SMALL RANCHERS AND THE FORESTS

WILLIAM L. ROBB.

From the 104 national forests near which they live in the West, operators of small ranches obtain many millions of board feet of timber products.

Practically all of this timber is obtained through small sales that involve a stumpage value of $500 or less. The number of such small sales made yearly in a typical period, from 1941 through 1945, ranged from 10,895 in 1943 to 15,938 in 1941.

The largest demand is for saw timber, followed in order by fuel wood, corral and fence poles, fence posts, and miscellaneous products such as house logs, derrick sets, and cellar poles.

The buyers use most of these timber products for maintaining and improving their own property, but many cut and sell lumber, poles, posts, and mine props during otherwise slack seasons.

In a typical case, the rancher or farmer applies to the local forest ranger for the type and amount of timber he wants. The ranger issues a sale permit to the applicant and, upon receipt of notice that payment for the timber has been made, marks the trees to be cut. The rancher then does the cutting; the ranger checks at intervals to see that terms of the permit are fulfilled. Under the sales agreement, the rancher must complete the cutting and removal of the timber within a given time; cut low stumps, and otherwise make the fullest use possible of each marked tree; dispose of limbs and tops so as to provide for the establishment of new growth of young trees and reduce the fire hazard; move the logs so as not to damage the young trees or cause soil erosion; and follow other operational requirements to assure the best use of the forest.

For some years the timber purchaser was required to assemble, or deck, his logs on the timber-sale area (or at some other agreed-upon location) for scaling or measurement by the forest officer before removal. The common practice now is to make small sales by what is known as the tree-measurement procedure. The volume of individual trees is determined at the time they are marked for cutting.

In the case of a sale for saw timber, the forest officer blazes each tree to be cut and numbers it, consecutively, on the blaze. He measures its diameter at a point 4 1/2 feet above the ground with a diameter tape and its merchantable height with an Abney level or hypsometer. Diameter and height measurements are recorded for each tree as the marking and measuring go forward. From tables prepared for each tree species in the timber stand the volume of lumber that can be sawn from each marked tree is calculated and recorded. A sufficient number of trees are marked to produce a gross volume, as determined from the volume tables, somewhat in excess of the amount which the purchaser applies for.

Usually some of the trees marked contain defects in the form of rot, checks, or crooks, or are unavoidably broken when they are felled. To be sure the purchaser gets the full volume of the usable material desired, the gross volume, as determined from the volume tables, is reduced by the amount of such defect and unavoidable breakage as occurs. This deduction is arrived at by scaling a sample of felled trees to determine the difference between their gross and usable volume. This difference is then applied to the whole.

In order to handle most efficiently the great number of small sales made annually and to provide the most service to purchasers, units of timber are set aside on most national forests and ranger districts where small sales are concentrated. Such units are located, as far as practicable, close to communities from which most requests for timber are received. In them the forest officer usually marks and measures enough trees in the spring to take care of all the small sales he expects to have during the normal logging season.

As each application is received, previously marked and measured trees are assigned to the applicant and specified by number in his permit. The assignment, by number, of trees previously marked is done consecutively as applications are received. Each permit-holder is given directions on how to reach the area where the timber is located. Periodically the forest officer inspects the cutting area.

Many small ranchers in the West use national forest forage for their livestock in summer. The forage is managed, like timber, on a sustained-yield basis. The use of forest range is permitted on payment of a grazing fee based on the class of stock and the length of the grazing season on each grazing unit. In 1947, 17,153 ranchers were permitted to graze 1,142,629 cattle and horses under paid permits. Another 3,167 had permits to graze 3,398,375 sheep and goats. About 60 percent of the holders of permits for cattle and horses grazed fewer than 40 head of stock each; only about 7 percent owned more than 200 head each. Approximately 63 percent of the permits for sheep and goats were for fewer than 1,000 animals; only about 3 percent grazed more than 4,000 head.

The forests also provide supplemental employment to many ranchers on various types of projects for improving and protecting the forests.

People living in or near the forests are especially qualified and adapted to this type of work. Because they have more than average dependence upon the resources of the forest, they have more than average interest in developing and protecting them. Those who operate small mills to supplement their ranching operations are interested in stand-improvement measures, such as thinning dense stands, pruning crop trees, and planting seedlings, and in maintaining the roads. Graziers are interested in range reseeding and construction of improvements like water developments and fences. Men who use the forest roads and trails for trailing or trucking livestock or guiding vacationists on fishing and hunting trips are anxious to maintain roads and trails.

WILLIAM L. ROBB has been in charge of the Division of Timber Management of the Intermountain Region of the Forest Service since 1939.