National Forest Policy In Alaska As Outlined By the
Department of Agriculture
‘•Tilt management policy f >±
the Alaska national forest to
as its objective the providing of
a continuous and adequate sup
ply of timber for the present
and future wood-using indus
tries of the region. Is is hoped
that such industries will in turn
luster the permanent develop
ment of the Territory, and per
mit a sustained contribution to
the Nation’s supply of timber
products. The objectives, of
course, includes the furnishing
of a permanent and convenient
supply of timber for local con
sumption.
Timber Sales
“Timber sales are made with
tbe understanding that the
wood is to be used for primary
manufacture within the Terri
tory and is not to be exported
in the form of logs, cordwood, or
other raw products, except in
individual cases to permit more
complete utilization.
IleintzJeman Describes Timber
“The stands of timber are ev
rn-aged; many age classes are
i (..presented in the forest as a
whole; and the stands of the
older age classes are greatly in
the majority, perhaps three
fourths of the commercial tim
ber of the region being MATURE
/ ND OVERMATURE.
Classification
“Commercial timber of the
principal species in the Tongas*;
National Forest is conservative
ly estimated to occur by volume
m the following amounts: West
ern hemlock, 74 per cent; Sitka
.-pruce, 20 per cent; western ce
dar, 3 per cent; and Alaska ce
dar, 3 per cent. The total stand
of saw timber in the forest 1s
about 73,500,000.000 feet, beard
easy re,
Timber Production, Export and
Yield
“For the year 1929, the timber
cut on the two national forests
of Alaska amounted to 47 462,
lOO feet, board measure, with
ttumpage value of $71,409 In
1929, 2,405 000 board fee'' of
“wood, timber, and lumber,” v li
ned at $140,031, were shipped to
other parts of the United ionites;
and a total of 163.251 board feet
cf sawed lumber, valued at $4,
738, were shipped to foreign
•ountries.
“ * Allowing 90 years as a ro
tation period for puipwood and
assuming the present virgin
timber to be entirely cut in this
period, approximately 1,500,900
cords of wood of 600 board fe^t
■'ach can be removed from the
Tongass National Forest yearly
in this period. This output is
sufficient to produce not les*
than 1,000,000 tons of newsprint
a year, * * * a plan of forest
management based on a sustain
ed yield of 1,500 000 cords of
puipwood should be conserva
tive.”
NOTE: Under these figures,
the estimated timber cut would
be 900,000,000 per annum. Un -
der the T'rescnt system, then,
tnere is a waste of 852,578,000
board feet each year.. For ac
cording to Mr. Ileintzleman
‘perhaps three-fourths of the
commercial timber of the region
is (being) mature and overma
ture.”
Hemlock Supply and Production
“The cut of western hemlock
:n the Urd^i State-, in U28 was
cbout 1,550,000,000 board feet,
and in Alaska 7.853,000 board
feet.
“The total stand of western
hemlock saw timber in the Unit
ed States, including Alaska, is
about 149,000,000,000 board feet
of which 62,000 000,000 board
feet are in Alaska.
Why the Discrmmation?
A Comment
With almost half the available
western hemlock in the United
States, Alaska cuts 1,542,147,000
+eet less than mills in the states
and while export of round tim
ber is permitted in the states if
is not permitted in Alaska ex
cept in isolated instances We
have a right to ask the Forest
Officials, Why this discrimina
tion?
Spruce Supply and Production
“The estimated volume of Sit
ka spruce of commercial size on
the Tongass National Forest is
15,800,000,000 board measure
and on the Chugak National
Forest about 1,400,000,000 feet
board measure. Alaska contains
about two-fifths of the total
supply.
But “of the 571.917,000 board
feet of spruce (all spruces) lum
t er produced in ' the United
States in 1928, Oregon and
Washington furnished over one
half, most of which was Sitka
spruce. The production of spruce
lumber in Alaska in 1928 was
22.748.000 board feet. Exports
from Alaska to foreign countries
of spruce boards amounting to
2.411.000 board feet in 1928 and
85.000 board feet in 1929.
Note: Alaska exported to or
eign countiies in 1929 approxi
mately one-tenth that exported
by Oregon and Washington. As
no figures are given for 1929 ex
ports the comparison cannot he
carried further. But an export
of 85,000 board feet for 1925 ap
pears to be rather a sickly look
ing sight.
Oilier Discriminations
In previous articles on thi;