Photograph of Pat Martin farm in Valliant district. Herschel Ginn is disking new land with heavy disk. Martin says the disk cuts stove wood as it prepares corn land.

Photograph of a new building on the old site of Brushy Ridge School. Patrons and School Board completed this building of a class room, hall, assembly room and large kitchen for $2,600. 00. Funds from their school forest donated by J. D. Bates helped furnish the kitchen.

Photograph of H. C. Walker, LRSCD Board Member, riding a horse. The back of the photograph proclaims, "Board Member since 1939. Old time cowboy and stockman. Saw first train to Idabel. Attends state and national soil conservation meetings regularly. Ate a rare steak in Omaha but remarked "I've had 'em get well hurt nor worse than this." Walker lives alone except for horse and sheep and cattle."

Photograph showing how it takes good management to produce good logs on a sustained yield basis. Soil Conservation Service technicians mark timber to be harvested on a high percentage of land worked by Stauter Mill. He paid the government $44,000 for eleven 40-acre tracts for marked timber only. OK-338-1.

Photograph of harvest cutting. It takes good logs to make good homes. To keep this mill operating continuously the Stauter Lumber Company buys logs from the McCurtain County Land Utilization [LU] Project formerly administered by the Soil Conservation Service. Increased timber volume enabled this mill to employ 85 people where none worked before. OK-315-12.

Photograph of managed timber here saved for curing before going to the planing mill. Well spaced pine under management turns out clean, clear lumber products so demanded by buyers today. It takes 25,000 feet per day to keep this mill operating. OK-338-3.

Photograph of Alvin Howard, Forest Service [FS] representative at Idabel, Oklahoma, measuring the circumference of a pine tree. "This pine tree would bring $65.00 based on recent bid sales," he says. The diameter tape tells Howard this tree is 31 inches across or diameter at breast height [dbh]. It is 80 feet high. The Soil Conservation Service administered this land for 16 years. OK-243-10.

Photograph of the Little River Soil Conservation Department [SCD] as it pursues a vigorous forestry program. High grading the woods and leaving the worst for 40 years makes good forest more expensive and difficult as the task becomes even larger or greater. Over 300,000 acres need inferior upload hardwood controlled in predominant pine stands. East of Glover near Bethel.

Photograph of increased pine growth. Follow-up to OK-10-888-D. Note the increased pine growth after release by killing hardwood. Fence needed for two more years. Notice hardwood on the left not removed. Ross Dugan is cooperating with Soil Conservation Service [SCS] technicians on woodland plans for sustained production. OK-10-888-D1.

Photograph of John McCoy who points to pine growth despite drought, to M.H. Conine of the Soil Conservation Service [SCS]. While 84 years of age, McCoy plants some pine every winter. He, with Mrs. McCoy, having been on this land since 1905 are cooperating with the Little River Soil Conservation District [LRSCD] to make half of their 80 acre farm into forest. They live near Haworth. OK-386-1

Photograph of hardwood control. Notice that hardwood has disappeared. Pine is 10 feet tall from just 2 feet two years ago in Picture A. Dugan followd plan of SCS technicians on 1700 acres of similar hardwood infested pine. OK-10-888A1

Photograph of Raymond Bates, local timber worker, now operating a pulpwood yard in Idabel, Oklahoma for International Paper Company. Bates worked on LU [= land utilization] timber many years and thinks timber should be managed for the best profits. OK-386-11.

Photograph of timber loading. Machines do the work nowadays. Chainsaws and automatic loaders all make fast work of the timber. Here pulpwood is raised from a truck to railroad cars. OK-386-12.

Photograph of pulpwood. Pulpwood is good income on well-managed forests. About ten cars (20 cords) of pulpwood is shipped weekly from Idabel with an approximate annual value of $140,000. OK-386-10.

Photograph of the Little River in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma water goes to sea. Filtered through a protected, well-covered watershed means clear water. Probably two million acre-feet* of water escape the Little River SCD as unused each year. Mt. Fork River carries around one-third of the district watershed. OK-260-10. * an acre-foot refers to water that covers one acre of land, at a depth of one foot = approx. 326,000 gallons.

Photograph of the Vocational Agriculture class at Smithville, Okla. High School studying conservation plan map of school forest. A tract of about 80 acres, owned by Story-McKee-Wilson Lumber Company, is set aside as school forest where the Voc. Agri. class study and apply proper forestry practices. Left to right is J. C. Brown, Glenn Scott, Jack Brock, Instructor, back row; Glen Hensley, Tom Stickle, Don McClung, Steve Hilton and Luther Baxter. The boys of this class are learning forestry by doing as well as studying in class.

Photograph of Smithville, Okla. Vocational Agriculture class with instructor examining pine tree that should be removed from the forest because it is defective. Small log or pulpwood will be cut from defective trees of this type. A tract of about 80 acres, owned by Story-McKee-Wilson Lumber Company, is set aside as school forest where the Voc. Agri. class study and apply proper forestry practices. Selective cutting has been carried out on 20 acres in the 1955 and 1956 compartment. The high school's senior class receives the net income from this forest project.

Photograph of Glen Scott, Vocational Agriculture student, girdling cull hard wood tree in pine stand. J. C. Brown and Tom Stickler checking girdle to be certain it is wide enough to kill the tree. These boys are studying forestry in relation to soil conservation training. Work and training is being carried on in the school forest. The forest is divided into several compartments to allow study of all phases of forestry.

Photograph of Glen Hensley planting a pine seedling in school forest. Steve Hinton, Don McClung and Luther Baxter watching the planting. These boys are members of a Vocational Agriculture class at Smithville High School. This class has planted 5 acres of pine (1956 planting season) and plan to plant an additional 5 acres. The boys are studying as part of a well rounded course in soil conservation work.

Photograph of Smithville's Vocational Agricultural Class students and their instructor on Story-McKee-Wilson Lumber Co. land set aside for them examining a pine tree that should be removed from forest because it is defective. People shown in photo go as followed from left to right: 1. J. C. Brown, 2. Jack Brock, Instructor, 3. Tom Stickle, 4. Steve Hilton, 5. Glen Hensley, 6. Glenn Scott, 7. Don McClung, 8. Luther Baxter. The back of the photograph proclaims, "Forestry Training. Smithville, Okla. Vo. Agri. class with instructor examining pine tree that should be removed from forest because it is defective. Small log or pulpwood will be cut from defective trees of this type. A tract of about 80 acres, owned by Story-McKee-Wilson Lumber Co., is set aside as school forest where the Voc. Agri. class study and apply proper forestry practices. Selective cutting has been carried out on 20 acres in the 1955 and 1956 compartments. The high school's senior class receives the net income from the forest project."

Photograph of an automatic lumber sorter in operation at a saw mill. This sorter conveys and drops lumber in piles according to size and grade. Lumber is sawed at a mill in the forest and hauled to a finishing mil in town. As the lumber is unloaded, it is fed into this sorter which moves it and piles it in the proper place. The lumber is fed into the sorter by two men, thus conserving much time and labor. OK-413-9.

Photograph of forestry lumber. A general view of a lumber yard and storage sheds at Herron lumber mill. Storage sheds and wood working rooms are laid out in a definite manner to make lumber easier to handle and store to reduce time and labor needed to produce the finished product. OK-413-11.

Photograph of a saw mill. Head-saw in operation running out hardwood logs. This mill also has a gang saw for pine lumber. This country mill has a pay roll of $150.00 per day which adds to the forest economy of the district. Lee Swarts, shown here, marks all of his pine timber to be harvested on D-46 spacing, as recommended by the Soil Conservation Service, according to his agreement with the Little River Soil Conservation District. He manages 8000 acres of his own timber land. OK-412-7.

Photograph of Vocational Agriculture class studying conservation plan map of school forest. People shown in photo go as followed from left to right: Front Row: 1. J. C. Brown, 2. Glenn Scott, 3. Jack Brock, Instructor, Back Row: 1. Glen Hensley, 2. Tom Stickle, 3. Don McClung, 4. Steve Hilton, 5. Luther Baxter. The back of the photograph proclaims, "Conservation Education. Vocational Agriculture class at Smithville, Okla. High School studying conservation plan map of school forest. A tract of 80 acres owned by McKee-Story-Wilson Lumber Co. is set aside for this Voc. Agri. to study and practice forestry practices on. Left to right is J. C. Brown, Glenn Scott, Jack Brock, instructor, back row; Glen Hensley, Tom Stickle, Don McClung, Steve Hilton and Luther Baxter. The boys of the class are learning forestry by doing as well as studying in class."