sawmills if greater quantities of hemlock and ‘“‘ce- 
dar” are utilized. 
For the decade 1953-62 the assumed cut for the 
district drops to about 1515 billion feet, of which na- 
tional-forest timber composes about a fifth. In 
1963 the Puget Sound district is assumed to have 
the third largest total log production among the six 
By that time its total volume 
of timber on lands other than national forests is as- 
sumed to have diminished to about 42 billion feet, 
and its national-forest timber to have diminished 
(from 58 billion feet in 1933) to 52 billion feet. A 
considerable reduction in the quantity of sawlogs— 
districts of the region. 
particularly Douglas-fir sawlogs—cut for lumber is 
It is assumed 
that by that period part of the slack in employment 
expected to occur during this decade. 
caused by the passing of sawmills will be taken up by 
increase in pulp production. 
Under present marketing conditions the existing 
raw material is sufficient to supply all the existing 
wood-using industries at present rates of consump- 
tion at least until 1943, and is probably sufficient to 
do so until 1963 if all species are used. However, 
disappearance of the open log market for Douglas- 
fir would undoubtedly force certain sawmills to 
cease operation. Owners of sawmills the deprecia- 
tion of which has been fully accounted for and that 
are still reasonably efficient can afford to pay about 
$1.50 per 1,000 more for logs than owners of newly 
built sawmills requiring depreciation, and this $1.50 
can be applied to the cost of transporting logs from 
greater distances. ‘This differential is not, however, 
sufficient to bring in camp-run logs from northern 
Oregon. ‘Therefore, unless other species are substi- 
tuted on a large scale for Douglas-fir there is bound 
to be a reduction in the quantity of lumber sawed in 
the Puget Sound district during the period 1953-62. 
Forced migration of forest industries as a result of 
raw-material shortage would seriously disrupt the 
economy of this district which has more than half 
the population of the entire region. Constructive 
measures that would help avert this danger are: (1) 
Conserving the supply of high-quality material 
through selective logging; (2) better utilization in 
the woods; and (3) more complete manufacture. 
GRAYS HARBOR-WILLAPA BAY DISTRICT 
In the Grays Harbor-Willapa Bay district the 
annual production of lumber, lath, and shingles for 
106 
the period 1925-34 averaged about 1.1 billion feet, 
lumber tally, with a high of 1.8 billion feet in 1926. 
a low of 0.3 billion feet in 1932, and a 1934 total of 
about 0.47 billion feet. Annual production of logs 
(log scale) for 1925-33 averaged slightly more than 
1.45 billion feet, with a low of 0.77 billion feet in 
1933. The Douglas-fir, spruce, and “cedar” of 
availability class I in this district is sufficient to 
maintain the 1933 rate of log production until 
about 1948, even if no hemlock or balsam fir trees 
are cut. This same timber would maintain the 
1925-33 annual rate of log production only until 
about 1943. The total cut of 9 billion feet assumed 
for 1933-42 and for 1943-52 includes a consider- 
able proportion of hemlock and other species to be 
used in pulp mills, 15 to 20 percent in the first de- 
cade and 20 to 40 percent in the second. By the 
end of the second decade the greater part of the 
Douglas-fir will be gone, and a considerable part of 
the Sitka spruce and “‘cedar.”’ 
The sawmill industry in the Grays Harbor- 
Willapa Bay district will be able to go ahead on a 
reduced basis for one more decade and probably 
part of the second, but not much longer unless there 
is a decided increase in the use of hemlock, ‘‘cedar.” 
and balsam firs for lumber. Inventory data and 
type maps for the district show that the future of 
this region is bound up in the pulp industry. With 
raw material enough for greatly increased pulp 
production, this district needs additional pulp mills 
if all labor now used in the lumber industry is to be 
given employment in the future. 
Western hemlock lumber is well adapted to most 
ordinary construction needs, and prior to 1930 a 
considerable quantity of it was marketed. Preju- 
dice against this wood existed particularly in eastern 
markets where eastern hemlock, a different species, 
had only a mediocre rating. Instead of making a 
determined effort to overcome this prejudice 
through trade extension and through better manu- 
facturing methods, West Coast manufacturers of- 
fered western hemlock at prices lower than those 
of competing woods. The prejudice persisted; 
and during the depression, when little building was 
being done and prices of other woods went to rock 
bottom, the price-differential sales weapon was 
eliminated and hemlock lumber sales dropped off 
% larger proportion than sales of Douglas-fir. It 
is assumed that good manufacturing procedure, 
