THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER SUPPLIES 



119 



Timber Supplies Could Be 

 Substantially Increased 



In addition to having the highest average site 

 capacity and the greatest timber volume in the 

 United States, the Pacific coast offers outstanding 

 possibiUties for increasing usable wood supplies 

 above projected levels Action along five lines, 

 described below, could be taken to increase wood 

 supplies. 



(1) Closer utilization. — In spite of outstanding 

 progress in utilizing timber in logging operations, 

 nearly 400 million cubic feet of logging residues, 

 including 1.5 billion board feet of material in- 

 cluded in the sawtimber inventory, have been 

 left behind annually on logged-over areas on the 

 Pacific coast. An additional 230 million cubic 

 feet of unused coarse residues also are available 

 annually at sawmills and other manufacturing 

 plants in this section. These woods and mill 

 residues are primarily suitable for the pulp and 

 paper industry. 



Greater salvage of dead timber also could aug- 

 ment available timber supplies. In 1962 about 

 393 million cubic feet of the timber harvest in 

 this section came from dead and cull trees, or 

 about 11 percent of the total roundwood pro- 

 duction. Although this figure is large, it repre- 

 sents only part of the potential salvage. There 

 is a backlog of about 10 billion cubic feet of 

 salvable dead and cull timber in the Pacific coast 

 section. Part of the annual mortality loss, which 

 totals about 1.8 billion cubic feet per year, adds 

 regularly to this backlog. 



Salvage opportunities are particularly promising 

 in western Oregon and Washington, where the 

 average annual mortality in old-growth stands is 

 more than 350 board feet per acre, mainly in big 

 Douglas-fir and hemlock trees. At present about 

 a fourth of the salvable dead timber in old-growth 

 stands is within a quarter-mile of existing roads. 



Further increases in usable timber supplies 

 might be achieved by changes in utilization 

 standards and practices. For example, if utiliza- 

 tion were to improve to a point where trees down 

 to 9 inches were utilized, and if the width of the 

 saw kerf were reduced in manufacturing lumber, 

 the yield of timber products could be increased 

 rougnly 11 percent. 



(2) Cultural treatments. — Relatively little work 

 has been done in thinning and otherwise improving 

 Pacific coast stands, although this is a highly 

 important means of raising timber yields in both 

 the immediate future and in the long run. In 

 western Washington and Oregon alone, there are 

 5 million acres supporting young stands in which 

 commercial thinning would make possible an in- 

 crease in the log harvest. This area could produce 



an estimated 1% billion board feet annually of 

 usable wood from thinnings, without reducing 

 the final harvest from these stands. There are 

 also opportunities to increase the quantity and 

 quality of yields beyond the year 2000 by cultural 

 work in younger stands. 



(3) Accelerated regeneration. — Almost 16 million 

 acres in the Pacific coast — or 22 percent of the 

 commercial forest area — is either nonstocked or 

 poorly stocked. Planting of the better sites on 

 these areas would make possible a higher level of 

 future yields. Shortening the regeneration period 

 after logging also would permit some immediate 

 increase in the annual allowable cut. 



(4) Improved protection. — Fires still kill about 

 0.7 billion board feet annually on the Pacific 

 coast, despite increased intensity of fire control in 

 recent years. In ponderosa pine stands, both 

 insects and dwarfmistletoe also cause serious 

 losses. Increased protection efforts to control 

 fires, dwarfmistletoe, and other pests could add 

 significantly to future timber yields. 



(5) Road, construction. — Intensive timber man- 

 agement requires an adequately developed road 

 system, but many old-growth stands on the Pacific 

 coast are not yet accessible. Even areas that were 

 logged several decades ago are often inaccessible 

 for thinning or other cultural work because logging 

 roads were not maintained or because railroads 

 were used in logging and then abandoned. In 

 national forests in California only half of the basic 

 road system has been completed. In Washington 

 and Oregon access roads are inadequate on about 

 one-third of the national forest land. 



Realization of projected cuts on the Pacific 

 coast will require road construction in the national 

 forests at a sufficiently rapid rate to permit a 

 substantial increase in the timber harvest from 

 high-risk areas, salvable dead trees, and com- 

 mercial thinnings. 



Through such accelerated management and 

 development measures annual timber growth in 

 the Pacific coast section might eventually be 

 very substantially increased, as indicated by the 

 following growth estimates: 



Growing stock Sawtimber 



(billion cu. ft.) {billion bd. ft.) 



1962 3.1 13.5 



Projected 2000 4.1 18.2 



Longrun realizable 5.0 23.0 



Much Depends on How the 

 Public Timber Is Managed 



In the past most of the timber cut in the Pacific 

 coast has come from private lands, and this situa- 

 tion is expected to continue between now and 



