre 

 and the depth of the snow. It was found that on an average one 

 man could in one day burn 536 piles under 8 inches of snow, 418 

 under 10 inches of snow, and 299 piles under 12 inches of snow. 



REGULATING THE CUT. 



In the existing unmanaged stands of lodgepole pine the arrange- 

 ment of age classes is never ideal, and a long series of carefully 

 planned cuttings is necessary to convert the irregular forest into a 

 regular or normal one. Certain age classes usually occupy much 

 more than their share of the ground, while one or more classes may 

 be entirely lacking. For this reason the first cuttings in such a 

 stand are, as a rule, based primarily on volume rather than on area. 

 An estimate is made of the actual amount of growing stock on the 

 ground and also of the probable yield during certain periods — usu- 

 ally 10 years — throughout the length of the rotation by the various 

 age classes represented. With these figures as a basis, it is possible 

 to fix the volume which can be cut during each period without 

 exceeding the amount of wood produced. If, through the presence 

 of large bodies of mature and overmature timber, the growing stock 

 is greater than normal, the surplus should be removed by cutting 

 for a few years more than is being produced; while, if through the 

 presence of large bodies of younger age classes, the growing stock is 

 less than normal, the deficiency should be made up by cutting for a 

 time less than is being produced. 



The management planned for the timber on the Bernice division 

 of the Deerlodge National Forest furnishes a concrete example of 

 the method of regulating the annual cut during the course of the 

 next rotation. Table 16, which is based on figures secured by an 

 estimating crew which gridironed the area in lines at intervals of 

 one-fourth mile, shows the different classes of timbered and untim- 

 bered land on the Bernice division. Table 17 shows the degree of 

 normality, volume, and annual increment of the different age classes 

 found in the timbered area of the division, and Table 18 shows the 

 proposed method of cutting for the next 140 years. 



Table 17. — Classification of the land and timberland on the Bernice division, Deerlodge 



National Forest, Mont. 



LAND. 





Area. 



Percent. 





Acres. 



63, 051 



12,563 



912 



674 



1,569 



80.0 





15.9 





1.2 





.9 





2.0 







Total 



78, 769 



100.0 







1 62,491 acres, or 99.1 per cent, productive; 560 acres, or 0.9 per cent, alpine. 



