4 BULLETIN 1437,, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The commercial range of western birch in this country is confined 
to western Washington, more particularly to the region adjacent to 
the Canadian boundary. Across the border it extends well north into 
British Columbia. Users of this wood are of the opinion that the 
merchantable supply of birch in Washington does not exceed two or 
three million board feet. The supply in British Columbia, where con- 
ditions are more favorable to its growth, is said to be much larger. 
Red alder is one of the conspicuous hardwood trees of the Pacific 
coast. It grows naturally from southeastern Alaska to southern 
California, but its commercial range is limited mainly to moist situ- 
ations in western Oregon and Washington. Throughout the greater 
part of its range, it occurs as a relatively small-sized tree. Along 
streams, near springs, in river bottoms, and on well-watered slopes, 
however, it commonly forms pure stands of commercial-sized timber. 
On the loAver slopes of the coast mountains of Washington and Ore- 
gon red alder sometimes grows in practically pure stands over fairly 
large areas, and takes possession of burned or cut-over lands which 
have been slow to reforest with conifers. 
It should be recognized that thoroughly reliable data on the sup- 
ply and distribution of red alder can be obtained only by a thorough- 
going survey, something that has never been attempted. Certain 
general regions where the tree reaches its best development are 
known, and timbermen and farmers as a result of their observations 
are in a position to point out other localities. For more detailed in- 
formation, however, those desiring a supply of alder stumpage are 
put to the necessity of making their own surveys. 
Single compact logging units containing 500,000 board feet of 
merchantable alder, or alder that will produce logs of the size shown 
in Figure 1, do not seem to be numerous. Units containing 100,000 
board feet, however, are of frequent occurrence. Areas extending for 
several miles along streams will sometimes cut out more than 500,000 
feet, but they are exceptional. 
The merchantable stand of red alder in Oregon and Washington 
is estimated at about 1,110,000,000 board feet (Oregon, 750,000,000; 
Washington, 360,000,000). The Oregon acreage, estimated at 75,000 
acres, lies mainly within 30 miles of the coast. The Washington 
stands, found somewhat farther inland, are estimated to cover 30,000 
acres. Not all of this estimated supply, however, is available at 
present; in fact, much of it, because of the character of its occur- 
rence and the absence of transportation facilities, is inaccessible. 
ANNUAL CONSUMPTION 
Statistics dealing with red alder are very meager, but such as 
there are indicate that consumption of this wood is increasing 
rapidly. In 1910 Oregon and Washington used nearly 2,685,000 
board feet of red alder. A careful survey of the requirements for 
1923 indicates that the consumption had risen in 13 years to 13,456,- 
000 board feet, all of which was cut in these two States. 1 Oregon 
consumed 5,858,000 board feet, and Washington 7,598,000. These 
figures include the timber used in veneer production, amounting to 
1 Figures for both years are much higher than those reported by the Bureau of the 
Census for red alder production in Washington and Oregon. This is explained by the 
considerable number of small mills cutting red alder, which, because of their size, did not 
submit reports, 
