tion in the State, because pulp mills can utilize 
species of timber and small trees not suited for lum- 
ber. It has long been felt that much Montana tim- 
ber will be a drug on the market until such time as 
there is greater use of it for fiber. 
Although 53,000 cords of pulpwood were shipped 
out of the State to Wisconsin and Washington in 
1949, that volume was but a small fraction of what 
the forest can supply. The total annual allowable 
cut of saw timber, pole, cull, and dead trees to a 
4-inch top in Montana is 1,786,000 cords greater 
than the average cut of wood for all purposes dur- 
ing the decade 1939 to 1948 and 1,386,000 cords 
greater than the 1948 cut. An annual cut of 130,- 
000 cords of wood is sufficient to support one 200- 
ton sulfate pulp mill. Opposing these favorable 
resource figures are the economic realities which 
have so far prevented any pulp mill from being 
established in the State. Along with some of the 
other Rocky Mountain States and Alaska, Montana 
is farthest away from the large consuming centers. 
The rising shipments of pulpwood eastward suggest, 
however, that the prospects are brighter than they 
were for large-scale pulpwood production in Mon- 
tana if not for a local pulp and paper industry. 
Modifying the Wood Consumption Habits of the 
Lumber Industry 
Obviously the lumber industry cannot continue 
to overcut ponderosa pine timber without sooner 
or later exhausting the supply. Since ponderosa 
pine is valuable, it is highly desirable that this 
species always constitute a substantial part of the 
lumber production. The answer, of course, is 
to shift part of the burden of lumber production 
from ponderosa pine to other species. Unfortu- 
nately, the rising production of other species in 
recent years has not lightened the pressure on 
ponderosa pine. 
Despite the fact that spiraling lumber prices since 
World War II have brought into use many of the 
less valuable species, there is still need for greater 
use of these species by the lumber industry. This is 
especially apparent in eastern Montana where 1948 
sawmill output was only 17 percent of the allow- 
able timber cut. 
Part of the solution to the problem of the less 
valuable species is the development of greater 
demand for their lumber. Also, it is partly a matter 
of developing lumber-production methods better 
adapted to small and less valuable timber. The . 
lumber industry in the Northern Rocky Moun- 
tains was established mainly to manufacture pon- 
derosa and white pine lumber, and production 
methods were designed to handle old-growth timber — 
of these species. The same methods are not suited — 
for such species as lodgepole pine where quality | 
sawing is secondary to a high rate of output. The © 
matter of fast and efficient handling of small logs © 
has received considerable attention in the past — 
few years. Swedish gang saws designed to meet this — 
need, have been installed in several Montana mills, 
and new types of sawmills are being experimented — 
with in various parts of the country (//). 
More Effective Use of Wood Cut 
It is possible to enlarge the employment and 
income from the forest products industries 50 to 
100 percent without increasing the cut itself by 
one stick. Though the large sawmills of the region 
are among the most efficient in the United States, 
and though considerable progress has been made in 
wood utilization in recent years, the forest indus- 
tries still fall short of making the most of the logs 
they cut. Studies show that when lumber alone 
is sawed from the average ponderosa pine log and 
no byproducts are made, one-third of the usable — 
wood is wasted in slabs, sawdust, edgings, and 
trims. 
One notable step in the direction of more effec- 
tive use is the manufacture of briquetted fuel from 
wood waste. Toy stock, molding, etc., are made 
from scrap lumber at several mills. Low grades of 
lumber, hard to sell in normal times, are being 
made into grain doors. A pilot plant has recently 
been built to test the feasibility of making building | 
board out of the shavings from the lathes used to 
peel utility poles. 
The feasibility of molasses production from saw- 
dust and mill scraps has been carefully investigated 
with very encouraging results.** Nearly 200 tons of — 
suitable wood waste are produced daily in the State 
at locations convenient to main-line transportation. 
Some of this material is used sporadically; most of 
it serves no useful purpose. 
22The process of chemical reduction of wood to make 
molasses is available for commercial use. Feeding tests have 
demonstrated that wood molasses provides a_ satisfactory 
substitute for cane molasses as a livestock food. 
40 Forest Resource Report No. 5 U. S. Department of Agriculture 
