most no record was kept of pole production prior to 1925, 

 and data are available only for the alternate years since 

 then. The following tabulation presents the commercial 

 pole and pile output tor these years in northern Idaho: 



-V« mber 



1925 218, 000 



1927 291, 000 



1929 447. 000 



1931 228, 000 



1933 9, 000 



193S 169, 000 



1937 382, 000 



1939 ?7!,000 



The earliest cedar pole operations were principally 

 centered in the vicinity ot Sandpoint and St. Maries, and 



pnnuPL sfluu-TimBER cut 



500-1 



- 



400- 



-" 





^ 









J^p 



300- 









• 



'N 









tU 









Si 









^C 



















^ 









to 



















Nl 









1.- 









k 









kj 200- 



— 







^ 









k 





, 





Q 









t 









i 







^ 



"u 







SAWLOGS 



^ 



















\ 









"^ 









NJ 

 \ 









^ 100- 







FUEL WOOD 







POLES 













- PILES 





■ 











^ 



OTHER 







PRODUCTS 



















^1 

















Figure 27. — Seventy-seven percent of the green saw timier felled is sawed 



into lumber. 



until the last decade these two localities had produced the 

 bulk ot the poles coming trom northern Idaho. With the 

 opening of the Clearwater country, the industry shifted 

 southward. 



On the map in figure 25 are located the shingle mills, 

 pole yards, and remanufacturing industries of northern 

 Idaho and Spokane, Wash. Also shown is the pulp and 

 paper mill at Spokane. Pulpwood is shipped to this mill 

 trom northern Idaho, which has no pulp plant of its own. 



Cutting Drain 



In addition to the sizable net volume of logs shipped out 

 ot northern Idaho each year tor manufacture into lumber 

 is the volume ot logs transported by flatcar, stream, and 

 truck (fig. 26) from one to another of the districts. Obvi- 

 ously the volume of timber felled in any area is the basic 

 consideration in the management of its resources, rather 

 than output of its sawmills. This distinction is unim- 

 portant for most of the timber products other than 

 lumber, shingles, and paper pulp, as the process of manu- 

 facture is completed near the stump. 



In making the transition from sawmill production to 

 timber cut, the reader if he is to avoid confusion must per- 

 form a mental hopscotch. The preceding board-foot 

 lumber figures represent mill output in lumber tally — an 

 actual tally of the boards, plank, timbers, and railroad 

 ties produced. The following board-foot figures of cut are 

 a measure of the trees telled to produce the various com- 

 modities — called log scale. Lumber-tally or mill-run 

 figures generally overrun the log scale estimates by varied 

 amounts. The average overrun tor 1938 is estimated 

 to have been around 21 percent. 



Eight timber products in addition to sawlogs for lumber 

 are cut in significant amounts from the forests of northern 

 Idaho. Their output has fluctuated from year to year 

 depending upon a number of factors. For that reason 

 the average annual cut of any particular period, although 

 a "yardstick" measuring past performance, is not neces- 

 sarily an indicator ot what is likely to happen in the future. 

 The following "yardstick" figures have been rounded off 

 from such past cutting records and estimates as were 

 available (lumber 1935-38, other products approximately 

 1925-34): 



" Average annual production 



Sawlogs ifor lumber) 482.6 million board feet log scale. 



Fuel wood 37] thousand cords. 



Cedar poles and piles 245 thousand pieces. 



Other piles 64 thousand linear feet. 



Hewed ties 16 thousand pieces. 



Shingle logs 1.5 million board feet log scale. 



Pulp logs 20 thousand cords. 



Round mine timbers, 2 million linear feet. 



Fence posts 2 million pieces. 



28 



