COMPARISON OF CUT OF PONDEROSA PINE 
WITH ALLOWABLE CUT OF THAT SPECIES 
RAVALL| COUNTY, MONTANA 
1925-1945 
on \ : 
a 
vo: 
ACTUAL CUT. 
Lumber folly =, 
FV rt 
fo) 
v 
1 
S 
ry : 
© 20> 
| od 
Soa | 
poner Edu lobocusewetedcarecseecee 
S CONDITIONAL ALLOWABLE 
x CUT BASED ON TIMBER 
8 
i aera \ Se ee 7 \ 
“24940-1945 
Figure 33. 
fir timber not in the national forests is being 
heavily overcut. The drain on ponderosa pine is 
three times as high as it should be. Table 1, of 
course, reflects only the over-all situation of all 
other ownerships combined. In some localities and 
on some of these holdings the rate of cutting is 
quite satisfactory. 
therefore that much more marked. 
Though privately owned timber in western Mon- 
tana is in general being cut much too rapidly, 
the heaviest overcutting during the period 1940— 
49 occurred on State-owned lands. 
On others the unbalance is 
Industrial Expansion Opportunities 
Montana’s commercial forests provide work for 
about 5,800 persons in logging camps, sawmills, 
and other timber-product industries. This is at 
the rate of one worker for every 2,700 acres of 
commercial forest, which is very much different 
from the national average of roughly one worker 
for every 300 acres. It seems unlikely that forest 
industries in Montana can be built up to the point 
where there will be one worker for every 300 acres. 
However, the allowable cut figures make it plain 
that there is considerable room for increasing both 
the income and employment from forest-products 
Forest Resources of Montana 
TABLE 1.—Montana saw-timber cut in 1948, by two major 
ownership groups, compared with conditional allowable cut 
| Western Montana Kastern Montana 
Condi- | Condi- 
Ownership class | 1948 tional |} 1948 | tional 
cut | allowable | cut allowable 
| cut | | cut 
| Million | Million Million Million 
National forest: | board feet | board feet | board feet | board feet 
Ponderosa and west-| | | | 
ern white pine.. | 47 | 48 2 | 10 
Larch and Douglas- | | 
fin eee ee: 116 144 | 9 | 62 
Other species aS 14 127 | 15 | 180 
| a 
Movaleses fa 7a5) 177 | 319 26 | 252 
All other: | 
Ponderosa and | | 
western white | 
PIN Gseo8 om | 198 | 69 | 6 13 
Larch and Douglas-| | | 
Birsiees cyweer ates 241 136 | 10 23 
Other species 16 36 8 | 13 
ey BY | a oe aG aSaes 
Rotal ce aie | 455 241 24 | 49 
Total, all owners eal 632 | 560 50 | 301 
industries. On the other hand, these figures make 
it plain also that indiscriminate industrial develop- 
ment would do more harm than good. It is essen- 
tial tor fitted to the 
resource so as to make the most of the timber 
the development to be 
surpluses and not to aggravate the shortages. 
Three broad lines of action will meet that re- 
quirement: (1) Developing new industries with 
9 ifwi > 
(2) modifying the 
wood consumption habits of the lumber industry; 
different raw material needs; 
and (3) making more effective use of the wood cut. 
Developing New Industries with Different Wood 
Requirements 
A major shortcoming of the timber industries in 
Montana today is the lack of diversification in 
manufacturing. Eight-tenths of all the timber cut 
goes to the sawmills. And if fuel wood is excluded, 
nine-tenths of the timber cut goes to sawmills. 
There is nothing wrong with the fact that sawmills 
predominate, but the fact that they have been 
obliged to be selective so far as raw material is 
concerned has created much of the present diff- 
culty. 
The most obvious solution to the Montana 
problem is a great expansion of pulpwood produc- 
39 
