TIMBER GROWTH AND TIMBER DRAIN 



3. Does current forest growth equal forest 

 drain ? 



The fact that "more than 11 billion cubic feet of new 

 growth occurs in our forests each year has been referred 

 to by some as an indication that we shall always have 

 plenty. That was the estimated amount for 1936. But 

 in 1936, generally considered a subnormal year, the 

 total drain, i. e., timber cut or destroyed by fire, insects, 

 disease, etc., on our forests amounted to 13% billion 

 cubic feet. The excess of drain over growth is un- 

 doubtedly much greater today. It is estimated that 

 the drain on forests of the United States in 1943 

 amounted to nearly 17 billion cubic feet, and ex- 

 ceeded total growth by 50 percent. In timber of 

 saw timber size drain was almost twice the annual 

 growth. 



For several decades prior to and up into the depres- 

 sion years of the 1930's, there appears to have been an 

 increase in annual forest growth. If such was the case, 

 the increase was probably due to the development of 

 organized fire protection, to the fact that there was no 

 longer so much clearing of forests land for farming, and 

 to new growth reaching merchantable size on eastern 

 lands which had been taken out of cultivation several 

 decades earlier. There is reason to doubt that any such 

 trend is continuing. Growth in virgin forests of the 

 West is slow and in general offset by decay and other 

 losses. As these virgin stands are cut, such younger 

 trees as come up will have more room and grow faster, 

 but under present practices these growth increases are 

 likely to be more than offset by continued depletion and 

 deterioration of growing stock in the East. 



It should be remembered also that much of the current 

 drain is of high-quality old-growth timber, whereas 

 much of the new growth is of greatly inferior quality* 



