SecretoryAnnounces Rise in Allowoble Cut of Nqtionql Forest Timber

Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman has announced a net increase in allowable annual cut of timber in the amount of 547 million board feet for the 42 National Forests in the West Coast and Inland Em-pire States where timber demand is now critical.

This increase will bring tle totsl allowable cut to approximately 7z/a billion board feet for the 42 National Forests where demand for stumpage is in excess of timber available for sale. (Allowable'cut is the annual amount of timber which may be harvested from forests under sustained yield management and good conservation practices for permanent timber production.)

The Secretary said there has been a steady increase in the total allowable cut from the National System during the last 15 years primarily as a result of timber reinventories which reflect inilustry's improved utilization abilities. Procedures for allowable cut calculations have also been under continual review for development of ffore precise means for determining factors afiecting rates of timber growth a'nd harvesting.

Methods of calculating allowable cuts have recently been subjected to an independent review by a board of foresters under the chairmanship of Kenneth P. Davis, Professor of Forest Management and Chairman of the Department of Forestrn University of Michigan. The increases announced today result primarily from modernization of methods to better reflect long range trends of utilization as endorsed by this review board.

Secretary Freeman emphasized that attainment of these announced rates is heavily dependent on the expanded timber access road program recommended by President Kennedy on July 26 as a part of his pro. gram to assist the lumber indusry.

Timber losses in Oregon, Washington, and northern California resultinE from the Oct. 12 storm are not expected tJ affect the allowable cut rates. Every efiort will be made to substitute windthrown timber for green standing timber sales until the sal. vage job is completed. In a few areas for a year or two during the salvage period the rate of cut may be accelerated, but we expect to keep the average cut over the next

IO-year period at the stated allowable cut rate, the Secretary said.

The Secretary pointed out that these increases in allowable cutting rates will come from areas of National Forest land already desigrrated for commercial timber harvest. Restrictions of timber cuttine have been made on some areas to bettJr harmonize tirnber harvesting with the other multiple resource uses of the National Forests, such as wildlife, watershed management and recreation.

The Secretary said, "Our objective is to build up as rapidly as practicable, under sound conservation praetices geared to multiple use management, the volume of timber under contract. Thus timber purchasers will have sufficient backlog for orderly operations so ihat average production of the full allowable cut can be attained."

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