CHAPTER XIV 

 SUGAR PINE TYPE 



General Conditions. — The sugar pine type is one of the illus- 

 trations of how favorable the climate on our Pacific Coast is for 

 the growth of trees. It lies immediately above the giant sequoia 

 type on the western slopes of the Sierra and Coast ranges in 

 southern Oregon and northern California and merges on the north 

 into the luxuriant Douglas fir type, the heaviest yielding timber 

 type in the world. In other words, the sugar pine type is that 

 association of trees which has -developed the capacity to thrive 

 under conditions which are not moist and warm enough for the 

 sequoias and are too warm for the best growth of Douglas fir. 



Commercially the type is of importance from Douglas County, 

 Oregon, to Kern County, California, along the Sierra Range, a 

 distance of 500 miles. In the Coast Range the north and south 

 extent is less, 200 miles from Jackson County in Oregon to Glenn 

 County, California. In an east and west direction the type 

 ranges from 50 miles to 100 miles in width with an average of 

 60 miles. There is, consequently, roughly 40,000 square miles 

 included within the type. Much of this area is, however, sparsely 

 timbered. Three-fourths of the total stand is concentrated in 

 the mountainous portions of Siskiyou, Trinity and Shasta Coun- 

 ties, California. 



Altitudinally the type ranges from 3000 to 9000 feet above sea 

 level but in any particular locality there is seldom a variation of 

 more than 3000 feet. In other words, where the type descends 

 within 3000 feet of the sea as in the northern Sierras it does not 

 ascend beyond 6000 feet while in the southern Sierras the range 

 is from 6000 to 9000 feet. 



The climate of the t5^e has certain marked characteristics 

 which differentiate it from that of its neighbors. As stated above 

 the growing season is shorter and the available moisture less than 



