is more rugged and has a more severe climate than 
in Oregon. 
Conifer Sawlog Types 
The conifer saw-timber types occupy 14.5 million 
acres, or more than 40 percent of the region’s total 
land area and more than 50 percent of its forest 
land. Practically all the saw-timber volume in the 
region occurs in the types making up this group. 
The average stand per acre of these types approxi- 
mates 35,000 board feet. Figure 7 shows the extent 
of saw-timber stands contrasted with that of second- 
growth stands. About 60 percent of the saw-timber 
type area is in Oregon and 40 percent in Washing- 
ton. 
OLD-GROWTH DOUGLAS-FIR 
Nearly all the cutting in this region has taken 
place in old-growth Douglas-fir forests, chiefly in 
type 6 stands averaging more than 40 inches 
d. b. h. It is estimated that before logging began 
old-growth Douglar-fir timber covered about 14 
million acres. Of the 6.9 million acres remaining, 
three-quarters is in western Oregon. 
Old-growth stands in western Washington are 
predominantly mixed; in western Oregon predomi- 
nantly pure. In the region as a whole they average 
about 80 percent Douglas-fir. The most common 
associates are western hemlock, western redcedar, 
Pacific silver fir, and noble fir. The understory 
consists usually of western hemlock, western red- 
cedar, bigleaf maple, and red alder. The alder is 
generally limited to the stream courses. Along the 
larger rivers northern black cottonwood is found. 
Tree species much less commonly present in these 
types are Sitka spruce along the coast, Pacific yew, 
western chokecherry (Prunus virginiana demissa), and 
in southern Oregon ponderosa pine, sugar pine, 
Port Orford white-cedar, golden chinquapin, tan 
oak, California laurel, and Pacific madrone. 
The underbrush of these types is characteristically 
dense and luxuriant. Salal (Gaultheria shallon), vine 
maple (Acer circinatum), salmonberry (Rubus spectab- 
iis), Oregon-grape (Odostemon aquifolium), and 
devils club (Fatsia horrida) are the most common 
brush species. 
Stand volume per acre ranges from 10,000 to 
more than 175,000 board feet and averages about 
60,000 board feet for the large old growth and 
40,000 board feet for small old growth. Douglas-fir 
sawlog-size trees range in diameter from 16 to more 
than 100 inches. 
Sa 
325635 
Figure 6.—Stump pasture, classified in the survey as agricultural and definitely out of forest production. In background, patches of forest such 
as are found throughout the Willamette Valley and other large agricultural areas in the Douglas-fir region. 
