4 Miscellaneous Circular 48, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 



unusual for a rancher to travel 50 miles for a load of boards or 

 fuel. The aim of the Forest Service in the management of the 

 Custer National Forest is to maintain a perpetual supply of timber 

 for the benefit of the local people. 



F -79024 



Fig. 2. — It is estimated that about 46 per cent of all western larch grows in Montana 

 THE LUMBER INDUSTRY 



During 19$4 the lumber mills of Montana manufactured 351,- 

 403,000 board feet of lumber. (Fig. 4.) Most of the finest lum- 

 ber is produced in the western counties, but the areas of lodge- 

 pole pine and Engelmann spruce of the forests east of the Divide 

 also yield lumber of fair quality, besides large quantities of poles, 

 mine timbers, and ties. The small mills operating in central and 



