Timber Sales From California National Forests For Six Months

The U. S. Forest Service in California reported 37 sales of timber for the first six months of 1953. From 12 national forests in the state a total of 231 million feet was sold during that period. Most timber was sold from the Klamath National Forest, where nearly 54 million feet went in seven sales. Next in importance was the Tahoe National Forest in the Central Sierra Nevada. There was more than 30 million feet sold there in six sales.

Prices of ponderosa pine varied from an appraised high of $34.90 per 100 feet for a small volume on the Sierra National Forest to a low of $15.65 for 9.18 million feet on the Stanislaus National Forest. The latter was sold to the West Side Lumber Co., which also paid the lowest price for white fir-$Z per 1000 feet. The log haul is eight miles by truck and 57 miles by rail.

Highest bid price for ponderosa pine was $42.35, paid for 150,000 feet on the Tahoe National Forest by Hughes Bros. Lumber Co. This w'as $10 over the appraised rate. On the same sale, the highest price was paid for 25,0ffi feet of sugar pine-$53.85, which was also $10 over the appraisal. The timber was two miles from the mill, which is 28 miles from the rail head. This sale totaled 40O,mO feet and was the smallest of the 37 sales.

Largest sale was 24.2 million feet on the Mendocino National Forest, which went to Glenco Forest Products. It included 6.3 million feet of ponderosa pine, 5.4 million feet of sugar pine, 2.6 million {eet of white fir, 9.3 million feet of Douglas fir and 0.6 million feet of incense cedar. The average appraised price was $15.36, and the bid price was $1997 per 1000 feet. The log haul is 25 miles, and the mill is 17 miles from the railroaC.

Also on the Mendocino National Forest was the low'est priced sugar pine-appraised at $17.50 and sold for $18.25 for 368,000 feet. It went io O. A. Kirkpatrick, who has a 45-mile log haul and a l7-m1le lumber haul.

Highest prices paid for rvhite fir, Douglas fir and incense cedar were all on a sale of two million feet on the Eldorado National Forest, which went to the Michigan-California Lumber Co. The appraised and bid prices were the same$17.30 for one million feet of Douglas fir and $9.90 for both the rvhite fir and cedar. There was 800,000 feet of ponderosa pine at a bid price of $35 (appraisal $33.35) on this sale, rvhich was five miles from the mill.

Longest truck haul for logs was 46 miles for 5 million feet on the E,ldorado National Forest, which went to the Winton Lumber Co. mill. Most of it was white fir, appraised at $3.45 and sold at the bid rate of $4.90.

Shortest log haul was one mile to the Cal-Ore Lumber Co., fnc., on the Trinity National Forest. However, this firm has a 62-mile lumber haul. The average bid price for five species was $10.55 on this 3.44 million sale, which was mostly Douglas fir. The lolvest price paid for Douglas fir rvas in a sale of 3.46 million feet on the Trinity National

Forest. It went to the Hayfork Lumber Co. for the appraised rate of $3.25. Log haul was 10 miles; lumber goes 65 miles.

The sale with the longest log haul was 4,215,000 feet on the Stanislaus National Forest, which goes trvo miles by truck and 71 miles by rail to the Pickering Lumber Corp. Including 3.68 million feet of ponderosa pine at $25.55, this sale had the largest profit margin, according to forest service figures. It amounted to $15.05 per 1000 feet. The profit ratio (profit margin divided by sum of operating cost and bid price) was 17.6/o.

Three other sales had profit ratios of l8/o, and the average was ll.8%. The lowest profit ratio for the 37 sales rvas 2.8%. It was calculated for a sale of.7.7 million feet of ponderosa pine on the Modoc National Forest. The pine was appraised, at $28.75 and the successful bid was $39.70 for an operation with a 31-mile log haul.

Lowest profit margin was $2.33 for a sale of more tlian 12 million feet on the Tahoe National Forest. It included 3.4 million feet of ponderosa pine bid at $34.20 ($5 over the appraisal) and 8.65 million feet of white fir bid at $10.20 ($5.95 over the appraisal). Log haul is 32 miles. Profit ratio was estimated, at 3.19o.

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