The Daily Alaska empire., 1949-02-10
REVEALS FOREST RESEARCH
 PROGRAM OUTLINE

| Ray Taylor, forestsr-in charge o1 | he Alaska Forest Research Centel in Juneau, returned from trip t. Portland, Ore, on Monday, where he -hecked with the Pacific Northwest | Forest Experiment Station on spe- ial equipment and the latest meth ods used in forest research. Tay ylor started some research ln ,his area during 1924 along with lis work n timber cruising and oth- CT forestry work. Coming back in July Of last year, after an absence 0t A years, he found that his pre- lions cn tree growth were very closa to his original figures. The Research Center work is new n this area as it is the first office of ts kind here for organized re- search. The office is now getting ready for a regular program
 The Alaska Forest Research Gen. ter operates under the direction ot he assistant chief Of the Forest Service in charge of research Washington, DC. and cooperates
 closely with Region 10 of Alaska of the Forest Service.
 The Research Center was estaa lished July l, 1928, primarily tor
 
 studies of scientific forest manage ment in Southeast Alaska, where the advent of the pulp industry makes it necessary to devote a ma .or part of it's program to manage msnt for pulpt mber. A sm l amount O. work will be done il Interior Alaska.
 The program at present consists of:
 l, Determining growth rates ano future yields of timber as they arc necessary in sustained yield man. agement. Findings to date show that second-growth stands of western | hemiock and Sitka spruce on tho Tongass National Forest will prob ally produce almost twce as much volume per acre in 30 to 100 years as the present old growth virgin, forest contain.
 These old virgin forests average about 10000 board feet per acre or $500 cubic feet. Second-growth 30 to 100 years old on ar average site will probably produce 1000 cubic feet in trees of pulptimber size.
 2. Determining the effect o 1 cutting pulpt mber on salmon streams. This section of the pro gram is TOW being planned in CO., operation with the research divis- ion of the Fish and Wildlife Service and will te carried out as a cooper ative study. Preliminary plans were discussed last week with Georgs Keiez and staff at the Biological Laboratory of the FWS in Seattle
 3. Determining what forest types and sub-types of the old growth stands are merchantable and winch are uneconomical to cut. Identifi- cation will be made of these types for easy recognition by timber cruis CTS. A type is a combination of tres species of certain sizes.
 4. Testing methods of improving second growth stands for production of high grade lumber or veneer Thinning is to be done to speed growth of crop trees and pruning of crop trees will be done to pro duce clear lumber.
 5. Testing m c t h o d $ of cutting pulptimber so that adequate re- production and fast growth are as- sured.
 6. Investigating the damage to soils and vesetat.on caused by un- checked forest fires in Interior AL aska. This will be a casio study with the evaIuation of changes in type of vegetation soil, qualty, ero- sien. etc, caused by fires. Expert in fish and game management, graz ing, forestry, recreation, and flood control, can interpret these fndings in terms of their own field of work An expert on soils and forest ano plant geology will be attached te the Research Center when this study begins.
 At the present time, the Researcf Center is primarily forest manage me-t to produce the most and besi timber so as not to damage tht S chic, game, and fish values of eacf area. Small johs such as volume tables for trees. are to be corrected and new methods of cruis ng inves- tigated and put into effect, art Icing started now.