NORTHERN 



IDAHO 



FOREST RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES 



Economic Factors 



■>» 



Markets 



IT HAS been pointed out that the forest industry will 

 shrink in the future unless the cut ot conifers other 

 than western white pine can be increased. This brings 

 forward the question: What is responsible for the present 

 design ot production? The markets available to the local 

 producers must be examined to determine the basic causes 

 for the unbalanced production and the possibilities of 

 change. 



The Preseyit Situation 



In the absence of a better term, northern Idaho may be 

 classed as a resource region. It has raw materials but is 

 thinlv populated and therefore has only a limited consum- 

 ing capacity. The forest industry, to expand to its present 

 size, has developed markets outside the region. Thus, 

 there are two aspects to the market problem — the local 

 consumption and the outside distribution. 



Logs for lumber are the principal item ot cut by an over- 

 whelming margin, but tour-fifths of the lumber is shipped 

 out. Fuel wood is the principal product used at home, 

 accounting for 72 percent ot the wood consumption in 

 northern Idaho. The average annual consumption of the 

 various products in northern Idaho is shown in the 

 following tabulation: 



Lumber 102 million board feet lumber tally. 



Fuel wood 339 thousand cords. 



Fence posts 837 thousand pieces. 



Mine timbers 2 million linear feet. 



Poles 12 thousand pieces. 



Piles. 78 thousand linear feet. 



Hewed ties 16 thousand pieces. 



Shingles 29 thousand squares. 



House logs 590 thousand board feet log scale. 



Since the timber resource is abundant and coal deposits 

 are not, fuel wood is the principal source of heat in northern 

 Idaho. Although cordwood is shipped into Spokane and 

 other points in eastern Washington, 91 percent is burned 

 locally, principally from low-quality timber and dead wood. 



In the case of mine timbers, hewed ties, piles, shingles, 

 and house logs, also, local consumption is a high proportion 

 of the production. In fact, more than twice as many 

 shingles are consumed as are produced. Of all these minor 

 products, posts alone show a greater number shipped out 

 than used locally in the period for which the data are 



(^ 



compiled. There is little chance ot the local markets tor 

 these products greatly increasing, or of any substantial 

 outside markets being developed. Consequently, al- 

 though they are produced entirely from the secondary 

 species (including ponderosa pine), their markets offer 

 little possibility for changing the unbalanced drain. 



The pole industry, on the other hand, relies almost com- 

 pletely (95 percent) upon outside markets. It has already 

 been pointed out that the production ot redcedar poles is 

 actually greater than is desirable, and that therefore any 

 increase would be unwise. 



At the present time it seems that any hope of increasing 

 the utilization ot grand fir, hemlock, Douglas-fir, and the 

 other secondary species rests upon the pulp and lumber 

 industries. The onlv pulp and paper plant in this region 

 is located at Spokane, Wash. Since 1927 this concern has 

 obtained an average of 11.5 million board feet of grand 

 fir, spruce, hemlock, and Cottonwood annually from north- 

 ern Idaho, but this is a trifling amount, for there are 

 approximately 9 billion board feet ot these species in the 

 commercial stands. Construction ot more pulp plants 

 has so tar been discouraged by the competitive market 

 situation, in which the freight rate on pulp and paper is 

 an important factor. 



The average annual consumption ot lumber in northern 

 Idaho of 102 million board feet, lumber tally, which is 

 about one-fifth of the average production in this area, 

 is as follows: 



Million 

 board 

 feet 



Remanufacturing industries 49.8 



Railroads 13.1 



Farms 13.7 



Mining industry ' ?.8 



State and county highways 2.7 



Power and communication systems .1 



Federal agencies 1.1 



Urban construction 4.4 



Municipal governments .1 



Rural nonfarm construction 1.3 



Total 102.1 



One-half ot this total is remanufactured into boxes, sash, 

 doors, match blocks, and other products, largely shipped 

 out ot the region. The bulk ot the boards and plank used 

 in the remanufacturing plants is western white pine and 



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