Saw logs were the most important product harvested in Colorado; nearly 185 million board 

 feet^ were produced in 1962, comprising 87 percent of the total cubic volume output. Almost 

 all of the saw log volume went to sawmills within the State. The minor volume of saw logs 

 exported went to Wyoming; imports were likewise small and came entirely from New Mexico. 

 Spruce and lodgepole pine were the principal species harvested for saw logs , representing 48 

 percent and 34 percent, respectively, of the total saw log volume. 



Other roundwood products --mine timbers, pulpwood, commercial poles, miscellaneous 

 industrial wood, posts, fuelwood, and miscellaneous farm timbers --collectively accounted for 

 almost 5 million cubic feet or 13 percent of the total 1962 output. Round mine timbers, the 

 single most important product of this group, accounted for almost 30 percent of the volume in 

 this category. 



TRENDS SINCE 1952 



Total roundwood output dropped 16 percent between 1952 and 1962. However, saw log 

 production increased 9 percent during that same period. This indicates a shift in importance 

 towards saw logs and away from other products. In 1962, as in 1952, Colorado pulpwood was 

 obtained principally by salvaging dead spruce from extensive stands of insect-killed timber . 

 The drop in pulpwood production from 33,000 cords in 1957 to only 3, 000 cords in 1962 probably 

 is due to increased use of chipped sawmill residues by pulpmills previously using round pulp- 

 wood from Colorado. 



The number of active sawmills in Colorado dropped from 274 in 1957 to 170 in 1962,^^ the 

 only recent years for which there were survey estimates of the number of mills. However, the 

 average mill produced about 1.25 million board feet (lumber tally) during 1962, compared to an 

 annual production of only about half that in 1957. These mills were fairly well distributed over 

 the western two-thirds of the State (see map, following page). In addition to the mills shown, 

 there were an estimated 44 active small mills, for which no saw log reports were received in 

 the 1962 products survey. These mills received about 15.7 percent of the State's 1962 saw log 

 output . 



^ Internatiohal.4:-inch log rule board-foot volumes are used throughout this report unless 

 otherwise stated. 



'^Miller, Robert L. Lumber production in Colorado , 1957. Rocky Mountain Forest and 

 Range Expt. Sta. Forest Survey Release 1, 9 pp. 1962. 



