16 THE FOEESTS OF ALASKA. 



for the lumber which they contain. The annual pack of salmon is 

 about 2,000,000 cases. The bulk of the boxes required is supplied 

 by the local mills. 



FUTURE SUPPLY. 



The southern and southeastern coast of Alaska has a much greater 

 timber supply than there is any reason to think will be needed 

 locally for a long time to come. The permanent industries of the 

 region are fishing and mining. The mountainous character of the 

 country will forever prevent agricultural operations of any magni- 

 tude. The total stumpage is large, much of it overmature, and the 

 proportion of hemlock too great. The timber should be cut and 

 utilized as soon as possible and the spruce, which is more valuable 

 than the hemlock, should be given an opportunity to increase. Under 

 present conditions, with the well-known ability of the hemlock to 

 reproduce under shade and upon decaying logs and debris, it has the 

 advantage of the spruce. 



Since the Alaska coast forests do not contain timber of either as 

 high quality or as great variety as grows in Oregon and Washington, 

 there is little likelihood that lumber from them will compete largely 

 in the general market with lumber from those States. In fact, some 

 lumber used in southeastern Alaska is imported from the Pacific 

 Coast States, but good management on the part of the Alaska mills 

 should enable them to supply the home demand for common kinds of 

 lumber. While Alaska may eventually export considerable material 

 of this sort, it must continue to import timber like Douglas fir for 

 heavy construction work. Utilization for other purposes than for 

 lumber should be encouraged. The most promising of these is for 

 pulp. Both the spruce and hemlock are undoubtedly good pulp 

 woods, and, taken together, they comprise almost the entire forest. 



There is a supply of water, without storage, for six or eight months 

 of the year, for the needs of pulp mills, and transportation to the 

 States through the inside passage to Seattle would be quick and 

 cheap. The country is mountainous, it is true, and logging appears 

 difficult, but much of it would be no more difficult than that of the 

 Pacific coast, and modern ingenuity can safely be relied upon to get 

 most of the timber out as soon as there is a market for it. 



The cutting which has so far taken place on the coast of Alaska 

 has had small effect upon the forest. The bulk of it is yet untouched, 

 as is strikingly brought out in Plate III, figure 2, which shows the 

 forest from which a raft of spruce logs was recently cut. Clearly, 

 utilization should be encouraged as much as possible. With respect 

 to the coast forests, there is little in the statement sometimes made, 

 that the timber in Alaska should be held for the sole use of Alaskans. 

 It should be manufactured into the most suitable forms and sold 



