FOREST 



RESOURCES 



O F 



SOUTHEASTERN 



TEXAS 



Outlook for the Future 



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TEXAS is the largest State in the Union, 

 but it ranks among the lowest in the South 

 in the proportion of its land area occupied 

 by commercial timber stands. Approximately 

 10% million acres of commercial forest land in 

 the State are within the 36 easternmost counties. 

 These forests are the nearest and most logical 

 source of timber supply from which to meet the 

 growing requirements of a population that has 

 more than doubled since 1900. If conservatively 

 handled, they can meet these requirements for 

 material and in so doing furnish needed employ- 

 ment to about 25,000 of the State's population. 



The forest resource is of outstanding significance 

 to the population, industries, and utilities of this 

 survey unit, since agriculture cannot be expected 

 to assume any larger place than it now occupies. 

 The petroleum industry, at present of great im- 

 portance, must eventually decrease in importance 

 as the supplies of oil are reduced. From the 

 standpoint of the State as a whole as well as from 

 that of the southeast portion, there is every justi- 

 fication for a strong and sustained effort to bring 

 these forests up to their maximum production and 

 to encourage the development of wood-using 

 industries of such size and diversity of output as 

 to utilize fully the forest products on a permanent 

 basis. 



Southeastern Texas has long been an important 

 center for forest industries. Until recently, large 

 double-band sawmills, such as that at Diboll, 

 with a daily capacity of 120,000 board feet, were 

 the characteristic plants throughout the unit; 

 but as the supply of old-growth timber declines, 

 the large mills are reducing their operations or are 

 being replaced gradually by smaller mills which 

 utilize second-growth timber. With the change 

 in size of mills and character of the timber cut, 



there have come marked changes in methods of 

 logging and transportation. The prevalence of 

 steam skidders involving clear-cutting is decreasing, 

 whereas the use of animal and tractor logging 

 with a degree of selective cutting has grown to 

 large proportions. Also trucks are rapidly taking 

 the place of railroads for transporting logs from 

 woods to mill. 



The production of poles, piles, and railroad ties 

 is increasing. Established mills and operations 

 are now using only a small part of the large volume 

 of low-grade pine and hardwood material avail- 

 able throughout the forest. This large volume of 

 inferior wood is not only a positive hindrance to 

 optimum forest increment, but also represents an 

 economic waste of material that might help main- 

 tain new industries of great value to the region. 

 Although the forest stands in southeastern Texas 

 are among the best in the South in volume and 

 growth per acre, they can be materially improved 

 and their value increased. In the past, largely 

 through lack of diversified markets, it has seldom 

 been possible to apply fully integrated utilization 

 in harvesting this timber; but this situation is 

 changing for the better, in that profitable outlets 

 for more low-grade commodities are becoming 

 available. The development of the pulp-and- 

 paper industry in the South has improved the 

 opportunity for more intensive forest management 

 and should continue to do so. If the growing 

 stock is to achieve its full development and con- 

 tribute its full share to the economic life of the 

 section, there must be a recognition of the defi- 

 ciencies of the stand, an understanding of what 

 measures are necessary to cure these ills, and a 

 conscious, regionwide movement to put such 

 measures into execution. 



About 200,000 acres, mostly in the longleaf pine 



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