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Ownership of forest land in the Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine sub regions of Oregon and Washington shows little change over the past two decades, according to Forest Survey inventories made in the 1930's, 1945, and 1953. Prior to 1945, some shifting of the ownership pattern occurred, with the area of private forest land decreasing and public ownership increasing. However, since 1945 the change between public and private ownership has been negligible (figure 1).

Whenever past diameters of ponderosa pine trees are required for growth studies or for other purposes they can be estimated with these formulas: (1) trees 10 inches and over in diameter at breast height Dp=Dn - Wg (1.121) Where Dp=past diameter outside bark 4.5 feet above ground Dn=present diameter outside bark 4.5 feet above ground Wg=diameter growth in wood for specified number of years as measured on an increment core. (2) trees less than 10 inches in diameter at breast height Dp=Dn - Wg (1.245)

The Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station has made in recent years several studies to determine the grades of lumber that could be expected from various sizes and grades of logs. Data on No. 2 and No. 3 Sawmill logs obtained in four Oregon old-growth Douglas-fir studies have been analyzed and combined in this report. Included in this analysis are data on 1,575 logs. All of these logs were scaled and graded according to bureau rules and record kept of the lumber produced by individual logs. Lumber grading was done by the West Coast Bureau of Lumber Grades and Inspection.

One of the most important problem facing a forest manager is how to successfully bridge the gap between the cutting of the old stand and establishment of the new one. Perhaps its importance is due to the fact that it requires prompt action based upon definite planning. At most other points in a forest stand's history, failure to take action is not quite so obvious. That is, failure to prune, thin, salvage mortality, etc., may result in a less-than maximum output; but the area continues to produce, On the other hand, failure to get a new stand established following cutting means no productio...

Increasing interest in the practice of intensive forestry has demonstrated the need for gross yield tables for Douglas-fir showing the volume of trees that die as well as volume of live trees. Net yield tables for Douglas-fir, published in 1930, give the live volume in fully stocked stands at different ages on different sites. As in all normal yield tables, no accounting is made of the volume of trees that die as stands grow older. Presented here are gross yield tables, which include net yield and estimated mortality volume. Mortality 13 tables constructed in the process of making the...

Brush encroachment on forest land is greatly reducing the amount of wood grown in forests of the Pacific Northwest. Reliable estimates show that brush has reduced the productivity of more than one-fourth of the forest land of southwestern Oregon. Red alder alone, which is a commercial tree on some areas but a weed species on others, accounts for poor conifer stocking on another two million acres in the Douglas-fir region of Oregon and Washington. Brush also occupies a large area of ponderosa pine land east of the Cascade Range.

In recent years loggers and timber owners have needed better information for estimating logging costs in the Douglas-fir region. Brandstrom's comprehensive study, published in 1933 (1), has long been used as a guide in making cost estimates. But the use of new equipment and techniques and an overall increase in logging costs have made it increasingly difficult to apply Brandstrom's results in analyzing modern logging operations. As a result, the logger has tended to rely on his own experience and such average costs as are known for similar operations. This method is often inadequate and...

Is there any basis to the forester's rule of thumb that virgin forests eventually reach an equilibrium where increment and mortality approximately balance? Are we wasting potential timber volume by failing to salvage mortality in old-growth stands?

Practical brush control appears to be within sight for some of the problem areas in central Oregon as a result of experiments conducted on the Pringle Falls Experimental Forest and Deschutes National Forest. Small-plot trials to determine which chemicals will kill manzanita (Arctostaphylos parryana var. pinetorum (Rollins) Wiesl. & Schrieb.) and snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus Doug.), and at what season, were made in 1953 using a hand sprayer. In 1954, the hand-sprayer tests were continued with a few of the more promising chemicals,and aerial application was tried on a pilot-plant scale.

While fire-weather severity remained low for the third successive year in western Washington, 1955 brought near normal fire weather to western Oregon for the first time since 1952. Temperatures were cooler than normal throughout the season in both half States, with record or near record lows for April, May, and July. April, July, and October were unusually rainy while August was the driest of record in both western Oregon and western Washington.