For February, 1922 



45 



cut-over areas, now aggregate 463,000,000 acres, or a 

 little more than one-half of our original forest. 



Including- everything, good, bad, and indifferent, 



"Of the forest land remaining- and unutilized for farm- 

 ing- or any other purpose, approximately 81,000,000 acres 

 have been so severely cut and burned as to become an 

 unproductive waste. The area — '' 

 Think of it — this area that is wholly useless, 



" — is equivalent to the combined forests of Germany, 

 Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Spain, 

 and Portugal. Upon an enormous additional area the 

 growth of tiniber is so small in amount or of such inferior 

 character that its economic value is negligible." 



Some three hundred years ago there came to the east- 

 ern shores of this country a band of pilgrims, and they 

 found what was then the greatest natural wealth, prob- 

 ably, in the world — land covered with a perfectly won- 

 derful growth of trees. Captain John Smith sent back 

 word from Virginia that he had discovered a land of 

 inexhaustible fertility, and so it appeared. But now, 

 less than three hundred years later, we find that thousands 

 of acres in Virginia can be bought almost for a song be- 

 cause that which had been considered inexhaustible is 

 gone — the fertility of the land has been destroyed. On 

 the other rock-bound coast of New England the scene 

 that greeted the eyes of the Pilgrims no longer exists. 

 Three-quarters of the original forest area of New Eng- 

 land is gone; half the remaining timber is in the State 

 of Maine. This great section that was so richly endowed 

 wnh natural wealth, so abundantly provided for, has now 

 reached the point where it imports something like 30 per 

 cent of its consumption, and is rapidly approaching the 

 stage where it will import the major portion of that which 

 it consumes. 



The great state of New York some fifty years ago be- 

 came the greatest producer of lumber in the Union ; today 

 it produces not more than one-tenth of its consumption, 

 to be exact, thirty broad feet per capita as against a con- 

 sumption of three hundred lioard feet. Then the tide 

 movel to Pennsylvania, and Penn's woods became the 

 greatest producer of lumber following New York. To- 

 day its production is less than enough for the Pittsburgh 

 district alone — about 20 per cent of its consimiption. 



But that is not all the sad story of Pennsylvania. I 

 wonder how many of you have taken a daylight ride 

 across the Alleghenies. Those who have done so must 

 have been shocked at the sight of miles upon miles of 

 hills which have been absolutely robbed of their foliage. 

 And that is not all. \\'hile the forests cover the lands the 

 rains come down, jjercolate through the loose, porous soil 

 into the subsoil, and from there find their way to the 

 spring's and thence to the little streams and rivers. It is the 

 network of roots of vegetation in the loose, porous, fertile 

 soil that hold the water in check and gives it continuity 

 — and those who have studied this problem know that the 

 question of water suplny is tied u[) in the whole problem 

 of the protection of the forests. 



Then, the reckless methods of the lumbermen are em- 

 ployed and the trees are swept away — oh, so thoughtlessly. 

 I sat with a gentleman yesterday afternoon who described 

 some of the methods he himself had employed, and it al- 

 most n-iade me heart sick as he told of how the little trees 

 down to four inches in diameter were cut and the branches 

 left I'ehind, causing forest fires which destroy vegetation 

 and also destroy the very means of holding the soil in 

 place. When this has happened and your rains corne down 

 they wash the fertile soil into the streams and into the 

 ocean, soil that it took Nature hundreds of years to pro- 

 duce — all because of the prodigal waste and recklessness 

 of mankind. 



We find that the tide moved up into the Great Lake 

 States, where thirty or forty years ago there was such a 

 wealth of timber ihat people said it could never be cut 

 away — that it was inexhaustible. The original supply 

 in the Lake States — Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota 

 —was estimated to be 350,000,000,000 board feet. That 

 has now been reduced to 8,000,000,000 board feet — from 

 three hundred and fifty to eight billion. It is almost gone, 

 including the great white pine that made that country 

 famous. 



And then the tide moved into the South Atlantic and 

 the Gulf States, and that vast expanse of wonderful soft 

 woods, the yellow pine, is three-fourths gone; our govern- 

 ment estimates that it will be exhausted commercially in 

 from fifteen to eighteen years. The section from which I 

 come, Ohio, Indiana and Illiriois, has almost ceased to be 

 a factor in the production of lumber. 



There still remains a considerable quantity in the south 

 .Appalachian States, but it is estimated by the government 

 that that vast supply of hardwoods will be gone in from 

 lifteen to twenty years. Then, we still have one remain- 

 ing stand in the southern Mississippi valley, including 

 the cypress ; and that, it is estimated, will be gone in about 

 twenty years. 



There remain, in this great land of freedom and oppor- 

 tunity, the forest areas on the Pacific coast, in Wa,shing- 

 ton, Oregon, California, northern Arizona and New Mex- 

 ico, Colorado, LTtah, Wyoming- and Montana. 



^^'hen you consider the immense figures, it looks as 

 though these areas were inexhaustible, but every time you 

 exhaust one territory you lay a heavier burden on the 

 next ; and thus your government has arrived at the conclu- 

 sion that these vast quantities of timber on the west coast 

 will be exhausted in about thirty or forty years. 



So that we face a problem of forest destraction with all 

 its attendant ills ; and I say to those who are interested in 

 wild life — if you forests go, your game and fish go with it. 

 If wise measures are taken to protect the game, they wilL.- 

 be taken to protect the forest ; and if wise measures are 

 taken to protect the forest they will be taken to protect 

 the game — the two are linked up insejjarably. 



If I were to offer a solution for the problem, if I had 

 this job to do myself, there are two things I would set 

 about to accomplish. First, I would put all lumbering 

 under government supervision ;and I say that as one who 

 hates the idea of government interference in business prob- 

 ably as much as anyone. But I would take it as the lesser 

 of two evils. 



I would put all lumbering from now on under the con- 

 trol of the government and under the strictest possible 

 supervision and regulation so that these wasteful methods 

 I have referred to cannot be continued, so that we may be 

 able to protect what we have imtil we can grow more. 



Then I would do another thing that perhaps would not 

 be quite so popular in these days of taxes ; still, we have so 

 many taxes now that we are used to it. 1 would put a tax 

 of one dollar per thousand feet on all lumber cut from 

 now on and every dollar of that money I would put into 

 reforestation. 



In other words, we may talk about this question as 

 much as we like, but unless we get down to some concrete 

 proposal, some definite method of procedure, we shall 

 never solve the problem or successfully meet its attendant 

 difficulties. We must get some kind of action, and that 

 without delay. 



One more thing I want to say, and this in order to em- 

 phasize the importance of the question as bearing upon 

 the future of our country. It was not so many years ago 

 when China had as wonderful a covering of trees as we 

 have now. 



