TIME REQUIRED TO REPLACE FOREST. 63 



In the sections where no settlements exist the ax and the railroad 

 as destructive factors are eliminated, but the most powerful of them 

 all, the forest Are, remains and rages unchecked. 



It is true that the needs of the people living in and developing the 

 region demand fuel, lumber, etc. There would be an abundance to 

 furnish all necessary supplies of this sort for ages to come if the forest 

 was properly used, lint in place of putting in practice an intelligent 

 and careful system that would guard against waste and permit the 

 growing timber to recuperate, methods are in vogue such as would 

 have been especially devised for the purpose of laying waste as great 

 an area of forest as possible in the shortest time. 



From an intimate knowledge of the Co'ur d'Alenes, obtained during 

 a residence of ten years in the immediate neighborhood, I do not hesi- 

 tate to affirm that 50 per cent of the accessible merchantable, timber 

 of the Cu'ur d'Alenes is absolutely destroyed; that of the remainder 

 20 per cent has been more or less culled, leaving only 30 per cent in 

 good condition. All this within a period of thirty-four years, and of 

 these only twelve years represent settlement and development. 



Judging from these data, how long will the remainder last, without 

 some system id' protection ! 



Few persons consider tin- time required to replace a forest of the sort 

 that covered this region upon the advent of settlements. Those who 

 are especially active in destroying it clearly never do. Let us take the 

 most commonly utilized trees for examples. To produce mature lumber — 

 that is, logs that will saw economically and furnish a product reason- 

 ably durable in character— requires for the yellow pine an average of 

 175 years, for the white pine a, period ranging from 200 to 300 years, 

 for Mertens's hemlock an average of 275 years, for the cedar 200 to 250 

 years, for the Western tamarack 150 years for rough lumber, 300 to 350 

 years for the clearer and more valuable product, and for the Douglas 

 spruce an average of 200 years. The tamarack and the Douglas spruce 

 are cut for railroad ties while young. Few trees are fit for this purpose 

 under 50 years of age. A glance at these figures will show that no 

 denuded area will again produce valuable timber for generations to 

 come. It may be said that there is a young growth in various stages, 

 winch is continually producing mature trees. Accepting this, the ques- 

 tion arises, Is this source of supply sufficient to meet the constantly 

 growing demands? It is perfectly clear that it is not. Sawmills are 

 continually exhausting the forests in their localities and laying new 

 areas under contribution. Small lumbering plants and tie-choppers' 

 camps are being moved from place to place to find fresh and untouched 

 regions; and, so far as we know, not one of the areas denuded since the 

 advent of the sawmill has as yet recuperated sufficiently to yield a 

 further supply of merchantable logs. 



However rapid the destruction may 1m 1 from the ax and the saw, it 

 would still require a very long time to create any appreciable want of 

 suitable lumbering material on the Pacific Slope if only these two means 



