300|— 



250 



[^ 200 



I 



150 



100 



50 



%,m 









ys/y/yJ'J', 



*.*•■ 





•i-ivivXv 



:•:•: 





•:•:•:•:•:•:■:•:: 



:•:•: 





M'M'M'M"! 



■jij: 





Aspen 



Hordwood 



Softwood 



ALLOWABLE ACTUAL CUT 



CUT 1953 



Figure 44. — Comparison of allowable cut and actual cut oj all 

 growing slock, 1953. 



Aspen Offers Large Surpluses 



Estimates indicate that 1,130,000 cords of aspen 

 (90.4 million cubic feet) could be cut annually — 

 581,000 cords (46.5 million cubic feet) more than 

 was actually cut in 1953. 



Surplus aspen is available throughout northeastern 

 Minnesota but is especially abundant in the Superior 

 District — Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties (fig. 45) 

 where it occurs over extensive areas and includes 

 many trees of saw-log size. However, the timber is 

 of only fair quality and is far from markets. Under 

 present conditions much of it is not profitable to log. 



Elsewhere in the Stale the surplus aspen consists, to a 

 considerable extent, of light concentrations of small 

 and often low-grade timber. In southern and western 

 counties, the surplus wood is found in scattered 

 patches at considerable distances from existing pulp- 

 Avood markets. 



^Vith a better knowledge of aspen distribution 

 provided by the recently completed surveys and with 

 progress being made in utilization and marketing 

 research, more aspen will probably be used in the 

 period ahead, but it seems unlikely that the full 

 potential cut can be realized soon. 



REMAINDER OF 



NORTHEASTERN 



DIVISION 



^^ Allowable cut ( 1 Actual cut 1953 



(thousand cords) 



Figure 45. — Allowable cut exceeds actual cut of aspen most noticeably 

 in the Superior District. 



Pine Overcut in Accessible Areas 



State wide, the actual cubic-foot cut of white and 

 red pine in 1953 was 12 percent below the allowable 

 cut. This favorab'e balance occurred because the 

 available supply in the inaccessible parts of the 

 Superior District could not be harvested. Elsewhere 

 the cut exceeded the desirable level by about 10 per- 

 cent. More serious than the volume difference was 

 the fact that some of the actual cutting amounted to 

 stand liquidation rather than to the kinds of cutting 

 recommended for these types. Such destructive 

 cutting, however, was on a smaller scale in 1953 than 

 during World War IL 



In jack pine also, the actual cut on lands close to 

 mills and transport routes exceeded the desirable level. 

 In northeastern Minnesota outside the Superior 

 District, the actual cut in 1953 was 182,000 cords 

 whereas the recommended figure is 127,000, indicat- 

 ing a 43 percent overcut (fig. 46). Destructive cutting 

 was less common than during the war. 



The problem of getting more complete utilization 

 of available pine, especially in the Superior District, 

 falls primarily on public agencies. That of adjusting 

 cut to capacity of young stands and of improving 

 cutting yjractices in areas close to mills will require 

 action by private owners. 



Minnesota's Forest Resources 



39 



