)) 
WESTERN WHITE PINE AND LARCH-FIR FORESTS SI 
SLASH DISPOSAL 
Although slash disposal is an extremely important step in timber 
growing, it should not properly be considered a charge against the 
crop, but rather a logging cost incurred for the protection of adjoin- 
ing lands, timber, and improvements. As previously stated, the cost 
of piling and burning will range from $0.60 to $1.25 for each thou- 
sand board feet of timber cut. 
SILVICULTURAL MEASURES 
Under Forest Service practice a volume of 1,500 to 3,000 board feet 
of white pine to the acre, with a value of $5 to $30, is usually left 
for seed trees or further growth. On a property managed for per- 
manent production this may be considered a postponement of returns 
rather than-a cost, since it may be assumed that trees left on the area 
will be harvested later, in some instances with additional volume 
accretion. For a private owner who is not committed to permanent 
forest management the recovery of this investment might be doubtful. 
The advisability of leaving white pine seed trees would, therefore, be 
influenced by the intentions and circumstances of each individual 
timber owner. Seed trees of other species do not involve an appre- 
ciable investment. 
On the whole, it may be said that aside from slash disposal, which 
is a general fire protection rather than a timber-growing measure, 
the minimum steps necessary to leave white pine lands in a reasonably 
productive condition after cutting are practically without cost. The 
timberland owner who wishes to practice more intensive forestry, as 
is being done on the national forests, must, of course, incur greater 
expense. Considerable investment is required if the stand contains 
inferior species, which must be removed, or if there is an appreciable 
number of defective trees to be disposed of in order to favor white 
pine reproduction. 
THE LARCH-DOUGLAS FIR TYPE 
CHARACTER AND IMPORTANCE OF LARCH-FIR FORESTS 
The characteristic species of the larch-Douglas fir type are western 
larch (Larix occidentalis) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia). 
Practically all the other timber species of the region, western white 
pine, western yellow pine, Engelmann spruce, white fir, hemlock, and 
lodgepole pine, occur in mixture in various degrees, but the typical 
stand is nearly pure larch and Douglas fir. | 
The most important center of larch and fir production is in west- 
ern Montana. Table 6 gives an estimate of the timber stands of the 
principal species in that region. In north Idaho the total stand of 
larch and fir is estimated at 14,448,000,000 feet, of which 6,563,000,000 
is in private ownership, 1,687,000,000 in State,’ 5,953,000,000 in na- 
tional forest, and 245,000,000 in other Federal ownership. 
Over considerable areas mature stands average 10,000 to 20,000 
board feet to the acre, but these do not represent the full yiéld possi- 
bilities of the type. ‘The larch-fir type has suffered greatly from fire, 
and it is rare to find stands which have not been damaged and thinned 
out by ground fires. 
