California Ranks Second in Timber Supply -Consumes More Lumber Than She Makes

The average person thinks about California as a land of orange groves, golf courses, and beautiful mountains, with the site of a gold rush here and there.

It usually comes as a great surprise when they are told that California is a commonwealth possessing huge forested areas that will furnish the world with her lumber supply for generations to come.

Even in California, that fact is not well known. We have ca,lled attention in these columns before to the fact that California is usually referred to as the Golden State, whereas the forests of California have already produced twice as much wealth as have her gold mines, and the forest wealth is as yet scarcely touched.

The fact is that there is more virgin commercial timber standing in California than in any other state in the union except Oregon. More than in Washington, and more than stands in British Columbia, Canada's storehouse of timber.

California is blessed by a tremendous stand of timber, and at the same time with such a variety of timber as falls to the lot of very, very few timber territories.

All authorities do not agree on the exact amount of virgin timber standing in the great west today, but all authorities will agree on the approximate round numbers, which are sufficient for this story.

There is fully 500,000,000,000 feet of timber standing in Oregon. This is the greatest stand that any state ever possessed, the original stand in Washington falling considerably below that mark.

In iWashington today there is very little over 250,000,0m,000 feet of timber, and some claim there is not that much left.

California was credited with 381,000,000,000 five years ago by the most competent authorities.

British Columbia claims over 3@1000,@0,000 feet.

About 175,000,000,000 feet is estimated to stand in the Inland Empire, principally in Idaho and Montana.

The biggest stand of timber in California is White Pine. The second iargest stand is Redwood, with its 70,000,000,000 feet, and Sugar Pine ranks close behind Redwood. Douglas Fir,,White Fir, and Cedars, are in the minority.

California is cutting less than 2,000,000,000 feet of her timber annually. A very large portion of this is shi,pped out of the state for consumption, while huge quantities of Fir and Hemlock are shipped in from the north for California consumption.

It is interesting to note that California consumes a far greater amount of timber than she produces each year. Whereas the production of California Lumber has never exceeded 2,000,000,000 feet annually, the city of Los Angeles alone has consumed fully that amount of lumber in a year. In 1923 more than a billion and a half of lumber came into Los Airgeles by water alone, in addition to large shipments of rail lumber, which was more than all the California mil,ls cut that year.

While no close figures are available on the subject, it is safe to assu:me that California consumes at least 3,000,000,000 feet of lumber annually, nearly two billion feet of which is Fir and Hemlock from the north that comes in by both rail and water, and the remainder California Pine and Redwood, and foreign and domestic hardwoods that are used all over the state.

In 1925 nearly 1,800,000,000 feet of Northwestern lumber came into California by water. Fully 200,00d,000,000 came in by rail, making two billion feet in round figures. So from the Northwest alone came more lumber for Califbrnia consumption, than all the mills of California were cutting that year.