As in the case of sawn products, the Douglas-fir 
subregion has the greatest concentration of both 
logging and milling waste that may be used for 
pulp. But because there are only a few pulp mills 
in the Pacific Northwest and because most of them 
are located on navigable water, distance from the 
mills limits recovery of logging waste for pulp 
manufacture even more than for lumber. Many 
of the logging operations where waste is now ac- 
cumulating are too far from the pulp mills to per- 
mit salvage for this purpose. 
Notwithstanding a growing use of building 
board made from specially treated wood fiber, new - 
uses based on chemical processes seem more likely 
to broaden the field of wood use than to replace 
staple products such as lumber, plywood, and pulp. 
In the aggregate, then, use of material now 
wasted is not likely to result in a decisive reduction 
of the pressure on our forest growing stock. In 
the main, our output of staple forest products will 
continue to be met by direct drain upon the forest, 
and this demand is not likely to be greatly reduced 
by new uses for wood waste. Conversely, it seems 
probable that should the output of new products 
that do replace lumber and pulp rise to a level that 
would significantly affect the pattern of over-all 
consumption, it would become necessary to supple- 
ment recoverable waste by drawing directly upon 
the forest itself. 
In any event the long-range growth goals dis- 
cussed earlier in this report would not be much 
affected by what may be accomplished in use of 
waste. ‘This is so not only because of the consider- 
ations outlined above, but also because the volume 
of usable waste will be much less when the virgin 
timber is gone. More will be scattered and more 
will be in small pieces, economically difficult to 
handle. Less will be suitable for sawn products. 
The benefits to be gained in use of waste, there- 
fore, lie only partly in helping to bridge the gap 
between present output and potential requirements. 
Even more important is the contribution that new 
uses can make to national welfare in other ways. 
New uses serve to expand employment per unit of 
forest growth. This is needed to support people 
and strengthen the regional economy where timber 
is a major resource and the primary timber indus- 
tries are declining. Thus the use of waste can 
serve to help cushion the economic shock of forest 
depletion. It has special significance for the South, 
where added employment would help offset the 
decrease in manpower needed for growing and 
handling the cotton crop. 
At the same time the use of waste should add in- 
centive for better forestry. Use of waste removes 
or reduces fire hazard on cut-over areas and it im- 
plies a broader and better opportunity to improve 
forest growing stock by using inferior species and 
less desirable trees. Unfortunately the effect is 
often in the opposite direction: the opportunity for 
added income through closer utilization may lead 
to premature cutting and liquidation of needed 
growing stock. However, as previously stated, 
ability to utilize material now wasted may spell the 
difference between success and failure in planning 
sustained-yield operations. 
Thus, entirely aside from making a direct con- 
tribution to the Nation’s immediate need for timber 
products, better use of the timber we cut can have 
an important bearing on our progress in the wide- 
spread application of sustained-yield management 
that will be needed to achieve desirable growth 
goals. A good market for all kinds of forest-grown 
material is the key to intensive forestry, and use 
of waste should be a major objective in a compre- 
hensive program of forestry for the Nation. 
68 Miscellaneous Publication 668, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
