holdings have constructed mills with capacities for saw 

 timber far exceeding what their forests ami their neighbors' 

 forests can supply tor more than a limited period. This 

 must be blamed partly upon the necessity of meeting heavy 

 carrying charges, partly upon the difficulty of converting 

 overmature forests into managed units, and partly up(jn 

 the American philosophy of the time, "bigger and better 

 everything." 



Before discussing the problems arising from the present 

 size and diversity ot ownership, it is necessary to eliminate 

 the tarm-torest land. This does not mean that there is no 

 farm-forest problem, but rather that the ownership pattern 

 has contributed little to farm-woodland abuse. According 

 to the 1935 census, there were 727,000 acres of forest lanti in 

 farms. If it is assumed that none of this area is noncom- 

 mercial, the commercial forest area can be broken down 

 mto two broad ownership classes, industrial and farm. 

 This assumption involves no great possibility of error, as 

 only 2 percent of the "small private" forest area is non- 

 commercial. This break-iiown works out as follows: 



Thou- 

 sand 

 Indu-.trial: acres 



.Small private 775 



Large private 1, 180 



National forest. . .' ?>, 195 



State :. 614 



Otfier public 376 



Total industrial 6, 140 



Farm 727 



Grand total 6, 867 



I'rom the above tabulation, it is apparent that the farm 

 forest is a small factor in the general forest situation in 

 northern Idaho, the 727,000 acres of forest land in farms 

 being but 11 percent of the commercial forest area. This 

 is in marked contrast to the eastern half of the L'nited 

 States, where farm forests are two-fifths of the total. 



What then is a satisfactory unit ot management for the 

 89 percent of the forest land designatetl as the " industrial 

 area"? This forest land is a vast patchwork of olii stands, 

 young stands, and deforested areas. Owing to the nature 

 ot the market, no cash return can be obtained from most 

 areas until the timber reaches sawlog size at an age of 80 

 to 140 years. Thus, it an operating unit is to continue on a 

 permanent basis it must contain an assortment ot stands to 

 be found only in relativeU' large areas. Whether the 

 operating unit be 2,000 acres or 200,000 acres liepends upon 

 the condition of the forests wnd the production ilesired. 

 However, it is estimateii that an operating unit ot 100,000 

 to 200,000 acres wouki be reijuired to proiiuce continuously 

 10 million boaril feet of white pine a year. Although it 

 is not necessary that a single owner hold title to all the 

 timber in a management uiut, the greater the number of 

 owners, the greater the difticulty ot obtaining united 

 action. 





t * A V 



- r r 







LARGE PRIVATE OWNERS 



V< 





'/2 



MILES 



Kua'RF 20. Palchveork ovcnership patlrrn »» t\pi(tU fortst lownjii/Ki •«/- 

 sijf th( Salionalfortsts. The are* hi vhite is mtijf up of Humrrom jmnit 

 hoJJings. 



The subdivision ot private holdings into twi' groups lu.ix 

 give the impression that the "large private" and public 

 holdings are in compact blocks. This is true to a cert.ii- 

 extent, but tigure 10 prob.iblv jxirtravs a more tvpic.il 



4S7}t7ti'' 43- 



