States (22), because of the preponderance of old- 
growth saw timber in this region. The Douglas-fir 
region excels every other forest region of the United 
States in total cubic volume, but not by so large a 
margin as in saw-timber volume. 
Measurement of the entire stand in cubic units 
is particularly important in considering pulpwood 
supplies,* although only a small part of the pulp- 
wood at present consumed in this region is cut from 
trees of less than sawlog size. Under prevailing 
logging methods and the economic conditions now 
existing, it is unprofitable to remove understory 
trees and they are usually destroyed in logging. 
Cubic measure is useful also in considering the 
capital stock available to produce future growth. 
Ownership of Forest Resources 
The large areas of idle forest land and the dis- 
orderly exploitation of forest resources in the 
Douglas-fir region have resulted partly from the 
ownership pattern. Ownership has been so diffused 
and public responsibility so neglected that no 
coordinated policy of forest-land use has been put 
Future condition of the forest re- 
In 
into effect. 
sources depends even more on this factor, 
order to produce the greatest social and economic 
benefits, the forest resources must be so managed 
that they will be permanently productive; and the 
type of management accorded forest land is 
governed largely by ownership. Stabilization of 
ownership is prerequisite to sustained-yield man- 
agement of forest lands. 
Private Ownership 
More than 53 percent of the commercial forest 
land and approximately 48 percent of the saw- 
timber volume in the Douglas-fir region is privately 
owned. In general, the privately owned forest 
land is more accessible and the privately owned saw 
timber is of better quality than that in public 
ownership. Between 56 and 57 percent of the 
timber in economic-availability class I is privately 
8'The pulpwood resources of this region are analyzed in 
detail in Pulpwood Resources of Western Oregon and West- 
ern Washington, Forest Research Notes No. 17, Pacific 
Northwest Forest Experiment Station. (Mimeographed.) 
1935. 
38 
owned. Roughly 6.2 million acres of conifer 
Included in the 
acreage of private commercial forest lands is 1.8 
million acres of recently cut-over land (type 36), 
about half of which is nonrestocked, and 1.2 
million acres of old nonrestocked cut-over land 
and deforested burns. Conifer second growth 
occupies 4.4 million acres of private land, of which 
about half is cut over and half is old burns. Prac- 
tically all the second growth on cut-over areas and 
timber of sawlog size remains. 
a considerable part of that on old burns is more 
accessible than the existing sawlog-size timber. 
By far the greater part of the privately owned 
forest land in the region is owned by either lumber, 
timber, pulp-manufacturing, or land companies, 
railroads, or individuals other than farmers. 
The conception of forest land as a resource to be 
managed on a sustained-yield basis has attained 
scant realization among private forest owners here. 
Beset by adverse economic factors, nearly all pri- 
vate owners are directing their efforts toward early 
liquidation of their standing timber. Cut-over 
lands, second-growth lands, and other lands not 
supporting saw timber, with few exceptions, are 
held either for speculation, as a protection to ad- 
joining saw timber, to protect rights of way, or 
through inertia on the part of the owner. Very 
little land of this character is being managed by 
the owners for continuous production of forest 
crops. 
Until recent years many timber owners confi- 
dently expected to dispose of much of their cut- 
over land to settlers. Recent economic events and 
a growing realization that most of the remaining 
uncleared cut-over land is not suitable for agri- 
culture have done much to dispel these hopes. 
National-Forest Ownership 
The national forests were originally created from 
the public domain and consist, generally speaking, 
of lands that up to the time of their withdrawal 
had not been considered desirable for private 
investment. They have been slightly augmented 
by exchange and in other ways. As depletion of 
private timber progresses, national-forest timber 
becomes more valuable. 
The national-forest timber is managed under 
sustained-yield policies, and cutting on each oper- 
