248 



CONSERVATION 



Increased Need for Private Forestry 



' ' In its application to the management of 

 private holdings forestry has lagged far 

 behind its record of progress on the National 

 Forests," says the Secretary of Agriculture 

 in his annual report. ' ' With a fast- 

 diminishing timber supply and steadily-rising 

 lumber prices, the vast bulk of our cutting is 

 done destructively. This is a matter which 

 seriously concerns the public welfare. 



"Ten years ago the Department of Agri- 

 culture offered, in pursuance of investigations 

 in forestry, and in order to disseminate a 

 knowledge of improved ways of handling 

 forest lands, to cooperate with private own- 

 ers through expert advice and assistance in 

 planning and putting into practise forest man- 

 agement for their holdings. The investiga- 

 tions thiTs made possible were of the first 

 importance. But for them the Government 

 would have been altogether unprepared to 

 undertake six years later the scientific man- 

 agement of the National Forests. They were, 

 in fact, the foundation and virtually the be- 

 ginning of practical forestry in the United 

 States. 



"This ofifer has never been withdrawn. 

 The work which its fulfilment involved was 

 the chief cause of the rapid growth of the 

 Forest Service between 1898 and 1905. Since 

 1905, however, the necessity of providing first 

 of all for the needs of the National Forests 

 has compelled curtailment of expenditures for 

 general investigations, since neither men nor 

 money have been available to carry them on 

 There has been a steady increase in the num- 

 ber of informal applications, but many of 

 these were not encouraged to fill out the 

 necessary blanks, since neither men nor 

 money were available to make the examina- 

 tion. 



"There is urgent need to enlarge this 

 work. The time is ripe for a widespread 

 taking up of forestry by private owners of 

 timberland, large and small, if the Forest 

 Service can be in a position to guide and 

 assist a general movement through fulfil- 

 ment of its ofifer. None of the National 

 Forests is east of the Mississippi River, and 

 nine-tenths of the expenditures of the Service 

 are on behalf of the National Forests. It is 

 a national duty to protect and put to best 

 use this great resource which is directly un- 



der the charge of the Government ; but it is 

 no less a national duty to promote in the 

 East the spread of methods through which 

 this part of the country also can preserve its 

 forests." 



V^ ^ ^ 



Condition of Forest Resources 



The forests of the United States now cover 

 about 550,000,000 acres, or about one-fourth 

 of the land of the whole country. The origi- 

 nal forests covered not less than 850,000,000 

 acres, or nearly one-half. 



The forests owned by the Government 

 cover one-fourth of the total forest area and 

 contain one-fifth of all timber standing. For- 

 ests privately owned cover three-fourths of 

 the area, and contain four-fifths of the stand- 

 ing timber. Besides having three times the 

 area and four times the forests, the timber- 

 land privately owned is generally more valu- 

 able. 



Forestry, or conservative lumbering, is 

 practised on seventy per cent, of the forests 

 publicly owned and on less than one per cent, 

 of the forests privately owned. This covers 

 the country's forest resources as they stand 

 to-day. Senator Smoot, chairman of the sec- 

 tion of forests of the National Conservation 

 Commission, in outlining the future, has 

 said : 



' ' By reasonable thrift, we can produce a 

 constant timber supply beyond our present 

 need, and with it conserve the usefulness of 

 our streams for irrigation, water supply, nav- 

 igation, and power. 



"Under right management, our forests will 

 yield over four times as much as now. We 

 can reduce waste in the woods and in the 

 mill at least one-third, with present as well 

 as future profit. We can perpetuate the 

 naval-stores industry. Preservative treatment 

 will reduce by one-fifth the quantity of tim- 

 ber used in the water or in the ground. We 

 can practically stop forest fires at a total 

 yearly cost of one-fifth the value of the 

 standing timber burned each year, not count- 

 ing young growth. 



"We shall suffer for timber to meet our 

 needs until our forests have had time to 

 grow again. But if we act vigorously and 

 at once, we shall escape permanent timber 

 scarcity. ' ' 



INDEX TO CONSERVATION FOR 1908 



The Index to Conservation and Forestry and Irrigation 

 for 1908 will shortly be ready, and will be furnished without 

 charg-e to all members and subscribers on application. 



