Tasie 18.—Production of round and split posts in the Douglas- 
fir region during 1930, by State, forest-survey unit, and species 
MATERIAL OUT FROM TREES OF SAW-TIMBER SIZE 
West- | poyg- | Ponde-| 
Forest-survey unit ernred- 1 ue Tosa Oak Total 
cedar pine | 
M M M M M 
board | board | board | board | toard 
Western Washington: feet feet | feet feet | feet 
North Puget Sound____-} 406 479 | Cece | etn | 453 
Central Puget Sound_---| 1,023 | 105 |e eee ess 1,033 
South Puget Sound__-_- 530 | 25) | faa a el Oey 555 
Grays! Harbor_=-——— 70 4p ae ee 74 
Columbia River________- 230 | 26) (Seal Pees 256 
Totale= sere na 2, 259 1:1 2 eee | ean 2, 371 
Western Oregon: | 
Columbia River-__-----_- 530 54 ee ee ee 584 
Willamette River_-_-___- 1, 372 68/2 90 | 1,530 
North Oregon coast_-_-_- 138 BY) ee Bees 141 
South Oregon coast__--_- 64 Ca) | ee el ae . 1100 
Umpqua River----_--:-- 185 30} | Tee 40 255 
Rogue) Rivers 222 =-==2- 685) sa see 48 | 32 148 
Totalost=--25= ee 2, 357 178 48 162 2, 758 
Regionitotalitesess— esa 4,616 290 48 162 5, 129 
MATERIAL CUT FROM TREES OF LESS THAN SAW-TIMBER 
SIZE 
M M M M M 
‘ cubic | cubic | cubic | cubic | cubic 
Western Washington: feet feet | feet feet feet 
North Puget Sound____- 133) eee (ism ete farina 133 
Central Puget Sound__-_- p22.) [ee penn | (epee © ee We 282 
South Puget Sound__-__ 96) eae BAP IE IR So hes 96 
Grays) Harbor==ss2---2 == Pa (ae | a ed PE 23 
Columbia River_-_----_-- Zhi sere al SE es Ce ae | 52 
Motalsecs see Oe a 9867p aoe ea |e se ee ees 586 
| 
Western Oregon: | | 
Columbia River__-____ = 169 Se 1 170 
Willamette River__-_____ ZIG! | Reames | Mertens 20 | 239 
North Oregon coast_____ 143 / E Co wee ee pea 14 
South Oregon coast__--_- 18 1) ee reel Peep ies, 222 
Umpqua River-<-_.2--2. 15 |--------|-------- 8 23 
Rogue;Rivers-==+="--' 23 Sit [es seer 3 18 255 
Tota] use ease et 466 1 3 47 523 
| 
Region:totalae oss 1, 052 il 3 47 1, 109 
1 Includes 13 M board feet of other species. 
2 Includes 3 M board feet of other species. 
by destroying young stands, delaying and prevent- 
ing forest regeneration on cut-over land, and reduc- 
ing the productivity of forest soils. In the present 
study of fire depletion, the gross area burned over 
annually was recorded by type, site, and unit and 
the net loss of saw-timber volume was recorded by 
50 
type and unit. Such records were compiled and 
analyzed for the period 1924-33 for national- 
forest land and for 1926-80 for all other land. 
The records used did not include any catastrophic 
fires, such as the Tillamook fire of 1933 which cov- 
ered more than 240,000 acres and killed 10 billion 
feet of some of the finest timber in the region, prac- 
tically all on private land. If such a catastrophe 
had been included in a study of a period as short 
as 5 or 10 years and for an area as small as a survey 
unit, the averages would have been distorted. In 
estimating future fire depletion it was assumed that 
a catastrophic fire would occur once in 30 years 
and a separate allowance was made for such losses. 
Estimates of the average acreage burned annually 
in the Douglas-fir region are given by generalized 
type for national-forest land and all other land in 
table 19. Saw-timber losses, confined to conifer 
saw-timber types, are, in M board feet, as follows. 
Nationalttorestilandira emi toerr acct: eee 93, 790 
@therpland eye olorsvorehtevorey ker etelarneeeree 178, 613 
Ao tale Si WS Se ee eaexer a Pove /o vobercuc te oye eran 272, 403 
Negligible volumes of saw timber were lost by fire 
in types 9, 12, 15, 19, 21, 24, and 28; fire reports 
customarily include them in saw-timber types or 
ignore them. ‘ 
The 24,000 acres of national-forest land burned 
over annually in 1924-33 is 0.24 percent of the total 
forest area of the national forests in the region. The 
net acreage was considerably less than this, since 
some fires reduce the stocking without completely 
destroying the stand. For example, in old-growth 
Douglas-fir stands (types 6 and 7) field study indi- 
cated that for each 100 acres burned over the net 
loss was equivalent to complete destruction of the 
stand on only 40 acres. 
Approximately 30 percent of the acreage burned 
over annually was occupied by saw-timber stands, 
whereas nearly 56 percent of the total area of 
national-forest land in the region is occupied by 
such stands. A much higher proportion of the 
Douglas-fir seedling and sapling areas, of recently 
cut-over land, of old deforested burns, and of the 
noncommercial types is burned over annually than 
of saw-timber areas, for these types have a higher 
hazard than saw timber and older second growth. 
The seedling, sapling, and recent cut-over types, in 
particular, are highly inflammable. The non- 
