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<br /> <br />002948 <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />5. Residue Material <br /> <br />Residue material refers to any material in a forest (before or after cultural treatment) <br />that was not utilized. It includes dead trees too rotten to be used, limbs, tree tops, <br />needles, stumps, and smaJ1 trees cut in timber stand improvement work. In large quantities <br />this residue creates a fire hazard, is aesthetically undesirable and can be a physical barrier <br />to man and animals. On the San Juan National Forest the largest accumulation of residue <br />material is in the Engelmann spruce/alpine fir type. <br /> <br />One objective in managing a stand is to utilize as much of the material as possible. After <br />removal of the usable material, the larger remaining residue, such as logs, is removed to <br />concentration areas for disposal. <br /> <br />Disposal of residue material is financed by the activity that creates it, such as road . <br />construction, timber harvest or stand improvement work. Provision for timber sale receipts <br />to finance disposal of the excess unused material is included in timber sale contracts. <br /> <br />E. Timber Manaoement under the Current Plan (1962) <br /> <br />The current timber management plan for the San Juan National Forest was implemented in 1962. <br />At that time it provided for clearcutting 13,500 acres annuaJ1y with an annual harvest of UP <br />to 127 million board feet; however, this level was never achieved. Harvest reached a high <br />of 98 million board feet in 1969 and averaged about 70 million board feet per year over the <br />past 11 years; (See Appendix L.) <br /> <br />As stated in the Introduction, the clearcutting called for in the current plan was phased out <br />by about 1972, except for the aspen type and conifer types located on slopes generally over <br />30 percent. <br /> <br />The following shows how the land available for timber management was classified under .the 1962 <br />plan and under the proposed plan. <br /> <br />Classification of .Forest Land <br />Suitable for Timber Manaoement <br /> <br />Proposed Plan Current Plan (1962) <br />Component Acres Acres Component <br />Oeferred 66,000 0 Oeferred. <br />Reserved 139,000 115,000 Reserved <br />Standard 204.000 859,000 Operable <br />Sped a 1 12,000 0 Modified <br />Margi na.l 464,000 325,000 Inoperable <br />Unregulated 503,000 0 Unregulated <br />1,388,000 l,299,OOO <br /> <br />The variation in area of components is largely due to a difference in the way lands were <br />classified. The current plan recognizes as available (operable) all lands that could physically <br />be roaded and logged with little consideration to the availability of funds to meet costs. The <br />proposed plan recognizes as available only those lands in the Standard and Special components <br />that can be roaded with funds from the value of the timber harvest under the provisions of <br />timber sale contracts. This meanS that the market value of the timber, plus relatively minor. <br />amounts of surface rock and drainage culverts occasionally provided by appropriated funds, <br />must be sufficient to pay the cost of road construction. This has been projected for the next <br />ten years in relation to the economic trends of timber harvested on the San Juan National Forest <br />over. the past three years. The proposed plan also only includes in the Standard and Special <br />compdnents those lands that can be harvested with logging equipment and techniques that are <br />currently available and economical in this area. <br /> <br />The clearcutting system (provided for in the current plan) usually produces the maximum volume <br />of timber and lowest unit costs per acre of land treated and the fewest miles of road construction <br />because all trees are harvested during the first logging entry. <br /> <br />11 <br /> <br />