National Forest Resources of Utah 



15 



Ultimately the only limit of the industry may be the power of the 

 forests to produce. All national forests are managed with due regard 

 to what is known as "sustained annual yield " of 

 The National forest units. This means that upon these units there 

 Forest Cut will w jjj ^q n0 more timber cut each year than grow r s, so 

 loweVto Exceed tnat successive crops can be harvested just as they 

 the Growth. are on farms.' Under such circumstances a per- 



manent industry based upon the productivity of the 

 unit can be established. What the State's sustained annual yield 

 will be is of no immediate concern, as long as the cut remains so low. 

 Nevertheless, it is interesting to consider how much the forests of 

 Utah may be able to produce. A rough estimate, the best available at 

 present, is given in Table 2. 



Table 2. — Estimated possible sustained annual yield, by forests and species 





Millions of board feet 



Forest 



Engel- 

 mann 

 spruce 



Western 



yellow 



pine 



Lodge- 

 pole 

 pine 



Douglas 

 fir 



Total 





3.0 



1.5 



12.0 

 .1 



0.9 

 .2 



.7 

 2.1 



17.4 





.3 





.8 

 2.0 



.3 

 1.5 

 6.5 

 3.2 

 1.5 



3.2 



4 7 



Fishlake 





4. 1 



La Sal . -. 



.6 





.9 







.6 

 1.0 



. 7 

 .4 



2.1 



Powell . 



4.6 





12. 1 





3.3 

 6.1 



7.2 



Wasatch.. .. . .. .. . . . .. 





8.0 







Total 



18.8 



9.9 



21. 5 1 6. fi 



56.8 











The forests of Utah can supply nearly 60 million board feet of 

 timber a year of the larger material, exclusive of that wdiich goes into 

 cordwood, posts, etc. This is approximately a third of the needs of 

 the State for the larger material. Under Forest Service management 

 the allowable annual cut will increase, particularly in the forests 

 close to the cities and towns, which were cut Over heavily in the 

 early days, and now, with proper protection, are coming back rapidly. 

 The constant aim of the forest officer is to make the timberlands 

 more productive. This is done by protecting the forests from 

 destructive forces, such as fire and overgrazing, and 

 by so cutting the timber that a better stand than the 

 old one will replace it. Whenever timber is sold by 

 the Forest Service, each tree is marked, and first of all 

 the inferior and wide-spreading branchy trees that 

 are taking up more room than they should are eliminated from the 

 stand, together with the trees that have reached maturity and are 

 ready for the ax. Under such a system the stand gradually 

 improves in quality and increases in density. 



Regulated 

 Timber Cut- 

 ting Increases 

 Growth. 



