MANAGEMENT OF TIMBER RESOURCES 



Mature, ripe, standing timber on the national forests is sold at a fair price. 

 Anyone may purchase timber, but nobody can obtain a monopoly or hold it 

 for speculative purposes. Timber is sold when it is no longer growing at a 

 profitable rate and should give way to younger trees and seedlings which 

 will constitute succeeding crops. Sales are also made in younger timber 

 stands which are partly cut on a thinning or stand-improvement basis so 

 that later on they can yield valuable forest products. 



Figure 5. — Forest officer placing United States stamp on pulpwood logs awaiting 



shipment. 



Purchasers of stumpage are required to observe such restrictions as will 

 insure cut-over areas being left in the best condition for future growth. 

 Experienced foresters estimate the quantity and quality of the timber and 

 its approximate value. In fixing the value, all factors which affect the cost 

 of lumbering, such as accessibility, number and kind of necessary improve- 

 ments, as well as general market conditions, are taken into account. Mini- 

 mum prices are then set which allow the purchaser an opportunity to make 

 a fair profit. Unless the amount is small, the timber is sold through public 

 advertisement to the highest qualified bidder, except as outlined below. 



Before an extensive sales program is started, forest officers make a careful 

 survey of the timber resources and prepare a long-time plan of management, 

 prescribing the amount that may be cut annually or during other fixed 

 periods, and the method and order of cutting. These long-range programs 

 are necessary in order to assure a constant supply of timber for the com- 

 munities and industries dependent on the forest for raw materials. Only 

 in this way can we make possible the permanent establishment of logging 

 operations, sawmills, wood-using plants, and prosperous communities which 

 look to these industries as a market for their labor. 



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