often necessary to slash the woody plants that in- 
evitably occupy parts of the area. Alternate grazing 
of cattle and goats has been tried as a means of 
keeping out bracken and brush, but without not- 
able success. Repeated burning, as already pointed 
out, results in increasing the bracken. The expense 
of seeding is apparently not justified where the land 
is going to be allowed to revert or will inevitably 
revert to trees or other woody growth in a few 
years, and where utilization as permanent pasture 
is not its highest economic use. Small areas that 
can economically be converted to pasture by per- 
sistent seeding and clearing are usually parts of 
operating farm units and accordingly are classed as 
agricultural, not forest land. 
Forest Problem Areas 
There are three major areas of idle forest land in 
the region, which illustrate conditions and prob- 
lems that occur on many other areas on a smaller 
scale. The first of these extends along the east side 
of Puget Sound from near Tacoma to about 25 
miles north of Everett and runs inland 15 to 25 
miles. Although the soils are chiefly gravelly and of 
low agricultural value, they once grew valuable 
forests, a large part of which was logged many 
years ago. Much of this district, which includes 
between a third and a half of the population of the 
Douglas-fir region, has been subdivided, outside 
urban limits, into 5- and 10-acre lots. Only a small 
number of these lots have been improved, chiefly 
for residence by workers in Seattle, Tacoma, and 
Everett; many of them are tax delinquent; and a 
considerable number have reverted to the counties 
through tax forfeiture. Little of the area is actually 
farmed. Clearing fires escaping to adjoining land 
have devastated large areas, until in this entire dis- 
trict there is little forest growth. Although this land 
is fairly densely populated, all but a small part of it 
is idle. To bring it under management for timber 
production would be difficult because of instability 
of ownership and proximity to industrial centers. 
The second major problem area is the expanse of 
recently cut-over land in Gravs Harbor, Mason, 
and western Thurston Counties, Wash. Parts of 
this area have deep and fertile soil, but the topog- 
raphy is generally unfavorable to agriculture. There 
is little agricultural settlement in this district, and 
the only farms are in the narrow shoestring valleys. 
80 
This area may restock successfully; but because of 
its extent, the scarcity of seed trees, and the high 
fire hazard it probably will not do so for many 
If 
present conditions continue there is a strong possi- 
bility that large parts of this area will never restock 
naturally. The two most difficult problems are fire 
protection and tax delinquency. The instability of 
ownership reduces the effectiveness of fire protec- 
years, unless remedial measures are applied. 
tion. A State forest is now being created in this 
district, which should alleviate the situation. The 
area includes some of the most productive forest 
soil in the region, and if it is nonproductive for long, 
a serious loss of timber growth will result. 
A large part of the third area, covering Columbia, 
Tillamook, and eastern Clatsop Counties in the 
northwest corner of Oregon, is cut-over land and 
deforested burn including the great Tillamook burn 
of 1933. It is practically all forest land but, like 
the second area, the topography is so rough as to 
permit little agriculture. The main bodies of saw 
timber will be almost entirely gone in about a dec- 
ade if the present rate of cutting continues. These 
three counties are already financially distressed, 
and it is doubtful if they can maintain the present 
road and school system in the forest zone when tax 
revenue from timberland decreases, unless sources 
other than the general property tax are available. 
The problem of financing fire protection is acute 
because of the instability of ownership and the large 
area of county-owned and tax-delinquent land. 
Much of this area will not restock naturally for 
many years, since many parts of it are a consider- 
able distance from seed trees. 
Practically all of the region’s old nonrestocked 
cut-over lands (type 35), totaling 666,000 acres, 
occurs in these three problem areas. The economic 
returns from nonforest use of this land are negligible 
and from the standpoint of the future timber supply 
its idleness represents a serious loss. Under good 
forest management, however, it is easily capable of 
producing 250,000,000 board feet of timber an- 
nually. It is estimated that an annual production 
of this amount would give permanent employment 
to at least 2,000 workers in the forest industries and 
indirect employment to 2,000 or 3,000 additional 
workers in dependent industries and service occu- 
pations, thus supporting a total population of 
10,000 to 12,000 persons. 
