merchantable. Thousands of acres of young, rapidly 

 growing forest are being clear-cut annually to supply 

 the mines. 



During 1943 mine operators imported some of 

 their wood supplies from Pennsylvania counties 

 adjacent to the Anthracite Region and from other 

 states. They imported about a quarter of their mine 

 boards (table 1) and a small portion of their mine 

 timbers, principally larger sizes used in gangways. 



Table 1 . — Source of wood required by the anthracite 

 industry in 1943 



Source 



Round timber 



Lumber 



Local . . 



Thausand 

 tons 

 755 



57 



Million 

 en. ft. 

 26.5 

 1.6 



Per- 

 cent 

 94 

 6 



Million 



bd. ft. 



48.3 



16.8 



Per- 

 cent 



74 



Imported 



26 



Total 



812 



28.1 



100 



65.1 



100 



The Lumber Industry 



In the latter part of the nineteenth and early in 

 the twentieth century, especially in the northern and 

 eastern counties, large-scale lumbering overshadowed 

 mine-timber operations. Hemlock was felled for its 

 tanning bark; pine and various hardwoods were 

 cut for lumber. At one time the whole section from 

 Sullivan County to Monroe was dotted with large 

 sawmills. 



The lumber industry still survives, but it is much 

 smaller than it was. In 1942 there were 263 saw- 

 mills in the region, including many small portable 

 mills (figs. 18 and 19). Of these: 



35 were idle. 



63 produced less than 50 thousand board feet. 



1 1(> produced between 50 and 500 thousand board feet. 



33 produced between 500 thousand and 1 million board 



feet. 

 16 produced nunc than 1 million board feet. 



In all, die mills produced about 69 million board 

 feel of rough lumber in 1942, more than half of il in 

 Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wayne Counties. Aboul 

 85 percent of this was used within the region; the 

 rest was shipped outside. Very little construction 



lumber was used loealK during the war. A large 

 proportion of the local buildings are in need of repair, 



however, and lumber sales probabl) have increased 



since the war. 



■ . * 



I 



\ . ■ x _* . x 



A • "l 



* * - } 



ir"x./\ 



'.x x *. x y 



■ / x i • * •,' x- 



; ; > • .. ' • . ■. \ ■ * x x> 



( UO, 



\x' 



,3 .N 



• /•• x . 



■ _* x ?>*y • • *v x * x ^' 





m s* 



/ 



X '< ... .,x 



.^x;x.--- 

 • \. • \ 



«, f 



Production in 1945 

 -Thousand Boord Feet 



IDLE 



0-49 



50-249 



250-499 



500-999 



1000 ond up 



10 20 30 40 



Scale ot miles 

 FIGURE 18. — Location of sawmills in 1945. 



FlOURl l 1 ). There art many small portable mills. 



Farm Woodlands 



Most of the 25,000 farms include some foresi land. 



which supplies the owners with building materials. 



fence posts, and fuel wood In the northern com 



a small quantity oi maple syrup is made; pi 



amounted to 10,300 gallons in 1 

 M.un farm woodlands also supplemeni cash i 



The Anthracite Forest Region A Problem Area 



19 



