The Problem of Meeting Timber Needs 
— 
Goals are suggested in the preceding section as 
a basis for sound national policy. To achieve 
these goals saw-timber growth will have to be dou- 
bled. As things are going now there is no pros- 
pect that this will be accomplished in the fore- 
seeable future. But if positive measures to main- 
tain and build forest productivity were promptly 
and generally applied throughout the Nation, this 
goal could be attained, although it would take 
time. The size of the task can be clarified by 
inquiring how much growing stock will be required 
and by outlining broadly a feasible course of 
physical progress toward the objective. 
What Growing Stock Is Needed To Double 
Saw-Timber Growth? 
As previously pointed out, sustained yield re- 
quires a reasonable balance of age classes, from 
seedlings up to the age at which the more exacting 
products can best be obtained. Since growing 
stock is the sum of the volumes in all age classes, 
the growing stock needed to sustain a given annual 
yield will depend largely upon the cutting age 
for the final crop harvested. For saw timber of 
desirable size in the various forest types and regions 
this ranges from 60 to 140 years. To a lesser 
extent growing stock will depend upon the pro- 
portion of the total harvest that can be obtained 
from thinnings or improvement cuttings. Fast- 
growing species require less growing stock than 
slow-growing species because they attain a size 
suitable for a given product at an earlier age. 
Conversely, adverse climate and soil increase the 
amount of growing stock required because they 
limit the growth rate. 
In the South, where growth is generally rapid 
and an appreciable part of the harvest may be 
taken from thinnings or other intermediate cutting, 
only 16 to 18 board feet should be needed as grow- 
ing stock for each board foot of annual drain. At 
Ke 
the other extreme, in the South Rocky Mountain 
region, because of slow growth and less favorable 
markets for small trees, the saw-timber growing 
stock will need to be 50 times the annual drain. 
The growing stock needed to yield 72 billion 
board feet of annual growth allocated as suggested 
in the previous section appears to be 1,700 billion 
board feet (table 16). About 40 percent of this 
is allotted to the West and 60 percent to the 
East. 
TasLe 16.—Minimum growing stock to sustain 
future growth goals 
‘ Multiple 
Section.and Volume | of present 
region stand 
z Billion 
North: bd. ft. Number 
New sEnelandt ai teers ener eee 87 1.5 
Middlew Atlantic? 2 ae 128 2.06 
ake exer! eae len ol sey sli Cede Seneca 86 1.72 
Genital ssn ef recat aoe ine ee 99 2.25 
UD EDN ee ek te ee eee La eTenOs 1.00 
Motall Oia eee Soe eee eee 0G8 1.85 
South: atrremsr rir) (sear ie age 
South vAtlanticga -. sheets 127 1.31 
Southeast) oat eae teeta ee aes 284 2.09 
West 5G ULERa Berar cd eee Fan elm 2.00 
A otal oe, Ria eae yee te eee 621 1.84 
West: 
Pacific Northwest: 
= Douglas-fir subregion............... 350 0.69 
Pine} subregion. eis kee 70 56 
Ota Reta ee ne nae aes 420 67 
Galifornial yea see atleast 129 57 
North Rocky. Mtns 3 Sh os 79 62 
South Rocky Mtn.) oases ie 45 79 
pROtalich s20 250 sie ee ee ene 673 .65 
United!States 2. Saltitee Sanu 1,700 1.06 
The North and South now have little more than 
half enough saw timber to sustain their suggested 
share of the growth goal (fig. 11). A 469-billion- 
board-foot deficit in these sections is partially. 
offset by the fact that the West has 370 billion 
40 Miscellaneous Publication 668, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
