WESTERN WHITE PINE AND LARCH-FIR FORESTS 7 
The situation in some parts of the State is even more serious. 
The cut from the two northern counties in 1923, including the por- 
tion sawed in Washington mills, was 204,000,000 feet, of which 
99,000,000 feet came from the Kaniksu and Pend Oreille National 
Forests. Approximately 175,000,000 feet was cut from private lands 
‘on which the total stand is estimated at no more than 2,813,000,000 
feet. According to this reckoning the privately-owned timber in 
these counties will last only about 16 years. 
TABLE 2.—Lumber cut for Idaho mills north of Salmon River, 1917-19237 
[Thousand board feet—i. e., 000 omitted] 
Species 1917 1918 1920 1921 1922 . 1923 
Western white pine 2-22 193,404 | 208,749 | 261,251 | 173,677 | 297,970 374, 381 
Westernyellowspinesges =) 2 177, 918 173, 424 | 229, 853 138, 317 198, 276 234, 631 
iWesternlanrchisaasewels et Tees 98, 950 116, 691 138, 787 70, 703 89, 627 121, 145 
ID) QUASI se see erases Soh SE 45, 086 46, 246 72, 584 40, 914 51, 076 67, 806 
Mowlandswhitestinss se OS 36, 627 49, 644 53, 319 22, 923 55, 828 47, 606 
Wester red! cedar)s<5 ee. 2722 sessile 15, 319 26, 810 26, 663 13, 872 20, 269 25, 930 
Hnegelmann:spriices 2220222 snk 18, 770 12, 360 9, 822 9, 666 12, 965 9, 958 
Western hemlock 22-5 230. I 1, 325 204 120 15 50 1, 021 
Northern black cottonwood ___.______-___- 473 261 1, 376 916 44 711 
Mod cepolempinee ee ea 146 50 60 8 50 6 
otal eemmmeN te. fey 588,018 | 054, 439 | 798, 835 | 471,011 | 726,155 | 883, 195 
1 Cut for 1919 is omitted, as census was not completed for that year. 
The Coeur d’Alene Lake region is also being rapidly cut out. 
It is estimated that, at the present rate of cutting, the privately 
owned timber there will last only 20 to 25 years. 
It is true that the national forests in Idaho will furnish a per- 
manent supply of timber, for they are managed for continuous pro- 
duction, and each year’s cut is limited to the amount of wood grown; 
but their annual yield is not over 275,000,000 feet, and this will fall 
far short of meeting the present needs of the region. 
It may therefore be expected that within 30 years the cut from 
Idaho will be greatly curtailed, and that in less than half that time 
certain portions of the State, where the lumber industry is now of 
the greatest importance, will be seriously depleted of timber. __ 
Whether this will be a permanent loss to the industry or merely a 
temporary setback will depend largely on the management of the 
cut-over lands and their protection from fire. There are now very 
large areas of 10 to 40 year old second-growth timber throughout 
north Idaho. Cutting may begin in the older of these stands, if they 
are saved from fire, in perhaps 30 to 50 years. Also when some years 
ago a considerable amount of yellow pine and larch-fir timberland in 
the State was logged, much material was left just under merchantable 
size, and this now promises to yield a second cut in another 20 or 
30 years. The situation is therefore not beyond remedy if, through 
efficient fire protection, amendment of tax laws, and general encour- 
agement of timber growing, the most is made of the timber-growing 
resources of the State. 
CHARACTER OF THE FORESTS 
Western white pine is confined to regions of deep snowfall where 
there is a comparatively short growing season. Consequently, except 
