ii6 



CONSERVATION 



minds seek recreation annually. In the 

 White Mountains more than 90,000 

 acres of forest land have been laid 

 bare in the last fifteen years. Is this 

 world-famed mountain region, incom- 

 parable for its magnificent mountain 

 scenery; are these snow-capped peaks 

 of the North which rise so sublimely 

 into the beautiful, clear New Hamp- 

 shire sky ; are these snow-clad hills of 

 the "Granite State" which are an end- 

 less source of pleasure and recreation 

 to thousands every year, are they to be 

 marred completely by the woodman'.s 

 malicious ax? 



We have analyzed, more or less com- 

 pletely the condition of affairs now 

 prevalent in our country. We have 

 seen what is causing the destruction of 

 our forests and have noted — by way 

 of example- — the more important re- 

 sults of the destruction. Let us now 

 consider a few of the means by which 

 the prominent men of our country hope 

 to solve this serious problem. First of 

 all, the tax on standing timber and 

 the tariff on wood-pulp, the greatest 

 enemies of our forests, must be re- 

 pealed. Money must be appropriated 

 by the Federal and state authorities 

 for the preservation of forests areas. 

 Not only must we learn to make the 

 best permanent use of our standing for- 

 ests, but we must also plant new ones. 

 We can readily see that every means 

 of saving the American forests is de- 

 pendent upon whether or not these de- 

 structive taxes are repealed. Practi- 

 cally everything hinges on this. A be- 

 ginning of reform has already been 

 made The tax on standing timber has 

 been repealed in many states, and it 

 has already succeeded in saving much 

 valuable timber. The Government has 

 already bought up over 160,000,000 

 acres of forests for prservation. Sev- 

 eral years ago a bill appropriating $5,- 

 000,000 for preserving the forests of 

 the Appalachian and White Mountains 

 was introduced into Congress. Up to 

 the present time it has not been passed. 

 The representative newspapers and 

 magazines of our country are helping 

 the. cause greatly by bringing before 

 the people indisputable arguments why 



the forests should be preserved. The 

 leading railroad companies and many 

 important corporations are planting 

 forests for their own use. The United 

 States Forest Service and the Ameri- 

 can Forestry Association are doing 

 everything in their power to make for- 

 estry a household knowledge in the 

 United States, and to convince holders 

 of timber land that conservative lum- 

 bering methods are the best, most eco- 

 nomic and most permanent in their 

 results. 



Although we are experiencing an era 

 of reformation in the policies which 

 control our timber and timber supplies, 

 yet there is still lacking the public sen- 

 timent and interest which ought to be 

 manifested in an issue of so much im- 

 port. The little that is being done is 

 insignificant as compared to that which 

 remains to be done. Unfortunately, 

 the people do not realize the gravity 

 of the situation. If they did, would 

 they neglect such an important bill as 

 the Appalachian Forest Bill? Or 

 would they spend millions in dredging, 

 channels and not one cent for pre- 

 venting the silting up of those chan- 

 nels? Prominent men have ascribed 

 this inactivity and illogical method of 

 procedure to the lack of initiative 

 among the people and those that repre- 

 sent them. One man says it is due to 

 the "inertia of a great people, to disin- 

 terestedness and to indifference. " These 

 men maintain that, although it is not 

 within the power of the average work- 

 ing man to aid the cause financially or 

 through the press, yet he is capable 

 of voicing his sentiments to his friends 

 and demanding their fulfilment on the 

 ballot. This would help solve this im- 

 portant problem. There may, however, 

 be several difTerent avenues of ap- 

 proach in solving this problem, but 

 whichever one we select, to quote the 

 words of the editor of Forestry and 

 Irrigation, one thing is certain — the 

 United States must adopt, and that 

 speedily, a rational policy for the con- 

 servation and use of her timber sup- 

 plies." It rests, then, with the Ameri- 

 can people to adopt and enforce such 

 a policy. 



