4 Sec. 3 Bend Bulletin, Wd., March 28, 1962
Iff"-"
i '
Ponderosa forests provide timber for lumber mills
mm s
ot .industry
its
Sec. 3 Bend Bulletin, Wed., March 28, 1962 5
By Phil F. Brogan
Bulletin Staff Writer
Central Oregon' top industry
is sharpening its axe.
That industry is lumbering. It
is No. 1 in a region bounded by
national forests, the Deschutes,
Ochoco and Fremont.
It is an industry that seasonally
employs some 3,500 persons in the
three Mid-Oregon counties, Crook,
Jefferson and Deschutes, and ad
jacent parts of Klamath, Lake
and Grant.
However, it is an industry In
which the dollar dot. not turn as
tasily as it did In earlier years.
Logging and milling costs are
mounting. Price of stumpage is
high. Equipment charges are in
creasing. New products furnish
tough competition.
Mill management finds it nec
essary to trim costs, or step out
of the picture. To make ends
meet and provide the necessary
margin of profit, new Innova
tions are being introduced, new
methods adopted, new forest
practices tried.
In ail these efforts to trim the
dollar costs, the great need for
accelerated forest research standi
out.
Research need is accentuated
under the sustained yield pro
gram: Only a certain amount of
timber can be cut annually on a
federal forest. It is up to the mill
men to make the best of the
stumpage available.
Incidentally, the sustained yield
picture of the 1,587,695-acre Des
chutes National Forest is bright.'
The allowable cut at present is
136.000,000 board feet.
Thirty years from now, and far
beyond those three decades, the
allowable cut should be the same,
foresters say.
But in the meantime there will
be an increased demand for for
est products.
Population growth will require
doubling timber production be.
lore many years, and will great
ly accentuate the need for im
proved management practices.
It will also mean that the en
tire tree be utilized wood, bark,
fuliage and chemical extractives.
This goal is still a long way off
research - wise, but, foresters
agree, it is coming.
While waiting for research to
catch up, lumber plant operators
in recent years have been at
tempting to improve their own
;art of the lumber industry pic
ture. One of these modern plants is
the big Brooks-Scanlon, Inc., op
eration in Bend. Several years
ago it modernized its Bend plant
at a cost of several million dol
lars. This modernization not only in
cluded changes in manufacturing,
with lumber under one roof from
the time a log enters from the
mill pond until the product is
loaded aboard railroad cars, but
salvage of some of the waste of
earlier years.
This salvage operation includes
the shipment of former waste to
a pulp plant in Washington.
The Bend mill in recent years
has also modernized transporta
tion. No longer do slow-moving
trains run into the Bend mill from
distant camps.
A system of modern logging
roads has been provided. Over
these forest routes rolls a fleet of
trucks.
Also in use in the woods is
equipment that would have amai
ed loggers of the high-wheel era,
and of the days when teams
snaked logs out of the hills.
New methods have not only re
duced costs, but they have ex
pedited operations.
Logging trucks and roads have
made possible the salvage of huge
amounts of Umber that would
have been lost a decade or so
back. Consider the Aspen Butte
Are of four years ago:
That fire blazed through nearly
20,000 acres of timber. It killed
trees holding millions of board
feet of lumber. To save that tim
ber, quick salvage was necessary.
A salvage sale was arranged,
the fire-scarred trees were felled
and moved to the Tite-Knot plant
in Redmond through use of a fleet
of trucks.
Timber that would have been
lost was saved. The economic pic
ture of the area was helped.'
Machinery developed in recent
years has made possible the log
ging of areas by-passed in earlier
decades because of its Inacces
sibility. That timber was not even
included in the area's earlier eco
nomic picture.
What of the future of the lum
ber industry in Central Oregon?
In some parts of the area there
may be some dark spots, but gen- '
erally the future looks good.
Research, now gaining strides.
Modern processes at work
Storage . . . another step in timber business
is Hie key to the future.
The day is rapidly nearing, tim
ber scientists say. when the en
tire tree will be utilized. That will
include wood, bark, chemical ex
tractives and even foliage.
Already timbermen are taking
an inventory of old stumps cov
ering areas logged in earlier
years. Those stumps hold resins
which are increasing in demand
and value as southern sources
diminish.
A test ef Deschutes resins, stor
ed in stumps nearly half a cen
tury old In places, was made sev
eral years ago. The stumps were
harvested just east of Lave Butte
south of Hend and shipped to
a Klamath Falls pilot plant. Avail
able information indicates that
the yield of resin from the Des
chutes stumps was high.
Researchers also recognized the
great need for more work on the
control of insects and diseases
that destroy billions of board feet
of limber each year in the west
ern states.
However, the Umber loss from
such sources is not as high as in
earlier years: It is now possible
quickly to move into a bug-kill
area and remove the trees, just
as it Is possible to get fire-killed
Umber to the mills.
Improved access is the factor
that makes salvage of bug-killed
Umber possible.
Forest product research Is not
confined to the growing of more
timber, Uie full utilization of tim
ber now available and the pro
tection of Woodlands from insects
and fire.
Research now Includes work on
promotion of wood for new and
different structural purposes; In
vestigations to find uses of the
potentially valuable quarter ton of
bark that Is harvested along with
each thousand board feet of logs;
residue utilization including com
position board and pulp, season'
ing studies and oUier items.
Current Investigation In forest
management is concentrated
around forest regeneration and
new growth management.
Near Bend is a pine nursery
which seasonally produces mil
lions of tiny trees, for use locally
and in other forests of the Pacific
Northwest. Replanting of burned
over areas is being speeded.
Central Oregon federal woods
are managed jointly for wood,
wildlife, water and recreation. AU
are vitally important to the area.
pro. awuBM
. iU a. ew
-1 ..J$,il',i'
' -,.4
life. .. wist, . ' it
fe, ; t )
Finished products ready for eastern markets
Serving The Transportation Heeds
of Central Oregon ... Since 1924!
We're proud to have been a part of the steady growth
of Central Oregon. With this steady growth, Bend-Portland
has expanded and modernized their facilities to meet
the ever-increasing transportation needs of this thriving
area. We have great optimism for the future prosperity
of Central Oregon. New industries will be developed . . .
while the old ones are being refined. We see an ever
increasing variety of materials and products labeled "from
Central Oregon" being shipped to ever-expanding markets.
The future of Central Oregon is bright, indeed!
r
CONVENIENT TE
IN CENTRAL OH
BEND
101 E. Greenwood
Ph. EV 2-4221
PRINEVILLE
Madras Hwy.
Ph. HI 7-6573
REDMOND
1438 S. 6th St.
Ph. LI 8-2325
MADRAS
Warm Springs Hwy.
Ph. 475-2234
BEST
possible
o
truck service
RTLAND
M
i
1 .
Do Your Banking
WHERE SOT
BEND BRANCH 960 Wall St.
! V
' '! 'I I
l i p!tyitai i
COMES
FIRST
For 27 Years
The First National Bank of Oregon
has served the people of Central Oregon with friendliness and sound banking
practices. Through the years, we have helped many businesses to grow because
of our faith in their enterprise.
The First National Bank of Oregon
appreciates friends and customers all year long . . . but we would like to take this
occasion to endeavor to put that feeling into words. The confidence you have
placed in our banks and in our staffs has been a source of pride to all of us. As
the great Central Oregon area continues to grow and prosper, you may be as
sured that we will strive to offer the very best in banking service In order to
merit your continued confidence.
Thanks For Banking With Us!
We extend a cordial invitation for you to come in any time and meet our friend
ly officers and personnel.
ci
FOR OVER
600,000 OREGON PEOPLE!
FIRST
NATIONAL
BANK OF OREGON
1
IM Plllt NA1IWMI IMA Of OtteOM, KII1AMO OUltl flMUl Mrlt INWUNCI COUOUtlON
PRINEVILLE BRANCH 220 West 3rd
u..i. 1