THE LUMBERINDUSTRY OFWASH1 andthe PACIFICNORTHWEST Including Logging, Sawmills, Shingle Mills,Plywood, Pulp and Paper,Specialties,Distribution NATIONAL YOUTHADMINISTRAT IONOF WASHINGTON Indust'j&1 Study No. 1 by WM. RAY MELTON Vocational SupervisorinCharge of Research JOHN H. BINNS,STATE ADMINISTRATOR WashingtonBuilding Tacoma,Washington "Lumber Capitalof Anierica" N'r I First EditionOctober 19,38 SecondEdition February1939 Third EditionMay l9LO CONTENTS Page FOREWORD (By James Stevens) . , , , . III PREFACE (By John H, Binn&). I S * IV Chapter I INTRODUCTION Wood and Civilization.....Compos-ition & Properties of Wood 13 Multiplicity of Uses ..... 41.5 Historical Highlights of Lumber Industry..-Nat'l*..eIn the Northwest 61.8 Economic Significance....To .knerica....To We at Coa toi.'sTO Washington.. 9...1O Big 4, Commercially, West Coast Tree s...i.Leaders on "East Side" ll.-15 Washington Forest Resources .. 16...22 What Conservation Now Mean....Sustained Yield..,...si....,.......... 22.24 Modern Meaning of Fore stry, Organizations and Occupations Theretn. 24-35 Topics for Discussion..,... 36 Chapter 1i DIVISIONS OF T LIMBER INDUSTRY - Divisions in General......,, . 37 Ownership of Timber--The Timber Cruiser ........... 38 Logging (Step by Step in Washington Forests) .......... 3845 Sawmills & Lumber Manufacture (How Lumber is Made in Washington)..46-53 Red Cedar Shingle Making (From Start to Finish)...........e...u..b 54.057 Plywood & Veneer (What They Are & Exactly How They Are Made)...,..58-68 Pulp & Paper Industry (Various Pulp Processes-Through A Mill From Chips to Pulp Sheets (PapeMaking-Rayon Processes)..,..,.., 684 ReManufacture of Lumber Into Wooden Goods (Specialties1 Furnim. ture, Sash & Door, Cooperage, Boxes, Christmas Trees1 and Fuel.... 8586 Distributionir..Wholesa].e & Retail,.d.,,. 87-92 Topics for Discussion,,,,.,,.......,..,.,,,...,,....,, 93 Chapter III OCCUPATIONS, QUALIFICATIONS & RKI CONDITIONS Logging,. 4 ,, 94-111 (Washington Logging & Sawmilling Empioyient Statistics-l929-37).. 112 Sawmills,.,...4 ...,.1].3-].25 Shingle Mills,4,. 126-129 Plywood & Veneer Manufacture,,.,4,,54,,051, .130-135 Pulp & PaperM&c1g , 136-138 Chapter IV FUTURE Wood & The Future...,......,..,.....,,,,....,..., 139-141 Topica for Discussion Chapter V LABOR ORGANIZATIONS ...143 APPINDXX,,, . , , . , . , . 144-152 ACKNOWLEDGEMNT& 0SI, 0IS.* ., .153-154 B IBLIOGRABIY . .155-156 GLOSSARY. I S * 0 a a a 0 0S 157l59 FOREWORD Three hundred years ago axrnen of New England, who had brought their trade and tools from Britain's forests, faced walls of pines that threw sunset shadows along unbroken leagues of the Atlantic shore.Westward was timberland continent.It was con- quered by the laborious march of the axmen, the true trail-tarners of the American wilderness. Far more The oldest than the musket is hoTnes that stand in the ax of the pioneer America today are woodsman a symbol of homes of wood.In the advancennt of them the work of our frontiers.With the axmen of three the ax the clearings centuries ago still were made and the lives. logs hewn for homes. The settler's furrow More than followed the woods.. a century ago the man's swath.Cities advance guard of this were born from wood, great arnaj of peace as lumbering became reached territory that the first industry is now part; of the of the Frontier. State of Washington By 1828 Dr, McLoughlints sawmill at Fort Vancouverwas cutting Douglas fir lumber with such effect that GovernorSimpson of the Hudson's Bay Company urged the good doctor to advance tim- ber before the fur trade. Today the main forces of the lumber industryare con- centrated on the West Coast of Washington and Oregon.Here, on twonty..nine million acres, remain five hundred andfor-by..six billion feet of timber.Lumbering is the bone and sinew of the region's economic life.So here the woodsman of Airican Tradi-. tion holds his owns at the western end ofa continental march of three centuries. The woodsmen of Washington are as bravea breed as were their forerunners, yet in their work and lifethey are as much in step with modern times as themen of motors and of steel.The ma- chine rules in the Washington woods. The march of the axnn is at its end,on the Western shore of the continent,Hero the trade that first began when Ug and Ag chopped trees with stone is at its laststand.It will survive, with the Washington torost managedas a crop and logging as a harvost,* -l3y James' Stevens,Washington novelist and magazine writer, who wrote "Paul Bunyan". The Woodsmen of Washington, WashingtonEducation Journal, October. l937 ' PREFACE It is a rea].satjstaot ion tome to have even a small part in thjs industrial study of the lumberindustry in Washington and the great Northwest,I was born and brought up in the heaxti of the timber country..,I have seen the last of the ox-teaiiis, the coLngand the do- dine of higha'.lead logging, the liquici&tioiprocess atts worst, disastrous forest fires, the famous "dark day",and the:eginnings of sound reforestation practice. Luirber was the first, and is sti1l the greatest, industryin Washington.In spite of the mistakes of the past,our soil and climate are now repairing the damage; and proper management shouldassure a sound and stable development far into the future. Thousands of young people in the Northwestwill inevitably earn their livings in this industry....,Thoir lots will beeasier than those of their predecessors.Wages and conditions of work have im- proved greatly and compare favorably withthose in other industries. The high accident rate of earlydays has been reduced to a very low point...4 Despite the fluctuations towhich the industry is subject, it offers a good livelihood tomany of our youths who are seeking n chance to become self-respecting,self-supporting citizens. S S .. S Many books, pamphlets and articles have beenwritten about the lumber industry.There is no lack of technical treatises for the specialist or of beautifully illustratedbrochures for customers and tourists,Phantasy and romance have been embalmed infiction and verse,.o,No one, until this studywas made, had written a non-technical work which uld give to layxn and students theanswers to the practi cal, bread-and-butter questions ilatedto this vast and many-sided industry. The National Youth Administration in itsefforts to train young people for private industry, discovered atan early date the dearth of such information formany industries and occupations. NYA in Illinois pioneered the fieldswith an excellent series.Ohio and Kentucky made valuable additionsto the growing library of occupational studies,When directors of NYA visited Hyde Park inOctober, 1937, President Roosevelt urged that additionalstudies be made to cover the entire field of Anrican industry.The beginning of this stuj was due to the suggestion which he madeat that time.The purpose of the series has been well expressed inthe preface to the NYA study, "The Rubber Industry in Ohio": "1.To acquaint youigparsons with various occupations, so tl'ntthey may have reliable information to aid them in planning their future work, 2.To make avO.ilable Lnupdorstandable form information about the country's loading industries,so thatitizêiimay have accurate and reoet information about the kinds of work which are done and the workers who perform the necessary tasks. 3.To assist workers to comprehend the importance and relationship of eaployes in various occupations, so ihat they may understand how the conditions uther which they work affect not only each individual worker, but all perSons who depend on the work that they d01' The aim of the autor and the editorial committeein this, the first st4r in the State of Washington, has beento give upto date, accurate, specific, non..technieal inforimtion toand for young people seeking training for, or employment in, various branches of the industry.From it they should readily learn what they may reasonably expect to find in theway of rewards and limitations. It should be useful to students and outofschool youth,as well as to vocational counselors in schools and employment services. The technical processes involved in the various branches of the industry are so numerous andso complicated that the sections dealing with them may seem out of proportion to the strictly vocational infornrtion which follows,A choice had to be made between giving a sketchy, inadequate picture of the industry anda reasonably compre- hensive oix.Rightly or wrongly1 the second method has been used in the belief that is is necessary toa full understanding of the latter portions of the work, JOhN H. BINNS Washington State Administrator National Youth Mministration INDUSTRIAL 1 STUDY of THE LUMBER INDUSTRY I. INTRODUCT ION Wood and its manufacture are inseparably boundup with clviii- zation,,,.There is more truth than poetry in the saying that,since wan's first appearance on the earth, trees have been his staunchandconstant friends,,,...The age of wood began when primitiveman fashioned the first crude implement from the limb of a tree. It proceeded as he learned to use wood for: Fuel Shelter Transportation (rafts, canoes, boats, sleds, bullock- carts, chariots, Indian travoises) Tools & utensils Weapons Trade Further, the age of wood has been contemporary with all otherages through which man has passed from the dawn of historyup to the present day. Wood carried the adventurous spirit ofman put over the WOOD AND globe and pioneered the paths of progress. Actually, it CIVILIZATION founded this civilization, particularly here in America. You can scarcely turn a page in the early chapters of American history without seeing a picture of woodin some form....Wood built the stockades for refuge against hostileIndians Corn cribs and barns, both built of wood, protectedcrops arid livestock..,..Within the stout walls of log cabins the colonistsand their children found shelter. They sat on wood chairs. They ate at wood tables. They slept on wood beds. Wood built the schools, churches, meeting places, and town halls, played an all..important part in thelife of trade and commerce.