STATE WORK 



239 



five rangers in charge of this large area, 

 using every means available to develop 

 it as rapidly as possible and to bring it 

 up to the best economic production. 



The Oregon Conservation Commission on 

 Forests 



Oregon has had a particularly able and 

 clear-headed conservation commission. This 

 body issued for 1910 a comprehensive and 

 valuable report. The commission has re- 

 cently resigned to relieve Governor West of 

 any embarrassment, and because of the 

 failure of an appropriation to carry on the 

 commission's work. The Governor declares 

 that the state is to have a conservation 

 commission, and he may reappoint some 

 or all of the old board — J. N. Teal, chair- 

 man; F. G. Young, secretary; J. B. Wilson, 

 C. B. Watson, Frank J. Miller, J. N. Hart, 

 J. C. Stevens. The section of the report 

 of the commission devoted to forests de- 

 serves wide reading for its fair and tem- 

 perate discussion of current forest prob- 

 lems of the Northwest. We print this 

 section entire: 



Whether considered as a source of great- 

 est direct revenue shared by all the people, 

 or for their part in maintaining condi- 

 tions favorable to the highest general de- 

 velopment along all industrial and so- 

 cial line, Oregon's forests, next to land 

 itself, are far her most important natural 

 resources. No other represents equal po- 

 tential wealth; any other could be spared 

 with less Injury to present and future 

 prosperity. 



We are supposed to have a fifth of the 

 merchantable timber in the United States. 

 Even at current prices it should bring 

 us $5,000,000,000.00. This prodigious 

 wealth is better than gold, for its produc- 

 tion will employ an industrial army, afford 

 market for our other commodities, and in 

 every way tend to the development of a 

 great prosperous commonwealth. Forest 

 wealth is community wealth. Protection 

 of forest industry is the best form of pros- 

 perity insurance a timbered state can buy. 



Notwithstanding these facts, Oregon is 

 far behind other timber states in forest 

 protection and management. While other 

 states with far less at stake, from Maine 

 in the extreme east to Washington and 

 California on either side of us, are con- 

 tinually Improving their forest laws and 

 appropriating more and more liberally to 

 safeguard the community welfare. Oregon 

 does practically nothing. With an excellent 

 code of forest laws, as far as punitive and 

 regulative provisions go, it provides no 

 machinery for their enforcement. 



The result is what might be expected. 

 The Federal Government and private forest 

 owners, where they are interested, do much 

 to prevent and fight fires. But without 



state aid neither can enforce the laws 

 that would prevent fires, and large areas 

 do not even profit by even their handi- 

 capped effort. During the season just 

 closed we have lost, by fire alone, timber 

 which if saved for manufacture would 

 have brought $23,000,000.00 into Oregon. 

 Other property worth many thousands of 

 dollars has been lost by settlers who could 

 ill afford it, many human lives have been 

 sacrificed, and untold though usually un- 

 realized injury has been done to the thous- 

 ands of acres of second growth which other- 

 wise would have made the forest of the 

 future. Little or no progress in reforesta- 

 tion to retrieve this injury is possible 

 under existing conditions. 



All of it is unnecessary, for forest des- 

 truction is preventable. The state is di- 

 rectly responsible. Its responsibility and 

 the remedy which lies in its hands are 

 set forth in the following pages. 



CUE FOEEST EESOOECES. 



While an accurate census is still lack- 

 ing, authorities generally agree that Ore- 

 gon has approximately four hundred bil- 

 lion feet, B.M. of merchantable timber. 

 This estimate is probably conservative, for 

 standards of merchantability become less 

 exacting and vast quantities of wood ma- 

 terial now unconsidered will have future 

 value. The government estimates that 

 about one hundred and thirty-five billion, 

 or approximately a third of the total, is 

 in national forests. The other two-thirds, 

 the most valuable and accessible, are mostly 

 in private hands. The state itself owns 

 comparatively illttle timber, having dis- 

 posed of most of its educational grant 

 lands. 



Board foot figures, however, fail to con- 

 vey any adequate idea of the tremendous 

 economic importance of this resource. We 

 are further prevented from realizing it 

 because its exploitation has scarcely com- 

 menced. We regard our forests largely as 

 a wilderness, or at most as a speculative 

 asset for their owners. Instead of com- 

 puting their function in the early future 

 as producers of community wealth. But 

 the world's demand for timber must inevit- 

 ably lead to the manufacture and ship- 

 ment of most of this material within the 

 next fifty years, thus bringing billions of 

 dollars into Oregon. For this reason prob- 

 ably no other resources can approach our 

 forests in distributing new wealth per 

 capita among our population and conse- 

 quently in upbuilding every industry we 

 have, or may hope to have in any portion 

 of the state. 



Without counting Increasing export to 

 other countries, the United States already 

 uses (1908) 40.000,000,000 feet of lumber a 

 year, besides 118.000,000 hewn ties. 1.500.- 

 000.000 staves, over 1S3.000,000 sets of head- 

 ing, nearly 500.000,000 barrel hoops, 3,000,- 

 000 cords of native pulp wood, 165,000,000 



