included as ‘‘coniferous woodland” type. This coni- 
ferous woodland can best be described as scrubby 
open stands along the outer margin of the forest, 
with only limited usefulness from a timber-supply 
standpoint. Several species are found in the wood- 
land type, but 75 percent or more of the area is 
dominated by ponderosa pine and juniper. 
Montana’s saw-timber supply totals 56 billion 
board feet,’ which is 314 percent of the saw-timber 
stand in the entire United States. This figure, the 
first based on a complete field survey, is somewhat 
higher than earlier estimates. In 1925 the saw- 
timber stand was estimated to be 50 billion board 
feet (2), and in 1945, prior to completion of the 
Forest Survey in eastern Montana, the estimate 
was raised to 53 billion.” Because the earlier esti- 
mates were based on far fewer measurements than 
the present one and are subject to unknown errors, 
it cannot be assumed that the differences between 
estimates indicate actual trends. Also, the stand- 
ards in the present survey are different from those 
formerly used. This matter is more fully discussed 
in the appendix, p. 60. 
* Board-foot volume figures in this report include only the 
sound wood in the sawlog portion of noncull trees 11.0 
inches in diameter and larger. 
° Forest Service basic statistics for U. S. Dept. Agr. Misc. 
Pub. 668, Forests and National Prosperity—A Reappraisal 
of the Forest Situation in the United States. 1948. 
DISTRIBUTION OF TIMBER VOLUME 
IN MONTANA 
BOARD-FOOT VOLUME 
OF SAW TIMBER 
70” 
CUBIC-FOOT VOLUME 
OF ALL TIMBER 
5 % 
a3” 
Western Eastern Western Tastern 
MONTANA MONTANA =WONTANA MONTANA 
Ficure 17. 
Forest Resources of Montana 
Figure 17 shows the geographic distribution of 
timber volume. Although 71 percent of the saw- 
timber volume in the State is located west of the 
Continental Divide only 45 percent of the total 
volume of pole timber is in that part of the State. 
The low saw-timber volume in eastern Montana 
(29 percent) is accounted for by the fact that 
much of the timber there is lodgepole pine, a large 
part of which never grows big enough to be classed 
as saw timber. 
Douglas-fir is the most common tree in Montana, 
and lodgepole pine is a close second. Other prin- 
cipal species are western larch, ponderosa pine, 
and spruce. As shown in the following tabulation, 
more than half of the total live, sound timber in 
the State is Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine. 
All timber Saw timber 
(billion (billion 
Species: cubic feet) board feet) 
Douglas-fir ... : se phercsan Ae, 15.4 
Lodgepole pine msi: uA 6.9 
Western larch pes 2.4 11.8 
Ponderosa pine igure 2:2 11.0 
Spruce. 2.2.2.5. Ieee Nei Sake 1.4 7.0 
Grand fir, hemlock, redcedar 3 9 
Whitebark and limber pine 3 6 
Alpine fir ... 23 6 
Hardwoods . a) oh: 
Western white pine 12 Ll 
sRotaligpcenis 16.2 56.0 
Ponderosa Pine 
The 11 billion board feet of ponderosa pine in 
Montana is about 6 percent of the total saw-timber 
volume of this species in the United States. Eighty- 
five percent of the Montana ponderosa pine is west 
of the Continental Divide. 
Ponderosa pine, which grows throughout the 
West, is one of the most important woods in the 
United States. Its superior workability makes it 
much in demand, a fact that has given it a strong 
market position in comparison with some of the 
other Montana conifers. These factors make pon- 
derosa pine one of the major timber assets in this 
State. 
Commercial forests in which ponderosa pine is 
the key species are of two general classes: the more 
or less scrubby and open woodland type stand 
already discussed, and the denser ponderosa pine 
type of which there is 3.4 million acres in Montana 
(fig. 18). 
17 
