53 



At the present time there are only scattered trees left, 

 and the brush is so dense that travel is extremely dif- 

 ficult. The average stand here, is now less than 1 M 

 board feet per acre. Although reproduction is slowly 

 coming in, it is estimated that 100 years will be nec- 

 essary to replace the former stand, 



(2) Loss of Timber Producing Capacity 



It is estimated by the Forest Service that the 



the ■■■ 

 brush-fields in the timbered belt of California Nat- 

 ional Forests should bear stands averaging at least 

 20 M board feet per acre. This would make the total 

 capacity of these fields 37 billion board feet, or 

 enough to run all bf the pine mills in California for 

 25 years. 



(3) increased Cost of Protection 



Besides being non-productive, brush areas increase 

 the fire hazard of adjacent timber. Brushwf ields make 

 trail and telephone construction much more expensive. 

 In 1916 and I9l7i the Forest Service found that trail 

 and telephone construction in timber averaged $24.00 

 per fire, while for brush-fields it was $98,410 per fire. 



