trees 5 to 8 inches d. b. h. and are thus progressively 
depleting the growing stock. 
Possibilities for immediate increase in the yields 
of spruce, balsam fir, and jack pine are very 
limited, but the large numbers of small trees 3, 4, 
and 5 inches in diameter on restocking areas and 
scattered throughout the aspen stands give basis 
for the belief that volumes at least as large as the 
present cut could be obtained on a sustained- 
yield basis, if the growing stock were protected for 
about 20 years. In the meantime, only the larger 
trees scattered through the hardwood forests and 
the products of thinnings and improvement cut- 
tings on swamps should be cut. This would yield 
only 11.8 million cubic feet of the three species 
in place of the 42.5 million cubic feet now cut or 
destroyed. To make up the difference, it might 
be possible to use more hemlock tops and slabs 
and more aspen, or it might be necessary to increase 
the already large imports of wood and pulp from 
Canada to Michigan and Wisconsin mills. 
Inferior Species and Cull Material 
The 12.3 million cords of cull timber already 
available and the large additional volumes which 
can be salvaged from suppressed, wind thrown, 
and damaged timber, once the forests are put under 
management, represent not only a great surplus 
of usable material but actually an obstacle to the 
full development of the forest. As such, its utili- 
zation offers a challenge to the manufacturing 
industries in the Upper Peninsula. 
Consideration should be given first to the possi- 
bility of utilizing this material for certain products 
now made in whole or in part from merchantable 
trees. Important among these are distillation 
wood, firewood, fence posts, mine lagging, and 
car stakes. 
Markets for inferior wood should be expanded 
by developing more efficient and cheaper methods 
of cutting, splitting, seasoning, loading, and haul- 
ing; by better planning of forest roads; and possibly 
by relocating manufacturing plants to reduce 
transportation of rough material. 
New products that can be made from inferior 
woods must be sought in the laboratories, in the 
mills, and in the workshops of the local people. 
A large number of small uses will be just as effec- 
tive as a few products in great demand for absorb- 
ing a large quantity of this material. 
