UTILIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF LODGEPOLE PINE. 
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WOOD. 
The wood of lodgepole pine is straight grained, with narrow rings 
in which the resinous bands of summerwood are conspicuous, though 
relatively small when compared with the springwood. It is more 
resinous than eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), but less so than the 
yellow pines of the South and West. In color it varies from almost 
white to a light yellow or yellow-brown, with a tinge of red in the 
heartwood. Its specific gravity (oven dry) is about 0.38, and its 
weight varies from 25 to 30 pounds per cubic foot. The wood is fairly 
soft — about the same as eastern white spruce (Picea canadensis) — 
and is easily worked. Though not so strong as Douglas fir of the 
Pacific coast (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), a heavier wood, tests made by the 
Forest Service show it to be practically as strong as western yellow pine 
(Pinus ponderosa), and stronger than Engelmann spruce (Picea engel- 
manni) and Alpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), three woods of more nearly 
its weight. Tests made on lodgepole pine and western red cedar 
( Thuja plicata) telephone poles cut green and seasoned showed lodge- 
pole pine to be the stronger, both in crossbending and in compression 
parallel and perpendicular to the grain. The strength of fire-killed 
lodgepole-pine poles was found to be approximately the same as that 
of red cedar poles cut green and seasoned. Lodgepole pine is not 
durable in contact with the soil, but is easy to treat with preserva- 
tives. Plate I shows magnified sections of the wood. Table 2 gives 
figures of strength for green and air-seasoned lodgepole pine com- 
pared with figures for other Rocky Mountain woods. 
Table 2. — Strength of green 1 and air-seasoned 1 lodgepole-pine timber, compared with 
other Rocky Mountain species. 
[Based on tests of small, clear specimens, 2 by 2 inches in cross section, with a 28-inch span in the bending test.] 
Species and locality. 
Eodgepole pine, Grand County, 
Colo 
Lodgepole pine, Johnson County, 
Wyo 
Rings 
per 
inch. 
Douglas fir, Johnson County, Wyo. 
Western yellow pine, Coconino 
County, Ariz 
Western yellow pine, Douglas 
County, Colo 
Western yellow pine, Missoula 
County, Mont 
Engelmann spruce, Grand County, 
Colo 
Engelmann spruce, San Miguel 
County, Colo 
Alpine fir, Grand County, Colo. 
Spe- 
cific 
grav- 
ity.* 
0.370 
.392 
.371 
.390 
.418 
.435 
.353 
.384 
.391 
.411 
.371 
.325 
.342 
.299 
.314 
.306 
.321 
Mois- 
ture 
con- 
tent. 
Per 
cent. 
44 
11.0 
58 
12.0 
32 
12.0 
98 
11.6 
93 
13.8 
119 
45 
12.8 
156 
16.8 
47 
15.9 
Static bending. 
Modu- 
lus of 
rup- 
ture. 
Lbs. per 
sq. in. 
5,130 
8,740 
5,170 
8,750 
6,340 
9,320 
4,760 
8,150 
5,460 
9,400 
4,950 
4,550 
7,740 
3,850 
5,860 
4,450 
5,960 
Modu- 
lus of 
elas- 
ticity. 
1,000 
lbs. per 
sq. in. 
1,015 
1,270 
972 
1,176 
1,242 
1,392 
879 
1,103 
1,053 
1,263 
865 
1,074 
861 
887 
Work 
to 
maxi- 
mum 
load. 
Inch-lbs, 
per 
cu. in. 
5.1 
6.7 
5.3 
5.2 
7.0 
6.3 
4.9 
4.6 
6.0 
7.0 
5.2 
4.8 
5.4 
5.0 
5.4 
4.4 
3.4 
Com- 
pression 
parallel 
to grain 
(crushing 
strength). 
Lbs. per 
sq. in. 
2,530 
5,520 
2,400 
5,330 
2,920 
6,050 
2,220 
5,220 
2,600 
4,920 
2,370 
2,170 
4,560 
1,800 
3,060 
2,060 
3,400 
Com- 
pres- 
sion 
perpen- 
dicular 
to grain 
(fiber 
stress at 
elastic 
limit). 
Lbs. per 
sq. in. 
364 
779 
332 
824 
427 
744 
342. 
790 
410 
714 
313 
302 
589 
279 
447 
307 
504 
1 Based on oven-dry weight and volume when tested for strength. 
Note.— Values for green timber on first line, for air-dry on second line, opposite species and locality. 
