University of Idaho School of Forestry - Forester Yearbook (Moscow, ID)

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10 TI-IE IDAHO FORESTER YIELD CAPACITY DETERMINES CUT The amount of national forest timber that may be cut in any year is controlled by the sustained yield capacity of the forest land. The yield at the present time, based on the present forest land acreage, is in the neigh- borhood of 550 to 600 million feet annually. This is much below the past average annual cut in the state. Furthermore, a large- pro- portion of this yield is in species not now in great demand, or consists of the younger stands too small to fill market requirements, or is so inaccessible that for quite a number of decades it cannot be economically utilized. Consequently, there promises to be a material gap in the lumber industry's output for a period commencing about fifteen or twenty years from now until about fifty or sixty years from now, when the younger stands come into merchantability. What this means to local welfare needs no emphasis. The eiect of cessation of lumbering activities in several of the counties and towns in northern Idaho is already well known. However, looking ahead to the future the national forests are definitely a provisiong first to ameliorate the trying conditions re- sulting from cutting out of timber, and sec- ond, to build up the raw material output to even greater yi-eld possibilities than hitherto have been utilized. The first is accomplished through limitation of cutting-' on national forest lands to their sustained yield. A movement is further on foot, using the government timber as a foun- dation and nucleus, to work out a scheme in- volving- northern Idaho timber whereby the timber of other than government ownership will be thrown in with it and together be cut and managed on a sustained yield basis. SECOND GROWTH ESSENTIAL The second growth is accomplished through the care and protection the government is giv- ing to its young timber growth of no present commercial value as well as to the older mer- chantable stands. Such a policy is not fully pursued by any other forest landowner in the State of Idaho, not even the state itself on its own land. Its accomplishment is also further- ed through the authority for acquiring cut- over or young growth areas, nonagricultural in character, heretofore privately owned and adding them to the existing national forest lands. The lands thus added, having been se- lected for their timber quality in the days of free public land acquisition before the insti- tution of the national forests, are generally far better than average in timber production capacity. Hence, the future yield of the na- tional forests will be increased far out of proportion to the increase in acreage. Utilizing land unfit for agriculture, keep- ing land productive which otherwise would lie waste, and at no cost to the state, cannot otherwise than benefit the state. It is well known that vast acreages of privately owned land, cut-over, burned, or with unmarketable second growth, which have no value for agri- culture or any other purpose than timber pro- duction, are going back to the counties through tax delinquencies. The counties, even though their officials realize full well their responsi- bility and the vital importance of custodial at- tention to these lands, are financially unable to undertake this burden. The state cannot do so. Somewhat limited authority is available for the government to take over these lands. This has afforded a means for keeping much of these new public domain lands productive and in the way to deliver their manifold bene- fits to the people of the state. INVESTMENT FIGURES LARGE In these ways the national forests areplay- ing the part of bringing stability to the large lumbering and allied industries of the state upon which very many other gainful occupa- tions depend in great part. In 1927 there were in Idaho 96 lumber and timber products establishments, over 10,000 salary and wage earners faverage for the yearlg salaries and wages totaled over 314,000,000 and materials, fuel, etc., exceeded 310,000,000. The value of the manufactured product exceeded 330,000,- 000. The figures for 1929 were appreciably higher, but 1927 data are accepted as more conservative. The 322.50 per thousand feet that is estimated as going into local circula- tion, on 800,000,000 feet of annual cut comes to 318,000,000 The figures from one large lumber company indicate that on anpinvest- ment of around 39,500,000, about 32,500,000 yearly has circulated in the local communities for the past two decades. The lumber and allied industries comprise directly a material part of the taxable prop- erty of the state. From the 1931 report of the Idaho State Board of Equalization is indicated that this comes to between 345,000,000 and 350,000,000 Just how much more taxable values come from business, residence and similar properties, and even public utility values, and farm values stimulated by local markets resulting from the lumbering indus- try, it is impossible to determine, but un- questionably their aggregate is v-ery great. The continuance of the tax return from these properties is inevitably bound up with the con- tinuance of these industries. Of vast importance indeed in the economic welfare of the state in the future is the as- sured stability of raw material production. This assurance of a stable output of forest crops is not or cannot be assured by any other agency than the federal government. Despite these enormous benefits, the obligation has not been undertaken by any of the county govern- ments and is redeemed in only a secondary way by the state. While the justifica- tion of the federal government's raising tim- fContinued on page 465

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THE IDAHO FORESTER 9 Road or other Federal Aid projects. The amount of money allocated to the state from these appropriations has been dependent in considerable part on the acreage of federal forest lands in the state. At one time these contributions were figured at three cents per acre per annum based on government-owned lands in the state. In recent years they have been much greater. Up to July 1, 1932, the funds thus expended for direct road construc- tion and road maintenance work by the Fed- eral Government aggregated 259,500,000 for major public roads and 358,900,000 for forest development roads and trails. Since the major roads are of primary importance to communi- ties in or near the national forests, their con- struction by the government replaces an equal cost of construction which would have had to be undertaken by the counties or the state, if not carried on by the government. The forest development projects in part provide develop- ment which otherwise would have had to be undertaken by local agencies. GOVERNMENT SPENDS OTHER MONEY HERE The government's expenditures for admini- stration protection and development of the forests aggregate a very appreciable total. Practically all of the payroll expenditures in the state are put into circulation locally. There are close to 200 year-long forest service employees living in the state, varying from the highly trained, long experienced forest supervisors with heavy responsibilities, to the newcomers among the rangers, all of whom in normal times receive salaries aggregating about S475,000 annually. The recurrent seasonal employment of tem- porary men for prevention and control of fire and forest diseases, for the construction of forest development roads, trails, telephone lines, lookout houses, and other necessary structures, provides a tidy payroll. In the seven national forests in northern Idaho alone this is estimated conservatively to have aver- aged during late years upward of 2000 men for an average of about three months each year. These 6000 man-months represent around S500,000 in wages alone. This employ- ment is in large part made up of local resi- dents, and a very great proportion of their compensation is put into local channels of trade. The temporary occasional crews, spe- cially recruited for suppression of large fires, have aggregated 2000 men yearlyg while many of these have been obtained from outside the state, practically all available and suitable local men have been used first, and a very large proportion has been local, and a large part of their wages has been spent within the state. Large aggregates are spent on such things as subsistence, materials, equipment, transportation, rent, horse feed, and similar items necessary for carrying on this large field enterprise. The state's usual annual in- come from the government's national forest activities is indeed of considerable moment in the prosperity and welfare of the state. CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS This year a new enormous expenditure by the federal government is in the way of being made in the national forests of Idaho. The Civilian Conservation Corps, while it will largely be composed of men recruited from other states, will include a great number of Idaho citizens likewise and will liberate large amounts of money into the local channels of trade. Altogether it can safely be said that the direct financial contributions of the federal government, as a result of its national forest enterprise in the eighteen forests in Idaho, far exceed what would have been the tax re- turns to the counties if the land now in na- tional forests had been permitted to lie open to public entry fmining laws are still, of course, unrestrictedly applicablej and had been pri- vately acquired. It is to be noted that after all but a small proportion of the national for- est property would have been privately ac- quired and retained in private ownership as worth while for a private owner to hold, ad- minister, protect, develop, and pay taxes on. Of the indirect benefits of the national for- ests the government's timber production ef- ,forts have been and will prove permanently to yield the greatest return to the state and its people. This is by providing a source of tim- ber conversion activities both present and po- tential. It is not in illing the needs of the state for lumber itself, although it is not at all amiss to have available near at hand at no great cost of transportation virtually an un- limited supply of timber for use by the mines, the farms, and other less prominent activities in the state, and although the government policy is to sell, at cost of making and ad- ministering the timber sales, all material needed by local settlers, and to give away all dead material free of charge. Idaho's output of lumber alone has aver- aged between 800,000,000 and 850,000,000 feet annually. It has been estimated that each thousand board feet of timber logged and manufactured brings between 320 and S25 in labor, supplies, and equipment paid out in the local community. While most of the cut in the past has come from privately owned lands, the end of privately owned timber as a ma- terial quantity exploited annually is not very many years away. In northern Idaho, for in- stance, private timber holdings will at normal cutting rates be cut out generally in from eight to fifteen years, with only a few ex- ceptions running a little longer. Very ob- viously the 322.50 for each thousand feet of timber cut that goes into local circulation will have to depend more and more on the govern- ment timber as time goes on.

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RANGE MANAGEMENT ON INDIAN LANDS J. P. KINNEY Director of Forestry, U. S. Indian Service THE total area of land within the United States in which the Indians own a beneficial interest exceeds 71,000,000 acres, and is ap- proximately equal to one-half of the net area of Federally-owned lands included within Na- tional Forest boundaries. The relative pro- portion of Indian lands that may be classed as forest lands is much smaller than the relative proportion of timbered lands within the Na- tional Forests, the proportion of rough moun- tain land in the National Forests is greater than within Indian reservations, and the area of open grass land within the reservations is proportionally greater than within the Na- tional Forests. These disparities are chiefiy due to the fact that Indian reservations com- prise large areas in the Plains Region, east of the Rocky Mountains, and in the semi-arid portions of Arizona and New Mexico. AREA or INDIAN GRAZING LANDS The forage on the grazing areas within In- dian reservations west of the Rockies is com- parable to that on National Forests, but the immense grassy plains of reservations within the Dakotas and Montana are quite different from any extensive areas within National Forests. The capacity of these short grass areas of the Plains Region to produce forage for stock is truly marvelous. While there are Indian reservations under Federal jurisdiction in twenty states, the chief reservations containing grazing lands of im- portance lie within ten states: Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Da- kota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washing- ton, and Wyoming. The combined area of the reservations in these states exceeds 45,000,000 acres and of this total nearly 40,000,000 acres are classiiiable as grazing lands. These 40,- 000,000 acres include about 5,000,000 acres of forest land which affords range incidental to its primary purpose of forest production. The reservations in these ten states may be properly assigned to three groups of rather distinct characteristics. These are the North- ern Great Plains Region, lying east of the Rockies and north of the forty-first parallel of latitude, the Intermountain Region, lying north of the forty-first parallel and between the Rockies and the Cascades, and the South- west Region comprising Arizona, New Mexi- co, Utah, and a small area in southwestern Colorado. The Plains Region contains over 12,000,000 acres of range lands, the Inter- mountain Region nearly 5,000,000 acres, and the Southwestern Region nearly 23,000,000 acres. In 1930 slightly more than 11,000,000 acres were under lease or permit for grazing purposes and a yearly cash income of nearly S900,000 was realized. It will be noted that the area not under lease or permit was nearly three times the area from which a cash reve- nue was being received. The total revenue de- rived from Indian livestock ranging on Indian lands in 1930 was nearly 32,340,000 Thus the total income to the Indians from livestock and grazing fees amounted to approximately 53,- 250,000. Obviously these range resources play an important part in the economic life of the Indians. CONDITION or GRAZING LANDS. While it is unmistakably true that the grazing lands of the Navajos in Arizona and New Mexico are greatly overstocked at present, and while isolated instances of over- grazing occur on various reservations, the range lands on Indian reservations are not generally in a depleted condition. In fact, throughout the Indian country the faults of the past have been chiefiy in the line of un- regulated use and a failure to provide physical improvements rather than in a general over- stocking of the ranges. Ranges heretofore overgrazed could be relieved through the de- velopment of Water in areas that can not now be used to capacity because of a lack of wells or tanks. Large areas have been injured by the grazing of inferior horses who produce no income commensurate with the harm done to the range. Tens of thousands of acres are practically useless for stock purposes and hun- dreds of thousands of acres are greatly re- duced in value because of their occupation by prairie dogs which could be and should be ex- terminated. Funds have never been available for the de- velopment of water supplies and the prospects of future appropriations for such purposes are by no means encouraging. The Indians have been reluctant to dispose of their ponies at the prices that could be obtained for them, and not only have the funds available for rodent control been extremely limited, but the Indians, especially in the Navajo country, have not been sympathetic with plans for the extermination of animals that at times afford a partial food supply in a region that produces but a limited variety of human diet. INVENTORY OF GRAZING LANDS The first task undertaken by the Forestry Branch of the Indian Service after the ad- ministration of grazing on Indian lands was assigned to it on April 15, 1930 was to secure an inventory of the grazing resources of the Indians and of the stock utilizing the same. In- cidental to the taking of this inventory a vast amount of information was accumulated as to the precipitation, the kinds of forage, past experience in stock raising, and other data for each particular reservation. This infor- 11