OPPORTUNITIES FOR INCREASING TIMBER SUPPLIES 



101 



Costs of Intensified Management 



Additional costs of intensified management for 

 each of the strata selected for evaluation of 

 m xnagement opportunities were based upon 1970- 

 71 cost experience in the case of National Forest 

 lands, and on reported costs for private forestry 

 operations updated to 1970-71. Costs included 

 both direct on-the-ground costs of treatment 

 such as reforestation, together with certain costs 

 of environmental protection and local overhead 

 costs. Road construction costs were not included, 

 nor were indirect costs of National Forest general 

 overhead. 



For farm and miscellaneous private lands, in 

 addition to direct costs, technical assistance 

 from public agencies was included as an overhead 

 cost corresponding to technical supervision by 

 National Forest field staff personnel. Federal 

 costs for assisting owners of private land also 

 were estimated assuming a 75-percent share of 

 direct treatment costs, plus technical assistance. 

 It was also assumed for this analysis that property 

 tax levies or general administrative costs would 

 not be changed appreciably by intensification of 

 management. 



Costs per acre of management intensification 

 are influenced by many factors and vary widely 

 from place to place and over time. Examples 

 of ranges in costs assumed for National Forest 

 lands are shown in table 80. An example of costs 

 used for analysis of opportunities on farm and 

 miscellaneous private lands in the South is pre- 

 sented in table 81. Other specific costs per acre 

 appropriate to each situation studied were applied 

 in analyzing local investment opportunities. 



Yields From Intensified Management 



Yields from accelerated management activities 

 were estimated for each of the selected treatment 

 situations in terms of the amounts of increased 

 harvests that might be obtained, by decade, over 

 and above yields to be expected with 1970 manage- 

 ment levels. Yields from plantations, for example, 

 were estimated from available plantation yield 

 tables or through adjustment of normal yield 

 tables, with the growth anticipated without re- 

 forestation subtracted therefrom. 



Estimates of expected responses to treatments 

 such as precommercial thinning, involving esti- 

 mates both with and without treatment, were 

 based upon local studies or local judgments as to 

 responses to be expected. Information on response 

 to different management activities is quite limited 

 and it was consequently necessary to depend to a 

 considerable degree on judgment of forest re- 

 search and management personnel familiar with 

 local conditions. 



Table 80. — Range of direct costs per acre for 

 intensified management on National Forests, 

 1970-71 l 



[Dollars] 



Region 



Reforest- 

 ation 2 



Precommercial 

 thinning 



Stand 

 release 



North 



South 



Rocky Mountain 



Pacific Coast __ 



30-80 

 25-60 

 40-70 

 60-70 



15-25 

 10-20 

 25-40 

 25-40 



15-25 

 15-25 

 15-20 

 15-20 



1 Total costs on National Forests are approximately 

 double these estimates due to indirect costs charged 

 against a project but not incurred "on-the-job." 



2 Includes planting and varying degrees of site 

 preparation. 



Table 81. — Estimated treatment costs of accelerated 

 management on nonindustrial forest lands in the 

 East, 1970-71 



[Dollars per acre} 



Items 



under 10 

 under 50 



Site preparation 



Natural regeneration: 



Pine type 



Oak-pine type 



Hardwood type 



Artificial regeneration : 



Pine type 



Oak-pine type 



Hardwood type 



Stand conversion 



Average stand d.b.h. 

 inches or basal area 



square feet 



All other conditions 



Planting: 



Pine by machine 



Pine by hand 



Hardwood by hand 



Direct seeding pine : 



Aerial 



Ground 



Timber stand improvement: 



Cull tree removal 



Precommercial thinning and clean- 

 ing 



Marking: 



Commercial thinning and cull tree 



removal 



Precommercial thinning and clean- 

 ing 



Prescribed burning 



Fertilization 



Aver- 

 age 



20 



5 

 15 

 15 



15 

 20 

 25 

 25 



20 

 30 



15 

 20 

 35 

 10 



7 

 13 



10 



15 



Range 



5-40 



1.50 

 20 



10-50 



10-25 



15-35 



25-50 



5-20 



2-15 

 5-30 



2-10 



5—15 



0. 25-3. 50 



10-30 



Source: Based on data in McClay, T. A. Treatment 

 costs — southern supply study. USDA Forest Serv., Div. 

 Forest Econ. and Mark. Res. office report. 1969. 



Values of Increased Yields 



In the initial analysis of management oppor- 

 tunities, values of the increased timber harvests 

 resulting from intensification of management on 



