FOREST LAND AND TIMBER RESOURCES 



109 



on Canada's Economic Prospects.^^ This com- 

 prehensive study of Canadian timber require- 

 ments, resources, and prospects indicates that 

 Canada possesses sufficient timber resources to 

 support an allowable annual cut by 1980 of some 

 9.5 billion cubic feet — nearly three times the 

 volume of timber products cut in 1962. 



This estimate of the prospective allowable cut 

 in Canada appears quite low in relation to com- 

 parable figures for the United States, but pre- 

 sumably reflects the fact that Canadian forests 

 on the average are of appreciably lower inherent 

 productivity. The Canadian study also empha- 

 sized that this estimate of the volume of timber 

 physically available for cutting requires economic 

 qualification, for it is not certain how much of an 

 increased cut could be made available at a cost 

 that would permit it to be sold in competition 

 either with nonwood materials or with the forest 

 products of the United States and other countries. 



The situation relating to further expansion of 

 timber industries in British Columbia also is 

 indicated in an analysis of timber prospects in 

 that Province recently prepared by the British 

 Columbia Forest Service.^^ According to this 

 study, in British Columbia the lumber industry has 

 expanded into practically all portions of the 

 Province which contain a preponderance of timber 

 suitable primarily for lumber. In these developed 

 areas the timber resource base has been almost 

 completely allocated and permissible cuts almost 

 fully committed. Since some decline in lumber 

 production is considered likely in the coastal areas 

 of the Province where forest industry has long 

 been developed, it was concluded that little or no 

 net increase in lumber production in developed 

 portions of the Province is likely in the near future. 



In the more remote parts of British Columbia, 

 on the other hand, there is still an unused allowable 

 cut estimated at approximately 1.1 billion cubic 

 feet annually — an amount sufficient to support an 

 increase in pulp and paper output, for example, of 

 possibly 7 million tons annually. Timber supply 

 and cost conditions in these remaining undeveloped 

 portions of British Columbia are such that primary 

 exploitation will have to be undertaken by the 

 pulp and paper industry, and use of the compara- 

 tively minor portion of the timber suitable for 

 lumber will be possible mainly as a byproduct of 

 future integrated operations. 



'- Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects. 

 The Outlook for the Canadian Forest Industries, 1957. 



'^ Pogue, H. M. British Columbia Forest Service. 

 Progress to September 1962 and future prospects of the 

 British Columbia sustained yield forest program. State- 

 ment prepared for the U.S. Tariff Commission. 



How much actual increase in cut can be achieved 

 economically in various parts of Canada in future 

 years will of course depend upon many factors, 

 including the total size of the U.S. and world 

 market for timber products, future price levels 

 for timber and competing products, trends in 

 wages and other costs, exchange rates, improve- 

 ments in forest management, the success of the 

 forest industries in developing new technologies 

 that will reduce the costs of logging, transpor- 

 tation, and manufacturing of timber products, 

 and the resource development policies followed 

 in the United States and Canada. 



It is concluded that even with some expansion 

 of domestic consumption of timber products in 

 Canada, and further increases in exports to other 

 parts of the world, somewhat larger shipments 

 of Canadian softwood timber products to the 

 United States are possible, as indicated in the 

 section on The Outlook for Timber Demands. 



Other Regions of the World 

 Likely To Supply Hardwood Imports 



It also appears likely that other regions of the 

 world, particularly Asia, South America, and 

 Africa, will supply rather substantial imports, 

 especially hardwood veneer and plywood. Al- 

 though information on the world's forest resources 

 is scanty, there is undoubtedly a huge potential 

 flow of wood products from tropical forests. The 

 area of hardwood forests in South America, 

 Africa, and Asia, for example, totals an estimated 

 5.2 billion acres.^^ 



Most of the tropical forests are characterized 

 by a wide variety of hardwood species, few of 

 which are of commercial value at present. Also, 

 much of the timber in these forests is currently 

 considered to be economically inaccessible. Never- 

 theless, in view of such factors as the volume of 

 timber in these tropical forests and growing pres- 

 sures in many countries to develop industries 

 based on available resources, it appears reasonable 

 to expect increases in the flow of imported hard- 

 wood products. 



3^ Food and Agriculture Organization of the United 

 Nations. World Forest Inventory, 1958. 



