1. Lumbering and the Land 1869-1929

2. The Gilded Age

3. An Overview of the Lumber Industry: 1869-1929

4. “Up to about 1860, lumbering dominated all other industrial and commercial uses of the forest, with the exception of wood cut for domestic fuel and the timber lost through agricultural clearing. Even by 1880, the relative weighting had not changed much. What did change was the scale and thoroughness of lumber getting….

5. “… A more concentrated and purposeful exploitation of the forest resource under new industrial techniques and organization became evident. Throughout the continent the total amount of lumber cut commercially increased phenomenally by nearly sixfold, from 8 billion b.f. in 1860 to over 45 billion b.f. in the peak year of production, 1906.” Michael Williams, Americans and Their Forests [p. 193]

6. Industrialization in the Woods “The lumber and the forest products industries, in general, like industry everywhere in the United States, were entering a phase of vigorous expansion and what is known as industrial capitalism.” [Williams, p. 194]

7. The Steam Engine “Steam power meant the concentration of industrial activity and the beginnings of corporations and monopolies.” (Williams, p.194) Capital investment costs

8. Mechanized Woodworking “Steel meant better and more efficient tools.” (Williams, p. 194) High speed bandsaw Specialization of industrial activity

9. Balloon Framing Led to “mass production of a standardized manufactured end product” (Williams, p. 194) Commodities

10. Railroads “The railroad meant reliable, faster, and more flexible transport.” (Williams, p. 194) Transformation from local/regional industries to a national industry

11. Capital Costs Industry practice - cut in the winter, drive in the spring, and mill in the summer This tied up business capital for up to a year

12. Lumbering as a Big Business Lumber was like other industries of the Gilded Age in that it became a big business Vertical and horizontal integration

13. Lumbering as a Big Business Lumber barons (like Carnegie in steel and Rockefeller in oil) had their hands in many operations Joint ownerships –Example Albert Ames of Ames Tools and the Union Pacific Creation of trade associations before the Sherman Anti-trust Act

14. Emergence of Two Lumber Industries Occurred in this Era Softwoods –More migratory than hardwood industry –Construction –Production-driven industry Hardwoods –Smaller in size –Limited geographically –Focused on “secondary” products: furniture, millwork, flooring, specialty items, etc.

15. Forests of the United States

16. U.S. Forest Service Regions

17. Forest Land Area by Region: 2007

18. Forests of the United States 52 percent of U.S. Forests are in the East 48 percent of U.S. forests are in the West, including Alaska & Hawai’i

19. Hardwood & Softwood Growing Stock by Region: 2007

20. Hardwood & Softwood Growing Stock in the East: 2007

21. National Production Trends: 1869-1929

22. U.S. Lumber Production: 1869-1929

23. U.S. Lumber Production: 1799-1929

24. Per Capita Lumber Consumption: 1869-1929

25. Softwood & Hardwood Production: 1869-1929 Softwoods Hardwoods

26. The Migratory Nature of 19 th Century Lumbering

27. Decline of Lumbering in the Northeast “The heavy cutting of early days, particularly for fuel, produced a shortage of wood as early as 1840 in many sections of New England.” U.S. Forest Service, Timber Depletion, Prices, Exports, and Ownership [p. 15]

28. Lumber Production by Region: 1869-1929 Lake States South West Northeast

29. “… although regions rose in prominence and supremacy of production passed on, the old regions were never completely eliminated, and they continued to thrive, albeit at a modified scale of production.” Michael Williams, Americans and Their Forests [p. 193]

30. Lumber Production in New England and the Mid Atlantic: 1869-1929

31. Industry followed white pine By 1850, New York overtook Maine as the nation’s leading lumber producer In 1860, Pennsylvania was the leading producer By 1876, Michigan was the leading producer

32. “Soon after it became known that wood pulp was a cheap substitute for rags in paper making, mills were built in northern New England as well as New York and the chief development of forest industries during the past 30 years [1890-1920] in paper manufacturing.” U.S. Forest Service, Timber Depletion, Prices, Exports, and Ownership [p. 15] Paper Mills Follow Lumbering

33. Lumber Production in the Lake States: 1869-1929

34. Growth of the Furniture Industry Migrated from the northeast to the Lake States in the last quarter of the 19 th century Centered in Grand Rapids Began to migrate south to North Carolina beginning in 1900-1905

35. Migration of Industry from the Lake States As eastern lumbermen led the timbering operations into the Lake States, lumbermen from the Lake States moved south and west as timber supplies in the Lake States were depleted

36. Migration of Industry into the South

37. Migration to the South There was lumber and naval stores production in the south since the colonial era In the 1880s, the South surpassed the Lake States in lumber production Southern pine dominated production The paper industry followed the lumber industry into the Lake States and South

38. Lumber Production in the South: 1869-1929

39. Migration of Industry to the West

40. Lumber production in the Pacific Northwest (Washington and Oregon) began in the 1840s Production increased dramatically with completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1882 Lumber production in California began to grow during the Gold Rush (1849) Lumber production in the Rockies was limited until the mid-20 th century

41. Lumber Production in the West: 1869-1919

42. “Blanket Freight Rates” Started in 1894 Uniform rates from certain regions of the west to any point in the midwest or east Advantageous to both western lumber companies and railroads

43. Big Trees and Dominant Species

44. Why Big Trees? Quality! –Thickening of the stem through cell division in the cambium –Ring curvature affects warp –Concentration of knots near the pith –Juvenile wood – abnormal wood cells formed in the innermost 5-20 growth rings

45. Oaks – the Dominant Hardwoods: 1869-1929 Hardwoods Oaks

46. Prices of Hardwood Lumber: 1899

47. Prices of Hardwood Lumber: 1919

48. White Pine

49. White Pine Production Nationwide: 1869-1929

50. The White Pine Nationwide: 1869-1929 Total Production White Pine

51. Southern Pine Forests

52. Southern Pines in Nationwide Production: 1869-1929 Total Production Southern Pines

53. The Douglas-fir Factor in the West: 1869-1929 Douglas-fir