the larger sizes of high-quality timber that has 

 made it possible for Douglas-fir to hold its rank as 

 the Nation's number one lumber and plywood 

 species. 



Western Washington and western Oregon have 

 55 percent of the total Douglas-fir inventory with 

 40 percent of the total in Oregon alone. Cur- 

 rently, 57 percent of the sawtimber volume in 

 these States is in trees 29 inches in diameter and 

 larger. 



VOLUME OF SELECTED 

 SOFTWOODS BY DIAMETER CLASS 



25 

 20 



Douglas-Fir 







15 

 10 

 5 

 n 



liii 









25 - 

 20 - 



15 - 

 10 - 



5 





 25 

 20 



15 

 10 



5 







Ponderosa Pine 



...I 



Southern Pines 



I I 



I 



19.0 

 to 



19.0 29.0 



29.0 

 to 

 39.0 



39.0 



Diameter Class (Inches) 



Fi3urc 42 



F-483534 

 Much of the timber on the PaciFic coast is larse trees. 



The ponderosa pine situation is much like that 

 of Douglas-fir, with a concentration of volume in 

 trees 19 inches in diameter and larger. Eastern 

 Washington, eastern Oregon, northern California, 

 and Idaho contain about two-thirds of the total 

 ponderosa pine volume in the West and four-fifths 

 of the pine timber over 29 inches. 



Quality of Western Softwoods Declining 



As the virgin timber has been liquidated in 

 better stands in the West, the average size and 

 quality of the remaining inventory has gone 

 down. This is particularly evident where opera- 

 tions have been forced to move back into the 

 mountains to poorer sites and stands, or into 

 young -growth timber. For example, records of 

 the Columbia River Log Scaling and Grading 

 Bureau show that average log volume dropped 

 from 599 board feet in 1952 to 457 board feet in 

 1962. 



