UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
& BULLETIN No. 418 
Contribution from the Forest Service 
HENRY S. GRAVES, Forester 
SLFT^Wu 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
February 6, 1917 
WESTERN YELLOW PINE IN OREGON, 
By Thornton T. Munger, Forest Examiner, 
CONTENTS. 
Introduction 1 
Requirements 5 
Reproduction 6 
Effect of fires 9 
Sources of injury other than fire 12 
Character of the stands 17 
Growth 23 
Characteristics of the wood 29 
Utilization of yellow-pine forests 30 
Logging and milling 32 
Planting 35 
Management of western yellow -pine forests . . 36 
Appendix 43-48 
INTRODUCTION. 
Western yellow pine 1 (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) is known throughout 
its range simply as pine or yellow pine, and in the lumber trade of 
the Northwest as western pine. It is sometimes called western soft 
pine or, more rarely, Oregon white pine. The terms used by California 
lumbermen are "western white pine" and " California white pine." 
It is the most widely distributed pine in the United States and 
one of the most valuable. It is suited to a great variety of uses and 
throughout much of its range supplies nearly every local need. Its 
large size, good form, occurrence in large and easily accessible bodies, 
and the high technical qualities of its wood place it near the top of 
the list of commercially important American timber trees. The 
reported cut in the United States in 1915 was 1,252,244,000 feet, 
which places yellow pine seventh in rank if the oaks are considered 
collectively. California leads the States, with a cut (in 1915) of 
389,991,000 feet, and Oregon is third with an annual output of 
189,203,000 feet. There is estimated to be in the United States 
1 Seven distinct species of pines occur naturally in the State of Oregon: (1) western white pine (Pinus 
monticola), the "Idaho white pine" of the markets, a valuable timber tree found in Oregon in rather 
limited quantities, chiefly in the mountains; (2) sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), the important timber 
tree of California, which in Oregon occurs chiefly in the Cascades and other ranges in the southwestern 
part of the State; (3) white bark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a small, scrubby tree found on mountain tops 
throughout the Northwest; (4) knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata), a small tree of almost no commercial 
importance, which is found here and there in dry situations in the southwestern portion of the State; (5) 
lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), also locally called black pine, jack pine, and shore pine, a small yet ex- 
tremely hardy and aggressive tree that grows on both the coastal strip and nearly up to timber line on 
the mountains and covers vast areas of plateau in the central part of the State with pure stands of small 
trees; (6) Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), a timber tree of the Siskiyou Mountains and California, which 
strongly resembles western yellow pine; and (7) western yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa). 
54891°— Bull. 418—17 1 
