The fisheries of Oregon in 1930 employed 4,50o persons, represented an investment of $5,000,000 and produced 26,459,000lb. of fish valued at $2,256,300. In 1935, 4,300 fish ermen were employed and the yield was 26,458,000lb. valued at $1,456,700. Of the 1935 catch 22,980,0001b. or about 83% of the total was salmon, valued at $1,280,000.
Lumbering.—It is Oregon's distinction that within her borders is more standing timber than in any other State. It amounts to about 438,000 million board feet or nearly one-fifth of the supply of the whole United States. Of this, 234 billion ft. are privately or State owned, while 204 billion ft. are in the 15 national forests of the State. The national forests include all the higher mountain areas. The backbone of the Cas cade Range and its higher slopes from Mt. Hood to California comprises six forests of about 1,000,000ac. each. In the Coast Range are two forests with a combined area of 1,500,000ac. while in the Wallowa and Blue mountains in eastern Oregon are six more totalling some 5,5oo,000 acres. On the western slopes of the Cascades especially at the lower elevation are some of the finest stands of timber in the world made up of such species as Douglas fir, western hemlock and western cedar. On the east slopes of the Cascades and in the Wallowa and Blue mountains where the climate is much drier the timber is more open, and Ponderosa pine replaces Douglas fir as the chief commercial tree.
Lumber production fell from 4,784 million bd.ft. in 193o to 1,604 million bd.ft. in 1932, and 2,38o million bd.ft. in 1934• From 1929 to 1934 Oregon ranked in output second only to Washington. Of the 4,967,000,00o board feet sawed in 1927 2,803,000,000 were Douglas fir, 1,000,000,00o Ponderosa pine, 725,000,000 hemlock, 125,000,000 Sitka spruce, 105,000,000 red cedar, ioo,000,000 Port Orford cedar, 75,000,000 miscellaneous soft woods, and 35,000,000 hardwoods. Oregon ranked second to Washington in the production of laths and shingles. The lumber industry in all its branches gave employment to about 26,000 men. The value of the cut in 1935 was $72,783,275.
the years 1929-33 the value of Oregon's manufactures fell almost 235%. There were, in 1929, 2,450 fac tories employing an average of 65,390 workers, paying $86,728,000 in wages, producing goods valued at $408,160,000, of which $205, 676,000 was added by manufacture. In 1933 there were 1,358 establishments, employing 41,052 workers, paying $34,787,000 in wages, producing goods worth $174,124,000 of which $86,553,000 was added by manufacture.
The 1,722 industrial establishments operated in 1935 gave employment to 52,216 wage-earners and had an output valued at
The leading products were those of lumber in the manufacture of which Oregon ranked second among the States. There were, in 1935, 395 sawmills, employing 26,309 workers, producing lumber products valued at $72,783,275. The products next in importance were those of 23 flour and grain mills which were valued at $22,998,368. The products next in value were: canning and preserving fruits and vegetables, $17,651,421; whole sale slaughtering and meat-packing, $13,010,125; paper, $12,361, 310; butter, $9,160,210; bread and other bakery products,
903; printing and publishing, newspapers and periodicals, $7,887, 858; furniture, $6,496,158; wool and other hair manufactures, $6,098,276; wood pulp, $5,878,582 ; planing-mill products,
634 ; animal feeds, $3,965,842; machinery, $3,323,497; cheese, $3,019,918; canned and cured seafood, $2,972,271; and printing and publishing, book and job, $2,494,752.
The railway mileage of the State increased from 4,111 in 1925 to 4,179 in
of which 560m. were electric roads operated by nine separate companies. The main steam railway lines were those of the Union Pacific, the Southern Pacific, the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific. The Union Pacific crosses the north-eastern corner of the State to the Columbia river, which it follows to Portland. The Southern Pacific owns the main line between Portland and California, cross ing the State north and south along the Willamette, across the Umpgua and Rogue river valleys and via the Klamath region.
The mileage extension between 1910 and 1935 consisted mainly of branches from the Union Pacific into east-central Oregon from the east, and into west-central Oregon from the north ; from the Southern Pacific line to the Pacific coast at Tillamook and Coos bay, and from the Willamette valley to Klamath Falls; and a line owned by the Great Northern from the Columbia river up the Deschutes river to a connection with the Southern Pacific Klamath Falls extension and then by common user to the southern border of the State. The Northern Pacific and the Great Northern by a joint line on the Washington side of the Columbia river provide a water grade to Portland, a terminus of both systems.