F-189072 
Figure 10.—Sheep on their way to summer range in the high mountains of the Gallatin National Forest. During 1948 there 
were 117,000 cattle and horses and 273,000 sheep under paid permit on the national forests of Montana. 
Montana is very good; there is a great backlog of 
saw timber. For the Nation as a whole, the problem 
is one of impending shortages, and in the eastern 
half of the United States, the saw-timber stand is 
about half as large as is necessary to meet the long- 
range timber requirements estimated by the Forest 
Service. The situation in Montana is in pleasing 
contrast with this. Full use is not being made of the 
capacity of the forests to produce wood. ‘There is 
sufficient timber available in the State to permit a 
permanent expansion of some types of industrial 
use. 
Even though the over-all situation is encouraging, 
some problems remain. ‘here has been excessive 
development in spots and underdevelopment in 
others. The reason for that lies in the transporta- 
tion problem. Before the first wood-burning steam 
engine chugged in from Ogden in 1880, Montana 
was part of the remote West, so remote as to pre- 
clude the export of any but the most valuable 
products. The construction of four transcon- 
Forest Resources of Montana 
tinental railways into the State brought it closer to 
the East. Even so, Montana is still handicapped 
by transportation difficulties. 
The cost of getting products to the principal 
markets of the United States has placed a heavy 
share of the load on resources that can pay the 
freight. Ponderosa and white pine, because of 
their high value, have been so heavily cut that 
there is a shortage problem. Some mills have shut 
down in past years for the lack of these species, 
even though there was ample timber of other 
species available which was of good quality and 
suitable for many purposes. 
Since World War II a high demand for timber 
products has improved the position of Montana’s 
secondary species. “he problem of lack of markets 
is, however, a long way from being fully overcome; 
there are still large volumes of unmarketable tim- 
ber. Part of the answer to this predicament lies 
in increasing the industrial appetite for woods 
other than ponderosa and white pine. 
11 
