THE FOREST CONDITIONS AND STANDING TIMBER 

 OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON* 



Ety Henry Gannett, 

 U. S. Geological Survey 



During the past year I have been actively engaged in col- 

 lecting information regarding the forest resources of this state, 

 one of the richest in timber and the state in which the lumber 

 industry is most active west of the Mississippi river. The infor- 

 mation which has been collected consists of the reports of tim- 

 ber cruisers, showing the total amount of timber contained in 

 the areas examined and its distribution among the five species 

 recognized b}^ the lumbermen of this part of the country — i. e., 

 red fir (Psetidotsvga taxifolia), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) , 

 hemlock (Tmga mertensiana), cedar (Thuja plicala), and yellow 

 pine (Pinus ponderosa). 



The figures, as they came to me, are by townships, showing 

 the area cruised within each township and the amount of timber 

 of each species. The figures are accompanied by maps, show- 

 ing in considerable detail the areas which have been logged, 

 burned, or are naturally devoid of timber, and those which are 

 still timbered. Altogether I have in the state of Washington 

 actual cruisings of 1,679,402 acres, or 2,600 square miles, which 

 are pretty thoroughly scattered over the state. In addition to 

 this are the examinations made of the Washington Reserve, an 

 area of about 6,000 square miles, made during the past season. 

 The cruisings, although scattered widely, are much more abun- 

 dant and cover the area much more closely west of the Cascade 

 range, in the most important timbered portion of the state, than 

 east of those mountains. 



The forests of Washington cover the Cascade range and the 

 entire country west of it to the Pacific coast, with the exception 

 of a few high summits of the Olympics and of the Cascades. 

 They extend eastward along the northern part of the state to 

 its east boundary, covering all the country southward as far as 

 the Columbia river, and extend southward along the east bound- 



* Presented at the Joint Session of the National Geographic 'Society and the A. A. 

 A. S., Boston, August 25, 1898. 



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