FOREST RESOURCES OF THE NORTH-LOUISIANA DELTA 



Introduction 



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THE north-Louisiana delta contains one of the 

 most valuable supplies of high-quality, old- 

 growth hardwood timber left in the United 

 States. Here the old-time sawmills cutting indus- 

 trial hardwood lumber still abound. In many 

 other parts of the South the original lumber mills 

 have cut out the most readily available timber, have 

 been accordingly abandoned, and have subse- 

 quently been replaced by small, portable mills. 

 The forest-economic problem of this survey unit is 

 to prolong the period of operation of these mills 

 cutting old-growth timber until the present second- 

 growth forest becomes merchantable. This report 

 presents facts bearing upon the forest situation, 

 analyzes and interprets these facts, and offers sug- 

 gestions which should aid in solving the principal 

 forest problems. 



The report is based on a field survey made 

 chiefly between November 1933 and February 1934. 

 Trained crews of experienced timber estimators 

 recorded the conditions on 4,563 quarter-acre plots 

 distributed at 660-foot intervals along compass lines 

 10 miles apart running east and west. On forest 

 plots trees were measured with calipers; growth 

 rates were determined by means of increment 

 borings; and all other data needed to determine 

 stand volume and quality and to predict timber 



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growth were gathered and recorded. Using these 

 recorded data as a statistical sample representing 

 the entire area, the average and total figures were 

 computed. Statistical analyses of Forest Survey 

 results indicate that the maximum error of the 

 estimate of the total forest area is less than 3 per- 

 cent and of the total timber volume less than 4 

 percent. For relatively small items of area or 

 volume the error may be considerably larger, and 

 for very small items the figures should be regarded 

 as merely indicative of the relative importance of 

 the item. 



Data on forest industries and forest drain for 

 the calendar year 1934 were obtained by a can- 

 vass of forest-products enterprises and domestic 

 wood users, and through summarized lumber- 

 production statistics previously compiled by several 

 divisions of the Lumber Code Authority of the 

 National Recovery Administration. Present con- 

 sumption and probable future trends in national 

 requirements for timber and other forest products 

 are being studied on a Nation-wide basis and will 

 be treated in a separate report. 



Because of the large quantity of data presented 

 in the following pages, it will be of advantage to 

 summarize here some of the more significant data 

 and findinsjs. 



