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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Washington, D. C. April, 1924 
NATURAL REGENERATION OF DOUGLAS FIR 
IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 
By Junius V. Hormann, Silviculturist, Wind River Forest:Experiment Station, 
Forest Service. 
CONTENTS. 
Page Page 
Va Ces OGLE CGT Ta ee Ta asia SA ti GTO Wa abe eA ee pd 44 
‘Distribution of Douglas fir __-__-__ 2 | Silvicultural management _________ 46 
Climatte and Site 220 lees pal PaEin emi egmettumt bie Oe eh 50 
(2Y 29 9 path UR i PORE AR OF cir IGINLA) 8 at Ue MON aS UT eeriy 2 etal a a 54 
Origin of young growth___________ 18 | Appendix A. Methods of study_____ 57 
Mima timc. en ca Seg 38 | Appendix B. Botanical characteris- 
Character of second-growth forests_ 40 EST CS ESCADA 2 ah 2 BS 
Competitions. 2. ow ase oe ee AA BOS Hap yee eles ea OE a a 60 
INTRODUCTION. 
The Douglas-fir: forests of Oregon and Washington are among 
the most valuable in the United States, but because the means by 
which they can be regenerated have not been understood or followed, 
about half the 3,500,000 acres? cut over in Oregon and Washington 
are nonproductive. To this denuded land are being added from 
80,000 to 100,000 acres each year, an amount that will tend to in- 
_crease as other timber r regions become exhausted and the Pacific 
Northwest is called on for more and more of our national lumber 
supply. So productive are Douglas-fir forests that well-stocked 
stands grow at an average rate of about 600 board feet to the 
acre annually up to an’ age of about 200 years. The nonproductive 
cut-over Douglas-fir lands of Oregon and Washington could, at this 
rate, 
seventh of the total present yearly cut of this region. To trace the 
laws governing the establishment and growth of Douglas-fir for- 
1 Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) (Poir. Britt.) is known by a number of common 
names, such as Washington fir, red fir, yellow fir, fir, Douglas spruce, spruce, Oregon 
pine, red pine, Puget Sound pine, or British Columbia pine. 
2 Report on. Senate Resolution 311, Timber Depletion, Lumber Prices, Lumber Hxports, 
and Concentration of Timber Ownership. -U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 
Service, June 1, 1920. 
Notrre.—Grateful acknowledgment is made of the valuable assistance of C. J. Kraebel. 
forest examiner, and H. V. Brown, forest ranger. 
60634- —24 a 
