176 OUR NATIONAL FORESTS 



winter. Up to date, about 21,000,000 acres have 

 been covered by intensive reconnoissance and about 

 48,000,000 acres by extensive methods. 



Logging the Timber. In order that my reader 

 may better understand various matters connected 

 with the disposal of National Forest timber, it will 

 be necessary to give a brief outline of how timber 

 and other forest products are taken from the woods, 

 and the different steps necessary before a green 

 tree in the woods becomes a board or a railroad tie. 



The methods of logging used in the National 

 Forests are essentially the same as those used on 

 private lands, with the exception of certain details, 

 such as the protection of young growth, the cutting 

 of snags, and the disposal of the brush. The meth- 

 ods used, of course, vary with the locality ; they are 

 different for the Pacific Coast, where donkey en- 

 gines are used, than for the Rocky Mountains, 

 where horses are largely employed. They vary 

 with the climate, the topography, the size of the tim- 

 ber, and the kind of product to be harvested. But 

 a typical logging operation, as carried on in the 

 Sierras of California, will give an idea of how logs 

 are taken from the forest. 



In the particular operation which I have in mind 



