Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-10-02
STUMPAGE VALUES
LUMBERMEN listen TO inter.
ESTING ADDRESS.
w. I. Stewart Talks on Stumpage
Values. Gives Facts and Figure S
Showing Timber Values In WASH
ingtOn, Oregon and California.
Benefits of Conservatism.

At the semi annual meeting of the Pa
cific Lumber Manufacturers Association,
held at Tacoma, during the last Of Au-
gust, the toll ,w NJ address was made by
w. |. Stewart. his subject being stump
age Values:"
Thirty wears ago white pine stumpage
in Wisconsin and Minnesota had exactly
the same value a. he timber OF WASH
| ington and Oregon commands today. In
1875 the maximum price was 81 80 per
thousand feet for choice white pine, ac-
cessible to drivable tributaries OF the
Mississippi. Tracts remote from driving
streams and those of inferior quality were
practically without market value, the
average price in most cases being equiva'
lent TO not over so cents per thousand.
the range of value being from this figure
to the maximum OF $3.50. Along about
1880 marked advance took place in the
lumber markets, and in consequence
stump page values increased materially; in
the early nineties the result OF the tinan.
cial panic was seriously felt in the lumber
mark els, but standing timber was un.
affected-in fact, stumpage values have at
inter Va Is come to a standstil temporarily,
but the tendency has been steadily up.
ward, and no advance has ever been
lost. There has been no retrogression ex-
cept on the manufactured product. This
has been unifoi mly and invariably true;
depressions in the lumber market hs e at
times lessene1 transactions in timber
lands, but no decline from fixed valua-
tions has ever been recorded. Mr.. f.
Weyerhaeuser once. remarked to me that
the only time he ever lost money on tim
Der lands we're the times when he didn't
buy. From 1875 white pine stumpage
steadily increased in value until the pres.
ent basis of FIVE to twelve dollars was
reached, the average today being not less
than eight dollars, and exceptional
transactions could be cited at almost
double this figure. When we consider
that a large percentage of understood and
inferior timber is now taken into the est-
mates which previously was excluded,
it is safe to say that today's figures rep
resent at least ten times the value cur
rent in 1S75--in other words, white pine
stumpage has made an average increase
OF 100 per cent for every three years dur
ing the past thirty years.
With the diminishing supply Of white
pine, the forests OF the South began to
receive attention, and with crude meth
DDS OF manufacture the southern mills
began about 1880 to make shipments
northward to St. Louis, Chicago and the
Missouri river, consisting at the first al.
most entirely of specialties, such as long
timbers, car stills, deep joi.ts, ETC., but
in proportion as white pine diminished in
supply and increase in va he, yellow pine
pushed farther northwards until every
thing east of the Rocky mountains has
come to be considered the rightful and
exclusive domain OF the southern manu-
facturer, and efforts to introduce few
| samples Of Pacific coast fir in that teri.
tory seem to be regarded as an unwa,-
ranted intrusion which is not to be toler-
ated. shall not pursue this point for
fear that might infringe upon the copy
right privileges of your worthy secretary
Twenty years ago timber lands in the
south we're worth from 81 25 to IS 90 per
acre; today these lands bring $40 to
$1,000 per acre. Yellow pine stumpage
which, in 1885, was worth not over SO
cents per thousand, is today held at So 90
to $500 per thousand, the average value
being probably $500. As yellow pine is
destined to be the principal competitor
of our Pacific coast woods in all market q
east of the Rockies. 1t will be of inter-
est to know that the total stand of this
wood in the southern states is estimated
at about three hundred billion feet, or
twenty-five per cent less than the amCu unit
of timber standing in the states of Wash.
ington and Oregon.
The latest government estimates for
Washington aggregate one hundred and
ninety-three billion feet and for Oregon
two hundred and thirteen billion feet. l
have not seen the government estima tes
for California, but other authorities ere it
this state with something over two hun
dred billion feet. The three states bor-
bering on the Pacific may therefore he
said to contain six hundred billion feet
OF merchantile standing timber or
double the amount OF yellow pine that is
credited to the southern states in similar
estimates-all of which are, of course,
simply approximations, as there is no
practical method of getting at exact fig
ures, owing to the enormous expense
which an actual cruise Of all the tim.
bered areas would involve.
Idaho and Montana will probably yield
one hundred billion feet, making a full
total of 700 600, 100000 feet for the Pa
cific coast states and if we add one hun
dred billion feet for British Columbia and
Alberta, which is probably above the &C.
tual, we have a grand aggregate of e,gnt
hundred and fifty billion feet, worth at
Il ttnr 4