284 



CONSER\'ATION 



than 7,000,000,000 cubic feet. In other 

 words, we are producing less than one- 

 third as much wood annually as we are 

 using. We are like a get-rich-quick 

 concern which pays dividends out of 

 its capital stock. If this continues, 

 some day all of us will be doing our 

 share in holding the sack. 



Forests are essential for the protec- 

 tion of watersheds, for their amelio- 

 rating influences upon local climate, for 

 recreation grounds for the people, as 

 a habitation for birds and game, and, 

 above all, for a timber supply. De- 

 spite the introduction of many sub- 

 stitutes, we cannot conceive of the prac- 

 ticability of doing without wood. 

 Granting this, it follows that as a Na- 

 tion and as individual citizens we must 

 do our utmost to put our forests upon 

 a permanent producing basis. We must 

 cut no more from them than they pro- 

 duce each year, and we must make 

 their yearly growth equal to our needs. 

 Forest conservation means two things : 

 First, the fullest possible utilization of 

 the present supply of timber, which will 

 make it last longer, and, second, the 

 handling of forest lands in such a way 

 that succeeding crops of timber will be 

 secured. 



At present only about one-fifth of 

 our standing timber is in public forests. 

 This term is used to cover the National 

 Forests, state forests, the timber on 

 Indian and military reservations. Na- 

 tional parks, etc. These forests are be- 

 ing managed according to the princi- 

 ples of scientific forestry so far as 

 funds available for their administration 

 permit. In the main they are being 

 conserved. While the extent of the 

 public forests will undoubtedly be in- 

 creased in the future, it is not likely 

 that for a very long time to come they 

 will contain even as much as half our 

 timber supply. Four-fifths of our for- 

 ests are now owned by individuals, 

 companies or corporations. The man- 

 ner in which these forests are handled 

 is, therefore, of the utmost importance 

 in forest conservation. So far but lit- 

 tle attempt has been made to conserve 

 them. The timberland owner and the 



lumber manufacturer are primarily 

 business men. They are working for 

 a profit, and an immediate one, if pos- 

 sible ; at any rate, a profit within com- 

 paratively few years. They will not 

 conserve their forests unless they are 

 convinced that forest conservation will 

 yield a profit. We cannot blame them 

 for this. It is a perfectly natural and 

 necessary attitude from the standpoint 

 of the individual. The National Con- 

 servation Commission recognizes that 

 three main considerations arise in mak- 

 ing plans for the conservation of pri- 

 vately owned forests. The first two of 

 these are matters for state les^islation. 

 The third is an economic one. They 

 are : 



I. We must stop forest fires. Mil- 

 lions of acres of forest land are burned 

 over every year. In many cases the 

 damage to standing timber is great, 

 but in almost every case, the damage 

 to the soil and to the young-growth 

 timber is far greater. The cutting of 

 successive crops of timber from our 

 forest lands depends absolutely upon 

 the keeping out of forest fires. Forest 

 fires can be prevented, but to prevent 

 them requires constant vigilance during 

 the danger season. Proper state laws, 

 with ample funds for their enforce- 

 ment, and cooperation with timberland 

 owners, will do it. Some splendid ex- 

 amples of this occurred during tiie past 

 season, in which forest fires were un- 

 usually widespread and destructive. 

 Four forest protective associations in 

 northern Idaho, for instance, organized 

 in accordance with the laws of that 

 state, protected a million and a quarter 

 acres of forest land, and kept the dam- 

 age down to a comparatively small 

 amount. They did so at a cost to them- 

 selves of 4 cents per acre. The Wash- 

 ington Forest Fire Association also did 

 excellent work. When in comparison 

 with this it is stated that, during the 

 last fiscal year, the Forest Service had 

 an equivalent of only ij4 cents per 

 acre to spend upon the National For- 

 ests for all kinds of work and admin- 

 istration, including fire fighting, it is 

 seen that the lumbermen cannot be 



