The chief timber trees of the Rocky Mountain forest are western 

 yellow and lodgepole pine, while the Pacific forest is rich in the 

 possession of half a dozen leading species — Douglas fir, western 

 hemlock, sugar and western yelloAV pine, redwood, and cedar. ^ 



When an attempt is made to estimate the amount of timber of these 

 various species and regions, the deficiency of our knowledge becomes 

 23lain. Various estimates of the stumpage have been made, it is true, 

 but it must be said at the outset that no authoritative estimate can 

 be made at the present time, since the magnitude of the task and the 

 many difficulties involved have hitherto prevented the gathering of 

 the necessary data. Nevertheless, certain general conclusions can 

 be established. In the interest both of the lumber trade and of the 

 public an exact knowledge of the situation which confronts the 

 country is called for, since the lack of such knowledge creates uncer- 

 tain business conditions and prevents the framing of a rational and 

 comprehensive plan for the best use of our forest resources. 



The principal estimates of the stumpage of the United States 

 which have been made since 1880 are given in Table 4. The first is 

 that presented by Sargent in Volume IX of the Tenth Census. This 

 estimate, in addition to being too low for almost every species con- 

 sidered, with the possible exception of the hardwoods, is notable for 

 its omission of the timber which exists to-day in greater quantity 

 than any other — Douglas fir — and also for the omission of western 

 yellow pine, another important species. The next estimate is that of 

 Hotchkiss, published in his " Lumber and Forest History of the 

 Northwest " in 1898. He does not go into details, but simply esti- 

 mates that the total stumpage is 1,400 billion feet, of which the 

 Northern States have 100 billion, the Southern States 300 billion, 

 and the Pacific States 1,000 billion feet. Next are the estimates pre- 

 pared by Gannett and published by the Twelfth Census in Bulletin 

 203. These are the most carefully prepared estimates yet made and 

 have been widely quoted. In addition to bringing the figures for 

 several species up more nearly to the probable stand, these estimates 

 also cover Douglas fir, western yellow^ pine, and sugar pine, which 

 were omitted in the census of 1880. The next estimate is the one 

 made by Fernow in 1902 and published in his " Economics of For- 

 estry." Like that of Hotchkiss, this is also a regional estimate, the 

 stumpage of the Northern States being placed at 500 billion feet, 

 that of the Southern States at TOO billion, and that of the Western 

 States at 800 billion, a total of 2,000 billion feet and the highest of 

 any given in the table. It may be noted in passing that in a previous 

 estimate published in 1896, in Circular No. 11 of the Division of For- 

 estry, FernoAv placed the total stumpage of the country at 2,300 



[Cir. 97] 



