CONSERVATIVE LUMBERING AT SEWANEE, 



TENNESSEE. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Bureau of Forestry in 1900 undertook the management of the 

 forest at Sewanee, Tenn., owned by The University of the South. The 

 forest had been misused for rnany years and was steadily declining in 

 value, but the financial condition of the University prevented any 

 expenditure on its improvement and demanded that it be made to yield 

 immediate returns. In spite of these disadvantages a plan of manage- 

 ment was devised and applied which has been profitable and has left 

 the forest in good condition after lumbering. 



Two types of forest grow at Sewanee — one confined to the plateau, 

 the other to the coves. Although $3,000 for all of the timber was 

 considered a fair offer by the University in 1899, yet under the plan of 

 management of the Bureau of Forestry the University made in 1900- 

 1901 a net profit out of its cove timber alone of about $1,500, and the 

 following year of about $1,200. The forest on the plateau had been 

 burned and grazed so long that its improvement in quality and com- 

 position was the urgent problem. A plan of treatment was made 

 whereby the labor expended on the improvement of the plateau forest 

 would be paid for by the returns it would yield. Although the work 

 of improvement done on the plateau was required to be self-supporting 

 only, it yielded a net profit of about $500. 



Four more years of lumbering remain to be done, and for three 

 years at least there is an assured annual profit of $1,500, or half of 

 what the University was formerly willing to accept for all of the 

 timber. In a word, timber formerly valued at $3,000 will have been 

 made to yield a profit of about $7,000. 



The high profits were made possible through the careful planning 

 of the lumbering in order to prevent waste and to secure the largest 

 returns from the merchantable trees. In the cutting, provision was 

 made that the land should again produce valuable timber. 



In the following pages the forest is described, recommendations for 

 management are given, and the results attained are stated. The recom- 

 mendations are general, since the treatment of the forest has necessarily 

 been such that rules to cover each particular case would have wrought 

 confusion. The plan submitted states the objects to be gained by 



