Local Variations in Ownership 



The discussion of forest ownership is incomplete without 

 considering the wide variations between localities. For 

 this purpose the five districts previously defined will be 

 used. To avoid contusion the comparison ot local owner- 

 ship will be restricted to the two most important forest 

 classifications; namely, commercial forest land and com- 

 mercial western white pine volume. The proportion ot all 

 commercial forest held by the several classes ot owners is 

 shown in table 3 for each of the five districts. 



Table 3. — Percent of commercial forest land in different ownership classes 

 and districts 



Ownership clas.< 



National forest 

 Larce private 

 Small private 



State 



Other publie 



Total 



Sand- 

 point 



Coeur 

 d'Alene- 

 St. Joe 



Clear- 

 water 



Win- i 

 Chester 



44 



48 



32 





18 



17 



28 



16 



22 



23 



21 



68 



12 



5 



17 



3 



4 



7 



2 



13 



100 



100 



100 



100 



Idaho 



At one extreme is the Idaho County district with 82 

 percent of its commercial area publicly owned, and at 

 the other is the Winchester district with 17 percent 

 belonging to the public. In the Sandpoint, Coeur d'.AIene- 

 St. Joe, and Clearwater districts, where forest industry 

 has been characterized by large concerns, only 20 percent 

 of the commercial area is in large private ownership. 

 In the period of acquisition, these owners acquired a 

 large part ot the valuable saw timber without having to 

 purchase a corresponding proportion of the torest-land 

 area. Practically all ot the western white pine timber 

 volume is located in these three northern districts. 



DISTRIBUTIOn OF 

 PRIVPTELY OlUnED UUHITE PIPE 



0.3^ 



SANDPOINT DISTRICT 



COEUR DALENE-STJOE DISTRICT 



3.1 



CLEARWATER DISTRICT 



NUMBERS IN BARS ARE BILLIONS 

 OF BOARD FEET (LOG SCALE) 



It was shown that private operators, large and small 

 combined, hold 45 percent of the commercial western 

 white pine saw-timber volume in northern Idaho as a 

 whole. In the Sandpoint district, however, private 

 holdings account for only 24 percent of the remaining 

 western white pine (fig. 19). This low percentage is, 

 of course, due to the past heavy cutting of private timber. 

 The national forests contain 43 percent of the western 

 white pine in the Sandpoint district. The State holdings 

 are almost as important, as they include 33 percent, making 

 a total of 76 percent for the State and national forests. 



In the Coeur d'.'\lene-St. Joe district, extensive logging 

 in private timber has resulted in a more or less similar 

 pattern, with 62 percent ot the commercial western white 

 pine in the State and national forests as compared with 

 36 percent privately owned. 



An entirely different situation exists in the Clearwater 

 district where 56 percent of the western white pine is in 

 private hands, 22 percent the property of the State of 

 Idaho, and only 21 percent in the national forests. How 

 ever, with logging principally concentrated on private 

 lands, as it is today, the privately owned timber is bound 

 to be depleted rapidly. 



Table 4 should be studied with care, as the volume of 

 western white pine, its location, and ownership are pri- 

 mary factors in the future of the lumber industry and the 

 communities in northern Idaho. 



Table 4. — Ownership and location of commercial western white pine 

 snw-timhcr volume^ in million hoard feet^ loz scale 



Ownership class 



Sand- 

 point 



Coeur 

 d'.\lene- 

 St. Joe 



Clear- 

 water 



Win- 

 chester 



Idaho 

 County 



Total 



National forest .... 



Large private 



Small private 



State 



Other public 



534. H 



288. 9 



13 2 



410. 4 



.i. 8 



1.664. .5 



982. 6 

 97.fi 



188.4 

 .58.3 



1. 145. 



2,811.5 



250.0 



1.221.4 



48.0 



0.1 

 



222.4 



10 9 



1.0 



1.2 



7.3 



3. 566. 8 

 4, 094. 



361. S 

 1, 821. 4 



119.4 



Total .- 



1.2.53.2 



2. 991. 4 



5. 475. 9 



.1 



242.8 



9. 963. 4 



Figures 19. The last extensive acreage of western while pine is in the 

 Clearu/ater district, of which 56 percent is privately owned. 



The Ownership Pattern in Forest Management 



The foregoing discussion leaves unanswered the logical 

 question — how does the ownership picture in northern 

 Idaho differ from the one which would be necessary tor a 

 stable forest industry? A complete answer to this involves 

 the not-too-simple economic question of just who can 

 profitably raise timber crops in this area. Discussion of 

 this part ot the question with its controversial angles must 

 be postponed to the section on forest economic factors. 

 For the present, only the physical factors of size and divers- 

 ity of ownership will be considered. It must be admitted 

 that in the past the size ot private holdings, tor the most 

 part, has not made any particular difference in the manner 

 of utilizing the timber. Even those operators more fitted 

 for continuous production by virtue ot their extensive 



20 



