10 BULLETIN 1494, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
Utilization of white pine is very close. Practically all trees 10 
inches and over breast high are cut and logs are taken down to a 
5 or 6 inch top diameter. The utilization of other species is very 
far from complete because of their comparatively low value at 
present. Many operators are taking out only the white pine and the 
cedar poles and leaving all or practically all of the other species in 
the woods. Utilization of other species varies greatly with different 
operators, but there is no doubt that under average white pine log- 
ging conditions and with a normal market Douglas fir, larch, white 
fir, and hemlock are handled either at a loss or on a very small margin 
of profit. 
Piivats lands logged over for white pine have generally been 
burned over shortly after cutting, either intentionally in the spring 
and fall to comply with the State slash disposal law or accidentally 
during the fire season. ‘The large amount of mixed species and 
the many defective trees or trees below merchantable size left uncut . 
are prey to the first slash fire, which kills much of this material. 
In a few years these dead trees begin to fall, and often create a 
worse fire hazard than the original slash. As a result most cut-over 
white pine land burns a second and probably a third and fourth time. 
The tangle of dead and down trees, the snags still standing, the 
undergrowth of thistle, dry grass, and fireweed altogether form so 
combustible a combination that it is almost impossible to protect it 
from fire or to stop a fire that has started in it. 
As a result the cut-over white pine lands in Idaho are as a rule 
in very bad shape for timber growing. Whole townships are almost 
completely denuded, and such reproduction as has become established 
is in constant danger of being destroyed by fire. Probably over 75 
per cent of the cut-over land in the white pine type in north Idaho 
is In a nonproductive condition as a result of fire. In this respect 
the white pine cut-over lands in the region are in very much worse 
condition than the yellow pine and larch-fir types. 
MEASURES ESSENTIAL FOR GROWING TIMBER 
FIRE CONTROL 
Protection against fire, although it will not by itself insure full 
_ productivity of forest land, is the one essential measure for growing 
timber in the western white pine type. In this type the fire danger’ 
becomes critical nearly every summer, a condition for which dry 
winds and low summer rainfall are largely responsible. In north 
Idaho the annual rainfall averages over 30 inches, but the July and 
August rainfall is only about 2 inches. In this particular there 
is a resemblance to Pacific coast conditions and a decided contrast 
with those in eastern Montana. In eastern Montana the average 
annual rainfall is less than 16 inches, but the July-August total 
ranges from 2.4 to 2.9 inches, and danger from fire is correspond- 
ingly less. 
The heavy annual precipitation in north Idaho gives rise to luxu- 
riant forests containing much cedar, hemlock, and fir understory and 
accumulating much dead and down material. In the summer these 
forests are dried out to the point of high inflammability by the lack 
