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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1956)
SUNDAY, MARCH 18. 1956 HERALD AND NEWS. KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON PAGE TirREE New Softboard Plant To Boost Basin Economy By MAX Vt'AUCIIOPE The planned establishment of a softboard plant in the Klamath Ba sin by the Johns-Manville Corp. marks the beginning of a new era in the lumber industry for this area. The plant will utilize about 50,000 cords of Jackpine. hitherto considered a worthless forest pro- Small Mill Ikpc Mnrlprn Equipment An almost completely new saw mill has been set up by the Green Springs Lumber Company, Inc., at Lincoln, on the Green Springs high nay in Jackson County. Although most of its output Is sold in Med ford and Ashland, a Klamath Falls firm is among the firm's best customers, according to tail j. scherer, who with O. K Puckett founded the mill. The new plant, which was begun in August, 1954, was completed last July. Except for some equipment brought in from a mill at Keno, it is all new. The mill, one of the few gang type mills in this part of the coun try, has a capacity of 50,000 board feet per eight hour shift. Normal ly, a single shift Is operated. - During the past winter, only about two or three weeks of pro duction were lost, mostly due to high winds at Lincoln or to ice in the mill pond. The mill, which is presently cut ting logs that have been decked for a year and a half, normally manufactures common sizes from pine, cedar, white fir and red (Douglas) fir. The logging is being done by Ned Putnam, who is generally working in the area south of Lin coln. In addition to the mill out put, the sale of surplus logs is a steady source of revenue. Last year, the firm sold 32 million feet of logs. The hauling is being done by Ray Scholer, who operates a truck and troiler rig between Lincoln and Medford, and Joe Dunson, who makes the other hauls. About 00 per cent of the production is sold in Me-Jtord. The major Klam ath Falls buyer is the Home Lum ber Company. Log buyers Include Kalpine Ply wood and the Modoc Lumber Com pany in Klamath Falls as well as an Ashland firm. duct, each year with a possible expansion above this figure in the future. Lumber production in Klamath County soared from a low figure after the establishment of the first government owned water-powered sawmill near old Fort Klamath in 1863 to a peak achieved in 1942 during World War n. This high point of lumber pro duction, spurred by the war needs of the nation, found the mills of Klamath County producing 874. 954.060 board feet in the record year of 1942. since that year, lumber proauc- tion gradually decreased to a level ing off balance point between growth and production of 300 mil- ion board feet. The Western Pine Association estimated a total of 305 million board feet was pro duced in Klamath County in 1954. Forestry management experts point out that the continued use of present sound forestry practices by the U.S. forest service ana private operators should insure a growth of 130 feet per acre on ine nearly 2'2 million acres of forest lands in the county. This will pro duce the nearly 325 million feet of merchantable timber necessary to maintain the annual sustained yield for the county. This figure does not Include the Jackpine soon to be utilized. The peak number of employes engaged in the logging-lumbering Industry in the county was in 1941 with 6.886 employes. The peak in production did not occur until the following year. The lumber payroll was $10,282,384 or an employe per capita payroll of $1,493. Since this peak period, a num ber ,of factors have reduced the number of mills operating in the county: shortage of manpower dur ing the war years, exhaustion of log ownership, inability to com pete economically, fluctuation of markets, loss of demand for cer tain types ol the commodity, liqui dation of family holdings, and other reasons. In 1964 with the total of lumber industry employes in the county listed as 3,278. the payroll for these employes was $15,171,253. This represented an employe per capita payroll of $4,628. With less than half the employes and one half billion feet less timber per year the poyroll per employe had risen three times. The disappearance of the wood burner beside many of the mod ern mills of the county points out the change in the wasteful meth ods of lumbering which were so familiar in the past all over the West. While raw .production has 'een reduced in the past 15 years, a new philosophy has come Into be ing in relation to the Importance of wood waste. Re-manufacturing operations sash, door and trim mills, mouldings and other import ant marketable Items are being produced out of what was once be ing wasted by the mills. Modern research has pointed the way for the manufacturing of new products from wood. Compressed hardboards, softboards, cellulose and pulp fibers are currently be ing produced and improved by this research. ' The correct use of our resources by research has also aided the economic factor of the county, and the entire West, by providing full time employment on a year-round basis. The boom years of the lumber industry are regarded fondly by many of the "olatlmeis" of the county. However, with the mod ern forest methods prevailing, and the development of the "trash", to" a more stable economic period Jackpine as a useful product, than were the hectic early years Klamath County can look forward of the industry. ?1I3 I PACIFIC MOEE P&QFIT9 witk. 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