timber. Mice and other animals consume large quantities of seed 
of important species, such as ponderosa pine, preventing their 
reproduction and encouraging invasion of worthless brush. Fail- 
ure of understocked stands and nonstocked areas to restock be- 
cause of rodents and damage to live timber by porcupines, deer, 
and other animals causes losses in the form of reduced growth 
and lowered quality amounting to about 2.5 billion cubic feet 
annually, including about 10 billion board feet of sawtimber. 
These losses are valued at approximately. $50 million. 
Fire Losses -- Forest Produc ts 
Additional losses of lumber, plywood, and other forest products 
result from building fires. Approximately 25,000 dwellings in 
the United States are destroyed by fire each year, plus many farm 
buildings, industrial structures, and warehouses. The quantity 
of lumber and other forest products thus lost is about 0 million 
board feet annually, valued at about $) million. 
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