Reckoning without the possibility ot better markets for 

 secondary species and within the limitations set by present 

 economic conditions, two equally important considerations 

 are involved in any action program. One is the need for 

 checking the runaway liquidation of western white pine 

 and the other is the immediate necessity of laying founda- 

 tions for a stable forest economy by providing adequate 

 forest protection and by effecting those additional changes 

 which will make possible sustained-yield management tor 

 all forest land. 



Applying the Brakes to Liquidation 



To face the issue squarely, the private operator, owning 

 45 percent ot the western white pine saw timber, can 

 hardly be expected to exercise the restraint essential to 

 the conduct ot a permanent timber business, unless the 

 margin between the returns from sustained-yield forestry 

 and the profits from a "mining" enterprise is greatly re- 

 duced. The present rate ot liquidation is in itselt evidence 

 that sustained-yield forestry is not an attractive proposi- 

 tion, and the calculations in the preceding chapter confirm 

 this evidence. 



There are very definite practical considerations limiting 

 what can be done to solve the problem ot private forestry 

 in northern Idaho. To stop the overcutting ot privately 

 owned western white pine would require either a great 

 sacrifice by the operator or substantial government sub- 

 sidy. One is too much to demand and the other, since 

 the cost would probably have to be borne by the Federal 

 Government, too much to expect. Liquidation of western 

 white pine on most private lands will probably run its 

 course. Public eflPort should be expended, however, to 

 decelerate its progress. The most economical way to 

 apply the brakes to exploitation would doubtless be to 

 improve the outlook for private sustained-yield forestry 

 in any way possible. This course is desirable primarily 

 because it has the effect of perpetuating as fully as possible 

 private enterprise, upon which our democratic society 

 is founded. Its promise is in the tact that the present 

 gloomy outlook is conditioned largely by economic factors 

 that are capable of improvement. It will, however, re- 

 quire a considerable amount of public cooperation. 



With respect to public forests, free from constant en- 

 tanglements of private equities, there can be no doubt 

 concerning the proper policy. Fifty-tour percent of the 

 western white pine saw timber in northern Idaho is either 

 owned by the State or is in the national forests. Properly 

 handled, this timber will form a buffer which the eastern 

 forest regions did not have — to prevent the liquidation 

 of private timber from eliminating the western white pine 

 industry; to cushion the effect ot this liquidation upon 

 the communities. 



Four decades of public pressure tor conservation might 

 be expected to yield 100 percent administration ot public 



forests on a sustained-yield basis; yet in northern Idaho 

 management of the State forests has never attained this 

 level, and even national-forest policies have not kept 

 pace in all respects with the development of the western 

 white pine situation. 



The 18 percent (1.8 billion board feet) of the remaining 

 western white pine saw timber owned by the State, in- 

 cluding some of the finest stands in northern Idaho, is 

 not being utilized according to any program of sustained 

 yield. Despite the protestations of those State oflicials 

 acquainted with the situation, the funds appropriated 

 continue to be inadequate for even the proper administra- 

 tion ot logging on State lands. In the words of the State 

 forester, "... there has been little improvement in the 

 technique of forest management and silvicultural practice 

 on the part ot the State in thepast forty years." ^° Through 

 the liquidation ot the virgin timber on State lands without 

 regard to sustained-yield capacity, the State stands to 

 gain primarily in the more rapid increase of the funds 

 dedicated by law to the schools and other public institu- 

 tions. Far offsetting this gain are the peneti-ating chronic 

 ills arising from industrial and community instability and 

 dislocation. 



The national forests as a whole operate on a sustained- 

 yield basis, but under constant pressure to increase the 

 cut beyond the sustainable point as a crutch to faltering 

 communities. .Although in certain instances the Forest 

 Service has done this, the wisdom of this action is open to 

 question. While affording temporary succor, it only 

 postpones the evil day and gives relief which the same 

 communities will have to pay for later several times 

 over. To give aid in a form that will reduce the earning 

 power of future generations would appear to be an 

 extremely unsound long-time policy. 



It is reasonable to expect that the management of 

 State forests and national forests should attempt to mini- 

 mize the effect of private liquidation, and that so far as 

 possible the production ot these forests should be based 

 on the sustainable capacity of the public and private lands 

 together rather than the public lands alone. For instance, 

 if the sustainable cut of a unit were 50 million board feet 

 per year, half private and half national forest, and it the 

 private owners were logging 50 million board feet annually, 

 the effect of overcutting by the private operators could, 

 in part, be neutralized by reducing the production from 

 public lands. .\x. present the national forests are managed 

 as independent units, without sufficient regard to the 

 extent of overcutting on surrounding lands. 



Two general conclusions seem fair. (I) Pressure for 

 drastic curtailment ot the excessive private cutting can 

 hardly be justified, since the effect on communities con- 

 cerned would be much too severe. (2) As far as possible, 



^^ Idaho State Land Department. 24th biennial report, 1936— 38. 

 34 pp., illus. [1938.] 



58 



