Allowable Cut 



Allowable cut is defined as the quantity of mer- 

 chantable timber that can be cut annually during 

 specified periods while building up or maintaining 

 a growing stock adequate to fulfill certain futine 

 growth goals. 



During the next 15 to 20 years, the size of the 

 allowable cut in the Lake States will be controlled 

 not so much by the ultimate growth goal as by the 

 extent and treatment of the remaining old-growth 

 timber, and the rate at which second growth will 

 become sufficiently mature to harvest. It must be 

 influenced to some extent also by imperative needs 

 of existing industries and other pressures tending 

 to hasten the liquidation of merchantable stands. 



Speaking broadly, the region has three possible 

 courses in the harvesting of its tinrber dining the 

 next few years. The first, ^vhich would be dictated 

 by purely silviculttnal considerations, would be to 

 reduce the cinrent rate of cutting of saw timber 

 and high-grade pulpwood very drastically— 30 to 40 

 percent— while increasing the cut of inferior cord- 

 wood. This course would stimidate growth rates 

 of desirable species and would hasten the day when 

 much larger yields could be obtained in the future. 

 Inevitably it would have a severe effect upon indus- 

 trial activity, employment, and other elements of the 

 local economy. 



A second possible course, dictated by short-view 

 economic considerations, would be to continue un- 

 restricted licpudation of available saw timber and 

 desirable pidp timber until it is used up, then to 

 cut the second growth as early and as thoroughly 

 as market conditions woidd permit. By this means 

 most of the existing industries, or replaceinents, 

 coiUd continue for awhile. In the end, however, 

 the downward adjustment woidd be equally if not 

 more severe, and ftdl recovery of the forest would 

 be deferred for a longer time. 



A third possible course, the one recommended 

 in this analysis, is intermediate. It is based upon 

 the belief that the existing timber stands will sup- 

 port an annual cut of saw timber during the next 20 

 years, only slightly smaller than during the past 5 

 years provided certain changes are made in logging 

 and utilization practices. This late of cutting will 

 defer for a few years the attainment of a high futine 

 growth goal, but appears justifiable in view of the 

 economic importance of going industries (fig. 34). 



Maintaining the proposed level of cutting will 



Forest Resources of the Lake States Region 



1950 I960 1970 



FiGURK M.— Probable results for each of tlirec courses of le- 

 moving nierclianlable timber pom forests of the Lake States 

 region during the next two decades. 



require rather careful budgeting of the remaining 

 supplies of mature timber, and adopting methods 

 of cutting which will reduce mortality, stimulate 

 current growth, and utilize available material more 

 effectively than at present. Some of the specific 

 measures required will be pointed out in the con- 

 cluding section of this report. 



Following the recommended intermediate course 

 will provide an average annual cut of about 720 

 million cubic feet, including 1,200 million board 

 feet of saw timber during the decade 1951-60. This 

 can come from various kinds of stands about as 

 shown in table 29 and from lands in different 

 ownerships as shown in table 30. 



Allowable Cut in Relation to Groivth 



Although current net growth and allowable cut 

 are shown as identical in quantity— 720 million 



Table 29.— Alloiuabh' annual cut from Lake States forests, 

 1951-60, by stand class 



Stand class 



Old growth 



Second growth 



Pole timber- _ 



Seedlings and saplings, and 

 other 



Total 



All timber 



All 

 species 



Million 

 cubic 

 feet 



90 

 240 

 240 



150 



720 



Soft- 

 woods 



Million 

 cubic 



feet 



iO 

 70 

 55 



25 



Hard- 

 woods 



Million 

 cubic 



feet 



60 

 170 

 185 



125 



Daw timDer 



All 

 species 



Million 

 board 



feet 



360 

 520 

 210 



110 



40 1.200 



Soft- 

 woods 



Million 

 board 

 feet 



125 

 120 

 40 



Hard- 

 woods 



Million 

 board 



feet 



235 

 400 

 170 



95 



300 



41 



