A SUMMARY OF THE TIMBER RESOURCE REVIEW 



105 



Western true firs and western hemlock are im- 

 portant in terms of sawtimber volmne, accounting 

 for about 17 percent of the national total, but 

 were relatively unimportant in 1952 in terms of 

 either growth or cut. 



9. Timber quality is declining. 



There is substantial evidence that standing 

 timber is declining in quality: 10 percent of 

 sound timber volume is in cull trees; the volume 

 of cull hardwoods in the East is equivalent to 

 one-fourth of eastern hardwood growing stock; 

 two-thirds of eastern hardwood sawtimber would 

 probably classify as poor Grade 3 logs; one- 

 fourth of eastern softwood sawtimber is in the 

 smallest (10 inch) diameter class; preferred 

 species or types are gradually being replaced in 

 many areas; the proportion that larger trees 

 comprise of total timber volumes is decreasing; 

 and rapidly grown second growth is poorer than 

 old growth in texture, grain, dimensional stability, 

 machining, and other characteristics needed for 

 quality uses. 



Medium projected demand for millwork, siding, 

 furniture, veneer, and other timber products 

 requiring substantial proportions of high-quality 

 material is estimated in 2000 at two and one-half 

 times 1952 consumption. It is also expected 

 that 80 percent of timber demand in 2000 will 

 require sawtimber size trees. 



Despite the very considerable technological 

 advances that offset in part the need for quality, 

 the outlook appears to be for a continuing need, 

 which may be less relatively tiian in the past, but 

 greater in terms of total demand, and for a 

 declining trend in the supply of quality timber. 



10. Timber growth is increasing . 



One of the most favorable factors in the timber 

 situation is that growth is increasing. On a na- 

 tional basis, sawtimber growth was nearly 9 per- 

 cent more in 1952 than the adjusted growth in 

 1944. Eastern softwood sawtimber growth is 

 estimated to be 11 percent greater than in 1944 

 and hardwoods 16 percent greater. One-half of 

 all sawtimber growth occm's in the South, with 

 nearly one-third of the total on the southern 

 yellow pines. 



In the West, sawtimber growth appears to have 

 decreased 3 percent between 1944 and 1952. As 

 old-growth areas in the West are cut and more 

 second-growth stands reach measured size, western 

 growth should substantially increase. 



1 1 . Most eastern species now have favorable growth- 



cut ratios. 



Overall growth-cut comparisons are misleading 

 because: (1) they conceal the separate and often 

 quite different hardwood and softwood growth- 

 cut ratios; (2) overall comparisons include the 

 growth-cut situation in the West which is distorted 

 by the large amounts of residual old growth ; and 



(3) balances between growth and cut have little 

 meaning unless the inventory is large enough to 

 sustain projected timber demand. 



It is significant, however, that eastern softwood 

 sawtimber growth was 20 percent greater than 

 cut in 1952 and eastern hardwood sawtimber 

 growth was 57 percent greater than cut. The 

 favorable softwood growth-cut ratio was brought 

 about as much by a 16-percent reduction in cut 

 as by an 11-percent increase in growth. Most 

 eastern species now have favorable growth-cut 

 sawtimber ratios, although they continue un- 

 favorable for a few preferred species. In the 

 West, the ratio of growth to cut was less than 

 in 1945 because of a decrease in growth and an 

 increase in cut. 



12. One-fourth oj timber cut is not utilized. 



Of the timber cut in 1952, one cubic foot out of 

 every four was not utilized. Unused plant resi- 

 dues and logging residues were about equal in 

 volume and totaled nearly 3 billion cubic feet. 

 About one-third of the timber cut for lumber was 

 not used, either for fuel or any other purpose. On 

 the other hand, only 4 percent (excluding chemical 

 losses) of the timber cut for pulp was not utilized. 

 The best utilization was found in the North (82 

 percent of the cut was used) ; the West (74 percent 

 used) and the South (72 percent used) show lesser 

 degi'ees of utilization. 



Logging and plant residues can, of course, never 

 be completely eliminated. But reduction of 

 unused residues is one effective way of making 

 available timber supplies go further. About 75 

 percent of the sawtimber cut is for saw logs, and 

 the proportion of timber cut which is unutilized is 

 higher for saw logs than for any other major 

 product. Improved utilization of the timber cut 

 for saw logs offers the greatest opportunity for 

 supplementing timber supplies. 



IS. Destructive agents, principally insects and 

 disease, take extraordinary toll. 



If it were not for the effect of destructive agents, 

 sawtimber growth in 1952, instead of about equal- 

 ing timber cut, would have nearly doubled it. 

 The "growth impact," which includes not only 

 1952 mortality but also growth losses from 1952 

 damage, was about 44 billion board-feet. Insects, 

 disease, weather, fire, and other destructive agents 

 kdled nearly 13 billion board-feet of sawtimber in 

 that year, an amount equivalent to one-fourth 

 the net growth. Of this, about 3 billion board-feet 

 was salvaged. 



Insects killed seven times as much sawtimber 

 as did fire in 1952 and disease three times as much; 

 mortality was much more severe in the West than in 

 either North or South. In terms of growth impact 

 on sawtimber, disease outranked both insects and 

 fire by more than two to one; growth impact was 

 slightly greater in the South than in other sections. 



Fire is a much more serious destructive agent 



i 



