8 MISCELLANEOUS CIRCULAR 94, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



extraordinary consumption of lumber, which reaches- approximately 

 3V2 billion feet per year. This is the largest amoimt consumed 

 by any State in the Union. California, with 4,000,000 people, uses 

 more lumber than New York State, with its population of 11,000,000 

 people, and three times as much per capita as the average for the 

 entire country. California's lumber consumption is roughly twice 

 its production. But inasmuch as about one-half of what is produced 

 is shipped out of the State, California has to bring in, chiefly from 

 the Pacific Northwest, some 3 billion feet annually to meet her 

 needs for industry and development. 



A large part of California's forests are located in the mountains. 

 Some of these forests will never be cut over because of their value 

 for watershed protection, while others will be too difficult to get 

 at or too expensive to log. The remainder of the forest area, includ- 

 ing the best stands of lowland timber, is being rapidly cut over to 

 supply State consumption and an increasing export demand, so 

 that unless vigorous steps are taken to insure more adequate forest 

 protection, and reforestation on lands in private ownership, such 

 as the recently begun planting in the redwood region, there will 

 come a time when a timber shortage will be a reality. 



As the private forest holdings are depleted the timberlands of 

 the Government will become of increasing importance, and from 

 these lands will come a large part of the domestic lumber and other 

 woods products that are required for the development and pros- 

 perity of the State. Approximately 60 per cent of the forest area 

 of California, which covers nearly a fifth of the State, is under 

 Federal control. The present stand of timber in the national forests, 

 exclusive of cordwood, is about 100 billion feet, valued at nearly 

 $200,000,000 on the stump. The annual cut is approximately 300,- 

 000,000 feet, and the receipts from the sale of timber on the stump 

 amount to $900,000. This cut, under scientific forest management, 

 can in the future be doubled or even trebled, and continued for all 

 time without reducing the forest capital. 



The timber crop of the national forests is not harvested by the 

 Government but by the lumbermen who buy " stumpage " under 

 competitive bids. Cutting is done in accordance with the terms of 

 carefully prepared contracts, and all trees to be cut are marked or 

 designated by qualified forest officers. Thrifty trees and reproduc- 

 tion are left to furnish seed and form the basis of a future crop. 

 This represents from 15 to 20 per cent of the original stand and will 

 furnish a second timber crop in from 50 to 75 years. 



Lumbermen who cut national forest timber are required to equip 

 each donkey engine with an approved type of spark arrester to 

 prevent sparks from setting fire to the woods, and to have on hand 

 an adequate supply of shovels, axes, pails, etc., for fighting fires 

 that may start. A force pump and 200 feet of hose must be carried 

 on each donkey and the ground around the machine cleared of all 

 inflammable material for a radius of 100 feet. 



High-speed donkey logging with " high leads " is very destruc- 

 tive to the forest. Young trees often have their limbs or bark 

 knocked off or are uprooted by the incoming logs, and very often 

 all young tree growth is destroyed for a distance of 600 to 700 feet 

 around the spar tree. Therefore, on national forest timber sales the 



