GROWTH AND DRAIN 



Annual growth exceeds drain in all 

 major species but cottonwood. This 

 favorable growth-drain relationship is 

 most striking on a cubic-foot basis where 

 the growth is seven times the drain. But 

 even in terms of the board- foot volume, 

 growth is more than three times as great 

 as drain. In the case of cottonwood, 

 however, the situation is reversed and 

 the losses from cutting and fire are 

 three times the growth. But with other 

 species, notably lodgepole pine and 

 Douglas-fir, the growth far exceeds the 

 drain so that a generally favorable 

 growth-drain relationship exists in the 

 county. 



Drain from cutting in the past has not 

 depleted the forest stands. With the 

 construction of transcontinental rail- 

 roads through Montana and the westward 

 migration at the close of the nineteenth 

 century, timber was chiefly used for 

 cross ties, fuel, and local building. 

 More recently, a good share of the 

 cutting has produced lumber for con- 

 struction, converter poles for the 

 smelter at Great Falls, and timbers for 

 the mines near Sandcoulee and Neihart. 

 Much timber is also utilized for fence 

 posts and fuelwood. Loss due to fire 

 is generally of little consequence, ex- 

 cept in Douglas-fir where over 90 per- 

 cent of the drain in recent years can be 

 attributed to that cause. 



In the past few decades not more than 

 three sawmills have operated in the 

 coiinty at any one time. However, the 

 current excess of growth over drain 

 indicates that in the near future there 

 should be some expansion in the cutting 

 program. Therefore, a few more savmiills 

 of the portable type could be advanta- 

 geously located in Cascade County, In 

 addition, much of the lodgepole pine and 

 Douglas-fir in the pole stands should be 

 moved into the pulpwood market. 



GROWTH GREATLY EXCEEDS DRAIN 



PONDEROSA PINE 



DOUGLAS FIR 



LODGEPOLE PINE 



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