3 R A R Y ! 



" StRiAL ' 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 FOREST SERVICE 



immmufi fomr i uue experiment station 



OCDEN UTAH 



No. 49 



December 1957 



NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN POLE PRODUCTION 

 CONTINUES CLIMB IN 195o 



Alvin K. Wilson 

 Division of Forest Economics 



Pole production in the northern Rocky Mountain areai^ increased sharply 

 during 1956 after showing only slight recovery in 1955 from the record low 

 of 1954. The annual pole production survey^'' for 1956 shows that output in- 

 creased 96 percent over that for 1955 and was 108 percent above that for 1954. 



Of the four species currently used for commercial poles, lodgepole pine 

 and western redcedar make up about three-quarters of the annual production 

 (table 1). Lodgepole pine led all four species with its total of nearly 

 237 , OwO poles produced, all of which came from Montana. 



Table 1. -- Poles produced in northern Rocky Mountain area, 1956 



Species 



Montana 



North 

 Idaho 



Northeast : 

 Washington : 



Total 



Percent of 

 total 



Numb 



er 



Western redcedar 1,998 

 Lodgepole pine 236,655 

 Western larch 36,903 

 Douglas-fir 28 ,079 



90,018 

 



36,056 

 6,285 



101,377 

 



38,309 

 1,970 



193,393 

 236,655 

 111,268 

 36,334 



33.48 

 40.97 

 19.26 

 6.29 



Total 

 Percent 



303,635 

 52.57 



132,359 

 22.91 



141,656 

 24.52 



577 ,650 



100.00 



1/ Includes Montana; Idaho, north of the Salmon River; and Ferry, 

 Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, and Whitman Counties in northeastern 

 Washington. 



2/ Sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Pole and Treating Association, 

 Spokane, Washington. The Association contacted all known pole— producing com- 

 panies with operations in the area. The excellent cooperation of these 

 companies is greatly appreciated. Pole production which is not accounted for 

 in this report is estimated to be less than 1 percent of the total. 



