6 MISCELLANEOUS CIRCULAR NO. 61 



Table 3. — Estimated sustained annual yield of Idaho national forests 



Forest 



Thousand 

 board- 

 feet 



Forest 



Thousand 

 board- 

 feet 



NORTH IDAHO 



60, 000 

 50, 000 

 i 31, 000 

 40, 000 

 23, 000 

 25, 000 

 50, 000 



SOUTH IDAHO 



Boise. _ -. 



45, 000 







2,000 





Caribou . . . 



3,000 





Challis 



Idaho 



20, 000 





50,000 



St. Joe 



Lemhi 



8,000 





3,000 







65, 000 

 40, 000 



Total, north Idaho. . . . . 



279, 000 









10, 000 







20, 000 







12,000 





Total, south Idaho . .. 







278, 000 







557, 000 









i Total yield. About 58 per cent of the Kaniksu National Forest lies in the State of Washington, and 

 the Idaho yield is not shown separately 



Distribution of Forest Species and Stands 



The State of Idaho presents a wide range of forest conditions. 

 In the north end of the " panhandle " and along the foothills of the 

 Bitter Root Range as far south as the Clearwater River there was 

 originally an almost unbroken forest of magnificent western white 

 pine, cedar, hemlock, fir, and larch. Though much depleted by log- 

 ging and by fire, it still contains the largest and finest western white 

 pine stands in the United States. 



To the south and west of the western white pine belt, toward the 

 plains country, on the lower elevations having less precipitation, 

 the western white pine forest gives way to an open yellow pine 

 stand. This type of forest extends down through central Idaho, 

 bordering the mountain ranges, which, at the upper elevations, carry 

 chiefly lodgepole pine and Douglas fir. (See fig. 3.) 



Idaho is exceptionally rich in coniferous tree species. The prin- 

 cipal ones are western white pine, western yellow pine, western red 

 cedar, larch or tamarack, white or grand fir, western hemlock, 

 Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, alpine fir, white- 

 bark pine, limber pine, mountain hemlock, and Lyall larch. There 

 are also some broadleaf trees — poplars, birches, willows, and alders 

 — but they are of little commercial importance. 



The most important timber species in Idaho is western white 

 pine. It occurs in Idaho only north of the South Fork of the Clear- 

 water River, its best development being reached in the vicinity of 

 the North Fork of the Clearwater and continuing from there north- 

 ward to the Canadian border. Some of the finest stands are situ- 

 ated on the Coeur d'Alene National Forest. White pine lumber 

 sells for high prices, being better suited to many uses than the 

 lumber of any other species. National forest sales of western white 

 pine bring from $5 to $12 per thousand board feet on the stump. 

 Considering the fact that much of it is difficult of access and entails 

 heavy expense for logging improvements, this price indicates some- 

 thing of the favor which white pine lumber enjoys in the lumber 

 markets of the country. The greater part of it is shipped to the 

 Central and Eastern States. 



