Timber Drain 



-»^ 



^^ 



How does the present rate of timber deple- 

 tion compare with cturent growth and 

 proposed allowable cut? In making this 

 comparison, it is important to consider not only the 

 amoimt of the total drain but also its composition 

 as regards species and kind of timber, and the 

 ownership of land from ^vhich it comes. Recent 

 and prospective trends in rate of cutting also are 

 significant. 



During the fairly representative year 1948, drain 

 on the Lake States forests caused by cutting was 

 approximately 675 million cubic feet, including 

 1,460 million board feet of live saw timber. The 

 largest share, about 42 percent, was in Michigan 

 (table 26). 



Tablk 26.— Estimnti'd riitting drain on jiriniiux grouping slock 

 ill Ihr I III:,- Slnti's region, 1948 





All timber 



Saw timber 



State 



All 

 Species 



Soft- 

 woods 



Hard- 

 woods 



All 

 Species 



Soft- 

 woods 



Hard- 

 woods 



Minnesota 



Million 

 cubic feet 



185 

 205 

 285 



Million 

 cubic jeet 



90 

 60 

 90 



Million 

 cubic feet 



95 

 145 

 195 



Million 

 board feet 



265 

 435 

 760 



Million 

 board feet 



115 

 135 

 250 



Million 

 board feel 



150 



300 



Michigan __. 



510 



ResioM total. 



675 240 



435 



1.460 



500 



960 



Cutting for lumber caused approximately 45 per- 

 cent of the cubic-foot drain in 1948 and 70 percent 

 of the drain on saw timber. Other important drain 

 items were pulpwood, fuel ^vood, and veneer (table 

 27 and fig. 31). 



Significantly, nearly one-foiuth of the lumber 

 sawed in the Lake States in 1948 was obtained from 

 pole-size trees. On forest lands close to villages 

 and resort developments especially, pole-size trees 

 of jack pine, aspen, and some other species were 

 sawed into construction lumber and box boards. 



Thus 1,297 million board feet of lunrber Avas equiva- 

 lent to only 1,018 million board feet of saw timber 

 by cmrent Survey standards. 



By far the greater share of cin^rent drain is on 

 stands in private OTvnership. In 1948. approximate- 

 ly 77 jaercent of all timber drain and 84 percent of 



Table 21 .—Drain on primaiy growing stock, by timber prod- - 

 nets iu commercial units and Forest Survey equivalents. 

 Lake States region. 1948 





Equiva- 







Product and quantity produced. 194S 



lent 

 volume of 



Equivalent drain on 

 standing timber - 





wood * 









Million 



Million 



Million 





cubic feet 



board feet ^ 



cubic feet 



Lumber logs, 1,297 million bd. ft. * 



201.2 



1,018 



305.2 





19.5 



1.2 



.3 



130 



25.5 



Veneer bolts, 16.2 thousand cords. 



1 5 



Cooperage logs, 2.0 million bd. ft. ' 



3 





Cooperage bolts, 1.8 thousands cords 



^ 





? 



4.2 



27 



5 T 



Pulpwood bolts, 2,130 thousands cords ^ 



154.4 



78 



162.7 





6.3 

 6.1 



9 



1 

 12 



6.7 



Chemical wood, 89 thousand cords.. .. 



3.2 





.1 





9 





.1 



Miscellaneous mill logs, 12 million bd. ft. » 



1.9 



13 



3.0 



Miscellaneous mill bolts, 25 thousand 









cords ^ 



2.0 



1 



2.0 



Fuel wood, 5,500 thousand cords 



357.5 



131 



124.0 



Fence posts, 27 million pieces 



22.0 



17 



25.0 





1.7 



S 



1.9 





2 



2.7 

 2.5 



1 







.1 



Mine timbers, 14. 5 million bd. ft. ^.. 



17 

 2 



3 .5 



Mine poles and lagging, 35 thousands cords.. 



2.8 



Miscellaneous round timbers, 3.2 million 









bd. ft. 5 



.5 



4 



1.0 



Miscellaneous round timbers, 5.3 thousand 







.3 





.5 









Total 



785.1 



1,460 



675 .0 







' Solid wood without bark. 

 - Includes waste, but does not incliult 

 meioial forest lands. 



^ International \^-\i\c\\ \o% scale. 



"' Green talley of lumber rut from lof?s. 



'•> Scribner Decimal C log scale. 



^ Standard cords rough wood in 8-foot lengths, 



■^ 55-inch cords. 



^ Less than 50 M. 



d from noniorest and noiuom- 



38 



Forest Resource Report No. 1, U. S. Department of Agriniltiire 



