CURRENT ANNUAL TIMBER CUT COM- 
PARED WITH THE ALLOWABLE ANNUAL 
CUT IF MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOP- 
MENT REQUIREMENTS ARE MET --- 
MONTANA 
SAW TIMBER 
(million board feet) 
POLE TIMBER 
(thousand cords) 
USABLE DEAD AND CULL 
TREES AND TOPS OF SAW- 
TIMBER TREES 
(thousand cords) 
AVERAGE CUT 1948 CONDITIONAL 
1939-48 CUT ALLOWABLE 
Z CUT 
Ficure 30. 
for the State as a whole (fig. 30). As compared 
with an allowable cut of 861 million board feet the 
cut was 682 million. In eastern Montana, the cut 
of saw timber can be six times that of 1948. 
On the other hand in western Montana during 
1948, the cut of all species exceeded the allow- 
able cut—by 13 percent—for the first time. The 
opportunity for expanding the saw-timber cut is 
mainly in the smaller size saw-timber trees, 11.0 to 
20.9 inches in diameter. 
Pole Timber 
In general, today’s pole timber trees are tomor- 
row’s saw-timber trees. Therefore, most of the pole- 
timber trees are growing stock and should not be 
cut. There is, however, a sizable volume of 5- to 
1l-inch timber that can be removed with benefit 
to the stands. 
From an industrial standpoint, the most impor- 
tant part of Montana’s merchantable pole timber is 
in lodgepole pine stands that have failed to reach 
saw-timber size even though they are mature, and 
in some cases overmature. 
The small size of the — 
trees in these stands is due to three factors; the — 
natural smallness of lodge-pole pine, the dense 
condition of some stands, and poor growing condi- 
tions (low site quality). Whatever the reason, this 
pole-size timber is ready for harvest and is excellent 
raw material for pulp and several other uses. 
In addition to the more or less solid stands, pole 
timber is also scattered throughout the forest. 
Some of it should be thinned out of young stands 
to increase their growth rate. Some of it is poor- 
risk timber in older stands, and should be logged 
along with saw timber to make way for more 
vigorous trees. Comparatively little pole timber 
has been logged in the past and for that reason the 
opportunity for expanding the cut is even greater 
than it is for saw timber. In western Montana the 
allowable cut of pole timber is four times as large 
as the average 1939-48 cut; in eastern Montana it 
is nine times as large. 
Any statement that more pole trees should be 
logged in the future than have been in the past 
needs careful qualifying. As pointed out earlier, 
most of the pole timber is growing stock—the source 
of future saw timber. Unless the pole trees to be 
cut are selected with discrimination, increased log- 
ging can do more harm than good. As a matter of 
36 Forest Resource Report No. 5 U. S. Department of Agriculture 
