22 MISC. PUBLICATIOISr U. U. S. DEPT. OF AGEICULTURB 



AREA (ACRES) 



Timbered, 167,652;' uontimbered, 26,729; total, 194,381. 



STAND 



Volume of stand in trees 10 inches and over, d. b. h., 468,969,000 feet b. m. \ 

 Composition, 100 per cent western yellow pine. 



ROTATION 



One hundred and forty years, divided into four cutting cycles of 35 years 

 each. 



PEE CENT OF MERCHANTABLE STAND TO BE REMO\'ED IN FIRST CUTTING CYCLE 



Seventy per cent by volume (approximate). 



YIELD 



Average annual cut. 7.000.000 feet b. m. ; total cut, 1921-1930, inclusive, 

 70.000.000 feet b. m. The indicated acreage that can be cut over annually is 

 3,138 acres. 



PREDICTED CUT IN SECOND CUTTING CYCLE 



Tweh'e million three hundred and forty-six thousand feet board measure 

 per year. 



INTRODUCTION 



The Custer working circle of the Harney National Forest is established to 

 provide a sustained yield of timber for a permanent woods industry. This 

 industry will insure a steady income for the towns within the circle. Directly 

 or indirectly, a large portion of the population of Custer and adjoining terfi- 

 tory is dependent upon the timber business for a livelihood. 



Custer, the largest and most important town within the circle, has some 

 600 inhabitants. Originally the mining industry provided the principal source 

 of income. To-day, however, only a very small amount of prospecting and 

 assessment work is being carried on. No mines are running. There is very 

 little promise of any considerable development in the near future. Next to 

 logging and lumbering, ranching is the most important industry. There are 

 no manufactories in Custer. It serves mainly as a supply center for the lumber- 

 men and ranchers within the circle. 



Pringle, the only other town in the circle, has less than 100 inhabitants and 

 is of secondary importance. It serves as a supply point for the southern 

 sawmills and ranchers and is a shipping point for cattle and lumber. Pringle 

 is about 12 miles south of Custer on the Denver-Deadwood Highway and the 

 Chicago. Burlington & Quincy Railroad. A sustained yield of timber will 

 unquestionably benefit the town. 



Assurance of a sustained yield within this circle will undoubtedly bring 

 about the erection of a finishing or woodworking plant at Custer that will be 

 able to handle all of the yearly cut of lumber. Such a plant will mean that 

 the small operator need not depend upon the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 

 Railroad for a market, except for ties. Both large and small operators can 

 sell direct to such a plant. There will be little tendency to ship their products 

 out of the Black Hills. Better and closer utilization will result. Economic 

 conditions in the circle will improve accordingly. The inhabitants are bound 

 to be more prosperous. 



The fact that most of the ranchers spend much of their time working at 

 some other orcupation clearly indicates that ranching is not a paj'ing proposi- 

 tion on the whole, although it will undoubtedly always be carried on to some 

 extent. Lumbering furnishes yearlong occupation, and an increasing number 

 of persons desire to engage in it. A sustained yield of timber is therefore a 

 very necessary adjunct to the economic life of the circle, and vitally important 

 to the town of Custer. 



^ Includes 394 acres classified as inaccessible. 



