NORTHERN 



IDAHO 



FOREST 



RESOURCES 



A N D 



INDUSTRIES 



Forest-Industry Development 



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PRIOR tu 1900 the timber cut in northern Idaho was 

 limited mainly to the quantity needed for local use — 

 lumber and fuel wood for the homes, and lumber, 

 ties, fence posts, timbers, and other products needed by the 

 agricultural, mining, and railroad industries. These 

 requirements were, as they still are, comparatively small, 

 and consequently the aggregate cut was not large. It was 

 not until outside markets were developed atter 1900 that 

 the forest industry came into its own. 



Lunihcr Industry 



A census o\ production for 1869 indicates that 1.8 million 

 board feet ot lumber was produced during that year. The 

 annual output climbed during the next 30 years to 56 

 million board feet in 1899. From there it rose to 705 

 million board feet in 1910 and, from a minor place in the 

 local economy, lumbering became a primary source ot 

 wealth. 



The curve ot production following 1910 presents a jagged 

 line, rising and falling with the fortunes of the Nation, but 

 continuing generally upward until 1925 when it went into 

 reverse, reaching a depression low in 1932. The recovery 

 since then has been only partial. These tremls are shown 

 in figure 21, which calls attention to several significant 

 ponits. 



onnuPL LumBCB productiod 



1899-1938 



FiciiRE 21. — In JO^S, 41 perreni of the lumber ciil in northern Iiitihu was western white pine. In 

 /y.W the proportion hail risen to 71 percent. 



In 1937, the best recent year up to 1940, the total lumber 

 cut of all species in northern Idaho was 34 percent less than 

 that in 1925, which was the all-time high. This compares 

 interestingly with the decline in sawmill production for the 

 Nation as a whole, which was 32 percent in the same 12- 

 year interval. The cut ot all species in northern Idaho 

 except western white pine dropped from 565 million board 

 feet in 1925 to 169 million feet in 1937, or 70 percent. 

 But for western white pine alone, 1937 was the peak year, 

 and in that year 18 percent more western white pine was 

 sawed than in 1925. 



The tailspin into which ponderosa pine production fell is 

 particularly striking. Up to 1910 this was the principal 

 species logged. In that year 255 million board feet was 

 sawed. The next peak was 237 million board feet in 1925. 

 The nearest approach to these figures up to 1940 was an 

 80-million cut in 1937. 



The economy ot the lumber communities, and thus 

 indirectly the economy ot northern Idaho as a whole, has 

 been profoundly shaken by the decline of the industry. 

 Seventeen sawmills with individual capacities of 5 million 

 board teet or more and an aggregate capacity of one-half 

 billion board feet, ceased operation between 1925 and 1939. 

 Five others were built during the same pcrioil, but these 

 did not replace the loss of the 1~. .Altogether in 1925, 

 there were 33 sawmills of 5 million board 

 teet capacity, having a total annual ca- 

 pacity of 1.1 billion board feet. The 

 combined capacity of the 21 mills oper- 

 ating in 1939 (tig. 221 was 0.8 billion 

 board teet. Much ot the new capacit\ 

 represents a migration from cut-tiver to 

 virgin areas rather than a replace- 

 ment in the localities suffering the 

 losses. 



The Umibcr imlustry picture in north- 

 ern Idaho is simple in that it has been 

 and is dominateii by a few large mills. 

 In 1938 the Census Bureau rejx>rtcil 9t) 

 sawmills operating in this area, pro- 

 ducing 40(1 million Uiard feet of s;iwcvl 

 material or 4.5 million btxird feet per 

 mill — more than three times the na- 

 tional a\ erage. I Kn\ c\ er, and this jxiint 



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