Twenty'Five Years 0f Progress In The lVestern Pine Region 0f California

By ltl. E. Griflee Assistant Secretary-Manager, lTestern Pine Association

During its first twenty-five years the California Lumber Merchant has witnessed a steady, almost revolutionary, development of lumbering in the Western pine region of California. Improved methods have come so quietly, first in one mill or logging operation and then in,another, that even those of us closest to the industry scarcely realize the changes unless we stop to think back over them.

Twenty-five years ago California loggers dsually worked nine or ten hours a day, six days a week. Now they rarely work over eight hours a day and usually only five days a week, yet their modern methods and equipment produce ;nore logs per man, even though timber stands generally are less accessible. The old hand falling of timber has largely been replaced by gasoline or electric bhain saws which are much faster, easier and usually leave lower stumps.

Steam skidders, which slaughtered the young growth, have been replaced by tractors and arches rvhich, with a little care in falling timber and laying out skid roads, Ieave forest lands in a growing and reprodu,ctive condition. F{orses and the "big wheels" they pulled are no longer seen in the woods. Any barn boss who insisted upon working with horses has had to leave the timber and take to ranching.

Some of the largest operations still use railroads, espe- cially for the long hauls, but most logs ride on heavy_ duty trucks and trailers, either on their way to the railroad or direct from the woods to the mill p.ond. Some companies have built their own main truck roads the equal to state highway standards in. grades, curves and heavily rocked surfaces. Tractors equipped with bulldozers have made it so mu.ch easier to build roads that .,long corners', are not left like they used to be. Numerous roads cut down the skidding distbnces and give ready access for the fire fighters who must be especially vigilant in protecting lands recently cut over. t

Although new methods and equipment are necessary to log retreating overmature forests economically, they have further advantages which recommend them for the future, as well as the present, of the Western pine lumber indus_ try and its customers. In the old days, even as recently as 1922, the timber supplies for mbst mills were close at hand, with plenty more a little farther back, so logging was conducted with little conscious regard for the future. Most lands logged during this period restocked surprisingly well, if recurring fires were prevented,, but now our timber resources are too yaluable to leave the next crop to chance.

With modern tractors and trucks it is possible to log selectively, leaving seed trees, reproduction and .,rigoroui young growing stock comparatively unharmed. In many cases operators are logging their lands "once over lightly,, in order to harvest overmature timber which otherwise might not be reached until it falls prey to decay or beetles. At the same time the forest is converted from a stagnant reservoir of timber in which growth barely balanc.es losses to a thriving young forest in which new growth rapidly adds timber for another crop. This ,comparatively new treatment of forest lands is so important, and such good business for the industry and communities dependent upon it, that progressive operators recently have helped secure enactment of state legislation requiring at least a minimum of sound forest practices.

To give encouragement and recnognition to the growing of timber on private lands the Western Pine Association certifies as Western Pine Tree Farms both small and large forested areas which owners intend to hold and protect for continuous growing of commercial forest products. As part

MERCHANT 0onls Lumbcr Oornpilny 68 POST STREET . Teletype SF'973 SAN FRANCISCO 4, CALIFORNIA DOuslas 9469 Responsible Wholesale Distributors of West Coast Forest Products