increasingly effective control of fire has enabled about 

 two-thirds of this young growth to attain an age of 

 11 to 40 years; the rest is younger. Much of the 

 growth less than 11 years old is in the oak types, 

 where fire and clear-cutting of immature stands have 

 been most prevalent. The remainder of the un- 

 merchantable forest area is thinly stocked and dom- 

 inated by scrub oak and aspen, gray birch, and pin 

 cherry (fig. 21). 



Figure 2 1 . — Marty square miles bear only stunted pitch pines, gray 

 birch, and scrub oak. 



Although the unmerchantable stands are largely 

 not suitable for logging at present, they contain more 

 than one-third of the saw timber in the forests of the 

 region, and over half the tonnage in other material 

 (table 2). This vast area is a challenge and an 

 opportunity. Good forest management can speed 

 up the process of converting these understocked 

 forests into productive, merchantable stands. 



Table 2. — Forest area and timber volume, by < ondition < lass 



Condition elass 



Foresl 



area 



Saw 



timber 



.1/ bd. it. 

 838, 000 

 125 si in 

 871, 800 



Otlur 

 matei ial 



(green 

 weight ' 



Merchantable stands: 



Saw timber 



Acres 

 177. 400 

 614, 500 

 2, 406, 500 



Tons 



1, 8 i, 'ihi 



l'ole timber . 



9, 803, 800 



1 rnmerchantablc stands - . 



I i. 950, 100 



Total 



J, 198, 400 



2, l 15, 600 



'" ,, ">, inn 



Merchantable Pole-Timber Stands 



Most of the merchantable pole-timber stands are 

 made up of second or third growth following clear- 

 cutting. A large proportion of the trees in the oak 

 types are sprout growth; trees from seedlings pre- 

 dominate in the sugar maple-beech-yellow birch and 

 white pine-hemlock types. The principal species, 

 and the proportion of the gross cubic-foot volume, 

 including bark, which each represents, are as follows: 



Percent 



Red, white, chestnut oaks 24 



Red maple 14 



Hard maple 11 



Ash and basswood 11 



Beech 10 



Birch 



Other hardwoods 9 



Hemlock and pitch pine 9 



Other conifers 4 



100 



Less than a quarter of the tonnage in merchantable 

 pole-timber stands is in trees 11.0 inches or larger 

 (fig. 22). 



3.5 



w 3.0 



z 



o 



>- 2.5 



5.2.0 



t 1.5 



£ 1-0 



o 



ui 



£ 0.5 













. 









































































8 10 12 



DIAMETER CLASS 

 (inches) 



14 ond up 



Figure 22. — Diameter-class distribution by green weight of all ma 



in merchantable pole-timber stands. 



Merchantable Saw-Timbei Stands 



The merchantable saw-timber stands are either at 

 some distance from the mining sections or in farm 

 woodlands; thus they have escaped the intensive 

 utilization (fig. 23) of areas nearer the mines or have 

 been reserved for reere.ition.il purposes or for wai 

 shed purposes around reservoirs rhese stands aver- 

 age about 4,700 board feet per acre and ran 



The Antludi ite Forest Re 



.1 Problem An a 



21 



