THE CRISIS IN THE SOUTHERN FORESTS 



By HENRY E, HARDTNER, President of the Louisiana Forestry Association 

 and Chairman of the Louisiana Conservation Commission 



THE conservation of natural resour- 

 ces is a question of great impor- 

 tance and is engaging the atten- 

 tion of many of the foremost citizens 

 of our country who are now endeavor- 

 ing to formulate such plans as will be 

 calculated to prevent the destruction of 

 these resources. 



The national forest reserves are be- 

 ing handled carefully and systemat- 

 ically according to the most up-to-date 

 methods, and can be depended on to 

 produce crop after crop for all ages. 

 Not so with the forests of the South, 

 which are chiefly in the hands of pri- 

 vate owners, for they are handled care- 

 lessly, criminally, and with the idea of 

 getting every possible penny out of 

 them regardless of their future useful- 

 ness to mankind. Under existing con- 

 ditions with no efforts heretofore made 

 by the states to cooperate, we cannot 

 say that the lumberman is any more 

 to blame than are state and National 

 governments. The lumberman does 

 not wish to convert lands, now rich in 

 natural resources which yield handsome 

 returns to himself and the state, into 

 barren wastes, which will not even 

 serve as pasturage. He knows much 

 better than any one else what they are 

 chiefly valuable for, and only awaits the 

 opportunity to be of service to the state 

 and Nation in conserving these re- 

 sources. 



Therefore, the preservation of our 

 forests is the most important question 

 that we have to deal with at this time, 

 and we cannot wait years before we at- 

 tempt to solve the problem. No doubt 



the National Government will ere long 

 offer substantial assistance to the states 

 in the difficult and costly work of re- 

 forestation, but the states cannot afford 

 to wait for assistance ; they must go 

 to work at once and handle the ques- 

 tion honestly, intelligently, conserva- 

 tively, and successfully. Louisiana should 

 take the lead in this great movement, 

 and while protecting her own resources, 

 point out to others the correct course to 

 pursue in carrying out these plans for 

 the general good. 



Louisiana has a great extent and 

 wealth of forest, but it is rapidly and 

 surely being depleted. Under present 

 conditions she may continue for years 

 to hold her present position as the sec- 

 ond lumber producing state in the 

 Union, but fire and the ax are reducing 

 her producing capacity steadily, and 

 when the present stand of mature timber 

 is gone, Louisiana cannot remain in the 

 front rank, unless effective steps are 

 taken to protect and reproduce her 

 forests. 



The South, with twenty-seven per cent 

 of the total area of the United States, 

 contains about forty-two per cent of the 

 total forest area of the country, and pro- 

 duces forty-eight per cent of all the 

 lumber manufactured in the United 

 States. It might be interesting to state 

 that the lumber industry alone brings 

 back into the South over $10,000,000 

 for every working day in the year. 



The forest area by states is as follows : 

 Alabama, 20,000,000 acres ; Arkansas, 

 24,200,000 ; Florida, 20,000,000 ; Geor- 

 gia, 22,300,000; Kentucky, 10,000,- 

 000; Louisiana, 16,500,000; Maryland, 



^This article is the main body of an address delivered by Mr. Hardtner at the Con- 

 servation Conference of the Southern States held in New Orleans, November i, 1909, by 

 invitation of Governor Sanders of Louisiana. Mr. Hardtner is a prominent lumberman as 

 well as an earnest advocate of forestry and conservation. 



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