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LIBRARY 



MAY 2 1937 



U. S. Department of Agriculture 

 Pore8t Service 

 CALIFORNIA FOREST EXPERIMENT STATION 

 Berkeley, California 



eol ^ io f N0te August 1, 1935. 



WOOD CONSUMPTION AND SECONDARY WOOD -USING 

 INDUSTRIES OF CALIFORNIA 



Consumption of lumber in California averaged about 3 billion board 

 'set annually prior to the depression, but in 1932 lumber consumption 

 Lropped to about one and one-half billion board feet. Per capita lumber 

 ise had reached a peak of more than 1000 board feet in the year 1923 but 

 steadily declined thereafter, falling to 670 board feet in 1928 and to 

 245 board feet in 1932, Average consumption of lumber during the decade 

 L920-1930 was about 750 board feet per capita, or two and a half times 

 bhe average for the entire United States. 



Although California sawmills produced about 2 billion board feet 

 of lumber annually in the decade of the twenties, only about half of the 

 lumber cut in California, or approximately a billion board feet, was con- 

 sumed within the State. In addition to the annual consumption of about 

 a billion board feet of California lumber, however, approximately 2 bil- 

 lion board feet of lumber were imported annually into California, largely 

 from Oregon and Washington. Since California woods are particularly 

 adapted to such specialty uses as millwork and interior trim and have been 

 used mainly for such purposes, it has been necessary to import most of the 

 lumber for construction. The suitability and low prices of Douglas fir, 

 as well as the large volume of building in California during recent decades 

 have resulted in heavy shipments of lumber from the Pacific Northwest. 

 Small amounts of hardwood lumber wero also received from Eastern states 

 and from the Philippines. 



The California lumber used outside the State was made up largely 

 of the better grades of ponderosa pine, sugar pine, and redwood, and was 

 absorbed for the most part by sash and door plants of the Mississippi 

 valley. Of the California lumber consumed within the State, ponderosa 

 and sugar pine were used largely for box shook and millwork, while redwood 

 and Douglas fir were used for both construction work and factory products. 



The most important use for lumber in California has been in building 

 construction. During the last 15 years nearly two-thirds of the annual 

 consumption has gone into residential building, repairs, and non-residen- 

 tial construction. Box shook as the next important use accounted for one- 

 fourth of the lumber used, while factory products such as furniture and 

 fixtures made up about 5 percent of the total consumption. Miscellaneous 

 uses, as in publio works, irrigation structures, and public utilities, 

 accounted for the balance. 



