River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-09-08

mountain barrier to the southern coast. On
the coast of southeastern Alaska trees grow 10
large size; in the interior the tlmper IS mucA
smaller The higher mountain areas are COLI
pletely above timber line Climatic conditions
in the region adjacent to Berlng sea ana Oh
the Arctic slope make forest growth altogether
impossible, so there are great stretches OF
tundra whose vegetation consists chiefly OF
moss sedges and a few small shrubs. Moss
may be said to be the garment of Alaska, and
layers of 1t IL to 10 inches thick are not at
all uncommon either on the coast or in the
interior.
1t is estimated that the total forest and
woodland area of Alaska is approximately 1O0,-
OOOO 900 acres, or about 27 per cent. of the land
surface of the territory. OF these, about
20,000,000 acres may constantly bear timber
of sufficient size and density to be considered
forest in the sense that much of it can be
used for timber, while the balance, or
80,000,000 acres, is woodland which bears
some saw timber but on which the forest is
of a smaller and scattered character
and valuable chiefly for fuel.
There is not sufficient information upon
which to base any satisfactory estimate OF
the total stand of timber in Alaska. 1t has
been estimated, for instance that the coast
forests contain 75,000000000 feet of merchant
able saw timber but this estimate might be
much exceeded were both the spruce and hem
lock closely utilized. More than twenty cords
per acre have been cut in good stands OF blrch
and aspen in the interior, but on the other
hand, there are large areas of black spruce
that is too small to use for any purpose; so
that it is still impossible to give satisfactory
estimate of the total stand
The coast forests of southeastern and south
ern Alaska are nearly all included in the Ton
gass and Chugach National forests, which COM
prise e. 761 626 acres; and large proportion
of this area is forested The species are chiefly
western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), Sitka
spruce (Picea sitchensis), western red cedar
(Thuja plicata) and yellow cedar (Chamaecy-
paris nootkatensis). On the coast the timber
line is low. On deer mountain at Ketchikan for
instance, spruce timber stops at about
1900 feet and the peak, with elevation OF
5000 feet, bears only stunted black hemlock
In the coast region the stand is generally
dense, and as much as $4,000 feet per acre has
been estimated for considerable tracts. Sitka
spruce probably averages 20 per cent. of the
stand and western hemlock about rs per cent.
The spruce reaches a large size, and occasion
ally attains dameters of more than six feet
and heights of $50 feet. Diameters of three
to four feet are attained by western red cedar.
While by far the most abundant species, west
ern he1hlock does not produce as large indi-
vidual trees as the spruce or the cedar.
Practically the entire forest of the coast re-
gion is overmature. It has been accommodating
for ages uninjured by fire or cutting. Shallow,
rocky soil, steep mountain slopes, or poor
drainage often prevent thrifty growth, and on
such sites "stagheadedness' and decay are
common In favorable situations the rate of
growth of the coast trees is fairly rapid The
following typical:
western red cedar stump in good soil on