136 



TIMBER RESOURCES FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 



Three-fifths of the old-growth saw timber in the 

 West is on national forests, mostly where further 

 development awaits construction of access roads. 

 Only on one-third of this old-growth acreage is 76 

 percent or more of the allowable cut being har- 

 vested. On nearly half of the western national 

 forest old-growth area, the cut being made is less 

 than 50 percent of the harvest allowable under 

 good management (table 83). This lack of cut- 

 ting in old-growth areas is not entirely a problem 

 of accessibility. Low quality timber, species char- 

 acteristics, and prices received for timber products 

 are factors just as important as lack of roads in 

 many areas. 



Accessibility is gradually being improved. 

 Whereas very few timber access roads were built 

 on western national forests before 1940, and less 

 than 800 miles per year between 1940 and 1951, 

 the annual rate of construction in 1952 was 1,650 

 miles. In 1956, 2,600 miles were built. The job 

 ahead, though, is still big on national forests 

 alone. At least 30,000 additional miles of new 

 roads are needed for full development and inten- 

 sive management of the commercial stands of 

 national forest timber, and some 25,000 miles of 

 present roads require improvement or reconstruc- 

 tion. 



In Coastal Alaska some progress is being made 

 too; but, though most of the forest lies within a 

 few miles of tidewater, the remoteness of that 

 region continues to be a major obstacle. 



Timber Quality 



25 



In evaluating timber quality in the past, a 

 common criterion has been stand age. Though 

 little was known about the quality makeup of 

 young-growth timber, it was generally recognized 

 that old-growth stands — composed of the larger 

 slower-growing trees — have quality characteristics 

 that 3"oung-growth stands — composed of the 

 smaller, faster-growing trees — do not have. This 

 distinction is still significant. Though the old- 

 growth area is only 10 percent of the total com- 

 mercial forest area, its heavy stands of timber 

 constitute the major source of high-qualit}^ wood 

 today. 



Young-growth stands, now occupying 90 per- 

 cent of the commercial forest land, must be looked 

 to more and more as the old-growth stands are 

 harvested. Hence, the qualitj^ of young-growth 

 timber is important. It refers to those properties 

 of wood in the standing tree that affect specific 

 uses; density, growth rate, proportion of spring 

 wood to summer wood, fibril angle (compression 

 wood, tension wood), and the common defects such 

 as knots, shake, and crook. 



25 This section appraises the quality of the present timber 

 supply. QuaHty is likewise discussed under Growth and 

 Utilization, p. 145; Future Demand for Timber, p. 357; and 

 Timber Supply Outlook, p. 475. In the order named these 

 sections treat the quality of present growth, technological 

 developments which have in part made up for the increas- 

 ing deficiency in quality timber, and the future qualitj^ of 

 domestic timber. Finallj-, all these considerations are 

 brought together in the summary section, p. 101. 



Table 83. — Area of old-growth sawtimber on national forests in the West and Coastal Alaska, by proportion 



of allowable cut being harvested, 1953 



Region 



Total old- 

 growth area 



Area ' on which percentage of allowable cut being 

 harvested is — 





0-25 



26-50 



51-75 



76-100 



West: 



Pacific Northwest: 



Douglas-fir subregion 



Thousand 

 acres 

 4,017 

 6, 115 



Thousand 

 acres 



430 

 969 



Thousand 

 acres 

 639 

 137 



Thousand 

 acres 

 906 

 1,829 



Thousand 

 acres 

 2,042 



Pine subregion 



3,180 



Total 



California _ - _ 



10, 132 

 6,500 

 6,011 

 5,567 



1,399 

 1,997 

 1, 692 

 1, 255 



776 

 1,098 

 2,355 



966 



2,735 



994 



1,499 



1,012 



5, 222 

 2,411 



Northeri; Rocky Mountain 



Southern Rockv Mountain 



465 

 2, 334 







Total 



Coastal Alaska 



28, 210 

 3,360 



6,343 

 3,360 



5,195 



6,240 



10, 432 











Total, West and Coastal Alaska 



31,570 



9,703 



5, 195 



6,240 



10, 432 



Percent 



Percent 



100 



Percent 

 31 



Percent 



16 



Percent 



20 



Percent 



33 



' Based on areas of national-forest working circles. 



