TIMBER VOLUME 



Coniferous timber makes up almost all of 

 the timber volume in the southern unit. 

 From Musselshell and Yellowstone Counties 

 east to the state boundary are scattered 

 stands of ponderosa pine. Juniper is 

 sparsely intermingled with the pine. 

 West of these counties mountain forest 

 types predominate. Douglas-fir, lodge- 

 pole pine, spruce, whitebark pine, limber 

 pine and alpine fir are found throughout 

 this western section. 



Small stands of hardwood occur throughout 

 the unit along river bottoms. Cottonwood 

 is common to all counties; green ash and 

 box elder are widely distributed in the 

 prairie counties; and aspen occurs along 

 the edges of the mountain forest. Cotton- 

 wood is the only hardwood present in 

 appreciable quantity. 



Altogether there are slightly more than 

 four billion board feet of saw timber on 

 the commercial forest land. Over three- 

 fourths of the board-foot volume is in 

 saw-timber stands; the remainder is in 

 stands which are predominantly pole- size 

 trees, in open woodland, and as residual 

 volume in very young stands. Four fifths 

 of the board-foot volume in saw-timber 

 stands is in trees 11 to 21 inches in 

 diameter breast high (d.b.h.). 



Twenty-eight percent of the total cubic- 

 foot volume is lodgepole pine; 26 percent, 

 ponderosa pine; 25 percent, Douglas-fir; 

 8 percent, spruce; 7 percent, whitebark 

 and limber pine; 3 percent, Cottonwood; 

 and 3 percent, miscellaneous species. 

 Juniper is included in the miscellaneous 

 species, but it has a value out of pro- 

 portion to its volume. It is prized as 

 fence post material, and in tourist 

 centers such as Red Lodge souvenirs made 

 of juniper are offered for sale at hand- 

 some prices. The next 3 pages illustrate 

 the kind and quality of timber that is 

 common to the southern unit. 



SOFTWOOD SPECIES MAKE UP 

 96 %OF THE BOARD-FOOT AND 

 CUBIC-FOOT VOLUME 



THREE SPECIES MAKE UP 75% 

 OF THE BOARD-FOOT VOLUME 



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