484 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Mixed White Birch and Aspen Forest on Sandy Slope South of Eagle. Timber 2 to 6 

 Inches in Diameter, 20 to 35 Feet in Height. Buildings at Fort Egbert, 

 AND Eagle Mountain in the Background. 



out, that it had no timber whatsoever, 

 whereas it actually contains at least 

 eight billion board feet of choice hem- 

 lock and spruce. There was some color 

 to the charge that areas in the Chugach 

 were timberless, because there is a con- 

 siderable portion above timber line. The 

 Secretary of Agriculture long since de- 

 cided to have this non-timbered area 

 eliminated from the Forest. It is said 

 that the Department of the Interior 

 would have these treeless tracts back in 

 the public domain before this except 

 that it did not wish to act on the recom- 

 mendations of the Department of Agri- 

 culture until after the route of the pro- 

 posed Alaska railroad had been settled. 

 It is understood that the eliminations of 

 non-forested areas will be made soon. 



It is evident also that the conserva- 

 tion forces of the country are now 

 pretty well satisfied that the attack will 

 fail, gaining their assurance from a sig- 

 nificant vote in the Senate while the 

 agricultural appropriation liill was un- 

 der debate. An amendment to this bill 

 was proposed, which would cut out the 

 appropriation for the maintenance of 

 the Chugach. For a time the debate 

 seemed all one way. led by the same 

 Senator who had introduced the special 



bill to abolish the forest. Friends of 

 conservation in the Senate came to the 

 rescue, however, and the amendment 

 was overwhelmingly defeated when it 

 came to the test of a vote. On the 

 basis of that vote, it now seems unlikely 

 that the bill to abolish the Chugach has 

 much chance to pass. 



USES FOR THE TIMBER 



The Government's Alaskan railroad 

 will in itself use much timber in con- 

 struction work, and there will follow a 

 permanent demand for lumber in build- 

 ing up the country as its development 

 follows railroad facilities. Mining 

 operators will require large quantities 

 of material both for timbers and for 

 fuel. As the interior of the country is 

 developed and railroad connection is 

 made with the coast, that section will 

 look to tidewater for all of its wood 

 except that needed for fuel, which can 

 be supplied locally. 



At the present time there are now 

 within or near these two National For- 

 ests, the Tongass and the Chugach, 35 

 sawmills of various capacities ranging 

 from 4.000 to 40,000 board feet a day. 

 and with a total annual capacity of 

 something like 40 million feet. The cut 



