123 



forest resources, classification and segregation of agricultural 

 land, the selling of mature timber and the improvement of graz- 

 ing areas in certain forest regions where the supply of water is 

 not involved by regulated allotments of the herds. 



An appropriation of ten million dollars to become available 

 at the rate of one million a year was recently made by congress 

 to develop roads within the National Forests and the importance 

 of having public forests at the headwaters of important streams 

 was recognized and greatly emphasized through the appropria- 

 tion in 1916 of three million dollars for continued purchases of 

 forest lands begun under the Weeks Law. 



In this manner a vast area on the mainland is now managed 

 with a view to the most general, varied and harmonious use. 

 Through successful administration the permanence of the Na- 

 tional Forests is becoming more and more assured and they are 

 now a vital part of the economic life of the regions which use 

 their resources. 



THE VALUE OE FORESTS IN MODERN WARFARE. 



A few words on the part that the forests and the United 

 States Forest Service are playing in the present war and then we 

 shall come down to forestry in Hawaii. 



In this age of coal and iron^ wood and other forest products 

 which have almost innumerable uses in modern warfare are be- 

 ing sought more eagerly and used more extensively than ever 

 before. In the trenches, on the road, in the air, in the shipyard, 

 in the munition factory and chemical laboratory and in the build- 

 ing of cantonments, wood has become a dominant factor and 

 never before has the demand for exact knowledge on the quaHty 

 and uses of wood been so urgent. 



In modern warfare forest products are needed in large quan- 

 tities. The average trench requires alone about one cubic foot 

 of wood to 10 feet of trench or about 60,000 board feet to the 

 mile or 15 billion feet to the French front exclusive of that 

 required for shelter, artillery screens, block houses and fuel. 



Forest industries which were on the decline or entirely aban- 

 doned have been revived by the war and new uses for wood 

 products developed. 



Wooden ships and airplanes call for special materials. Sitka 

 spruce, once a despised material, is now found almost indis- 

 pensable for airplane construction furnishing long, clear, light, 

 yet strong material in which failure is far less common than in 

 the metal parts. In fact, the demand for spruce wood is now so 

 great that a spruce-production division of the Signal Corps has 

 been formed of 10,000 men to get this needed commodity from 

 the woods to the airplane factories. 



About 200 board feet of wood is used in the actual construc- 

 tion of the average airplane. To obtain this material it is ordin- 

 arily necessary to work over about 1500 feet of select lumber 



