26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Your committee makes uo suggestions whatever 

 A resolution was passed at our last meeting 

 indorsing the southern Appalachian and White 

 Mountain Forest Reserves. At the session of 

 Congress which expired on March 4 the bill 

 authorizing these reserves was unanimously 

 passed bv the Senate, but failed to come up in 

 House. Some opposition to forest reserves gen- 

 ii:.- i n found to exist among lumber- 



ni.ii." This appears to be based on the possi- 

 i.iliiv of reserves conflicting with lumbering 

 operations, iu which case it is questionable 

 whether the federal government could afford 

 and would be willing to pay a price which 

 would fully represent the value of a timber 

 traVt in active operation. 



While your committee does not feel com- 

 petent to pass Anal judgment on this Question 

 ii believes thai lumbermen are able to cope 

 with each individual situation as it may arise, 

 and further that lumbermen as a body are suf- 

 ficiently broad and liberal to risk a minimum 

 of personal profll for a maximum of general 

 benefil 



Bearing on this question we have received 

 from Mr. Gifford 1'inchot a letter explaining 

 the position of the government with regard to 

 forest reserves. Mr. Pinchot's attitude in for 

 estry matters lias always been so practical and 

 so universally fair- to the lumbermen that we 

 have taken tile liberty of inserting the full text 

 of his letter. In practical forestry Mr. Pinchot 

 is the government, and his assurances ought 

 to allay any doubts regarding the wisdom and 

 safety of our indorsement of forest reserve legis- 

 lation. 



"Reserves and the government reserve policy 

 are deeidedlv to the trout just now. It seems 



i that the western lumbermen who criticize 



this policy ought to take a broader view. Were 

 the timber on unreserved public lands lumber- 

 men would doubtless tind a way to secure these 

 lands when wanted, as they have other lauds 

 from the public domain ; but they could not 

 secure them legally, and. having secured them, 

 it is highly improbable that they would man- 

 age them conservatively. Waste by tire and de- 

 strnctive lumbering would repeat the old story, 

 and in one region after • another the lumber 

 business would be sell' exterminating. Is it not 

 better for the lumbermen to be able to buy 

 stumpage from the government at a fair price 

 and cut under regulation, knowing that the 

 forests will always be there for them to draw 

 upon, than to connive at fraud, or perhaps take 

 the timber in order to get it at all, and make 

 an end to the forests, even though they may 

 realize a larger inlmediate profit on this opera 

 i ion: Is it not essentially a choice between 

 honesty and a steady business and growing rich 

 on public plunder '; 



"In the East, of course, the case is different. 

 If the southern Appalachian and White Moun- 

 tain Reserves are created the government would 

 have to pay a fair price for the laud, since this 

 is already in private ownership. 1 believe, hoyt 

 ever, that these reserves also will in the long 

 run benefit the lumbermen by making the in- 

 dustry more stable. There is no reason why 

 lands' now held by lumber companies should 

 not be purchased subject to the removal of the 

 standing timber, under such regulations as would 

 preserve the forest itself. As you of course 

 know, the present measure for creating these 

 reserves is killed, yet the same question must 



up again. 1 think. Too much sentiment 



lias been n noised to let the matter drop, and 

 the evils of deforestation iu their relation to 

 water power and floods must, as they become 

 more progressively felt, sooner or dater compel 

 government intervention.'.' 



A year's education and experiment have modi 

 fled but have not materially changed what may 

 have been regarded as our ultra-conservative 

 views on practical forestry from the lumber- 

 man's standpoint. Our present conclusions are 

 advanced not as facts, not as definite laws. Inn 

 as theories deduced from a modest attempt to 



discover tie' best thods of handling cut-over 



lands. The experiment in the higher Appals 

 chian forest must confine these theories to the 

 timber of similar regions. 



Practical forestry is an experiment, a prob- 

 Tern 'whose solution may be as varied as the 

 value of "X." and it is therefore of paramount 

 importance that -our lumbering show the best 

 possible financial results and that present profit 

 he not sacrificed to posterity. Therefore we 

 believe that the "preservation of the smaller 

 growth of the forest" and the "natural refores 

 tation of cut-over lands" must remain as the 

 basis of lumbermen's forestry, with only such 

 modifications as experience may justify.. 



Hemlock seems doomed to disappear with the 

 exhaustion- of the present crop. It is not only 

 uncertain of reproduction, but exceedingly slow 

 in growth. Existing conditions illustrate this. 



Narrow fire strips in dense stands of virgin 

 hemlock have grown up to birch and beech, 

 and natural reproduction' of the hemlock is en- 

 tirely wanting. This transitory type of hard- 

 wood might again give place to hemlock. Inn 

 not within the limit of time for commercial 

 purposes. On the basis that at least no harm 

 will result, and primarily for the purpose of 



fire protection, strips of standing hemlock about 

 300 feet in width may be left in selected loca- 

 tions, extending from top to bottom of the 

 slopes and at intervals of about half a mile. 

 They will be of some value for seeding pur- 

 poses, though possibly only from the spruce 

 and hardwoods which occur in mixture with 

 the hemlock and for economic reasons must be 

 removed before logging improvements are aban- 

 doned. They should be kept free from slash 

 in felling the adjacent timber and will be more 

 effective for Are protection if the adjoining skid 

 row on each side be burned oVer. 



In spruce stands the only advisable method 

 is practically clean cutting. The second crop 

 would as a rule be insufficient to justify the 

 improvements necessary for its removal. The 

 small timber, subject to damage in the first 

 cutting, is later liable to destruction by in- 

 sects, lire and wind, particularly where the soil 

 is thick humus. Therefore all timber which is 

 profitably marketable for any purpose should be 

 removed, using such care as is possible to pre- 

 serve the unmarketable saplings. A portion of 

 the extra revenue derived by clean cutting may 

 In expended in artificial reforestation with bet- 

 ter ultimate results. 



By thus eliminating hemlock as a future for- 



esi in id reducing to a minimum the amount 



of young spruce left for natural reproduction, 

 it apparently becomes necessary to assist nature 

 in her efforts to reestablish the coniferous for- 

 est. Present conditions will not warrant the 

 more expensive experiment of setting out young 

 stock, and we must be content with artificial 

 seeding. 



While the ground is still frozen, the slash 

 between the skid roads should be burned, or 

 perhaps better, the slash between every second 

 or third skid road, care being taken to select 

 these strips which contain least natural repro- 

 duction. These burnt areas form an excellent 

 seed bed and act as a fire break for the pro- 

 tect ion of the growing forest. 



On the bed thus prepared, reliable seed select- 

 ed to fit the conditions of soil and climate 

 should immediately be sown. Spruce, particu- 

 larly Norway spruce, fir, larch and while pine 

 have been selected for first experiment. Black 

 locust, is suggested iu mixture with the con- 

 ifers as producing some earlier revenue by con- 

 version into ties, while furnishing protection 

 from sun and frost to the evergreen seedlings. 



Interspersed with spruce and hemlock areas 

 on these higher altitudes occur pure stands of 

 hardwood, consisting of ash, chestnut, oaks, 

 beech, birch and maple, with some cucumber 

 and basswood. Were it practicable to do so 

 lie lust management might be to allow these 

 hardwoods to remain for future operation, or, 

 at most, to confine present operations to im- 

 provement cuttings. This, however, would vio- 

 late the rule to consider first of all the present 

 financial returns. 



The smaller trees- of these species, producing 

 as they do lumber of the lowest grades, may 

 consistently be left on the ground. It may le- 

 as well, however, to remove as far as possible 

 even the smaller trees of the less valuable 

 kinds, such. as beech and maple, in order in give 

 better opportunity to more desirable woods. 



Where the young growth is not sufficiently 

 dense selected seed trees may be left iu addi- 

 tion, but as these may be either defective timli. i 

 or of but moderate size, little loss will be occa- 

 sioned. Ash and red birch are recommended 

 both on account of their value for a second crop 

 'and their ability to reproduce themselves read 

 ily. Respectfully submitted, 



Geoege F. Ckaig, Chairman. 



in; tin- invitation of President Dill, the 

 association was favored with an address by 

 the Hon. Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the 

 Forest Service of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, which follows: 



Address of Hon. Gifford Pinchot. 



I have only just a word or two to say this 

 morning, gentlemen, and I shall be very brief. 

 First, I want to thank you and Mr. Dill for the 

 chance to say it, and second, I want to express, 



as I have bad asion to do before, the great 



gratification which tin- support of this associa 

 lion and the National Lumber Manufacturers' 

 Assoeiatioii of the Forest Service gives to every 



oi f the members of that service. 1 have I n 



here several times when Mr. Craig has read the 

 reports of the forestry committee and every time 

 that report has been practical and to the point, 

 and on this occasion I think the committer has 

 carried its work further than ever before by 

 get tine legislation before state legislative bodies 

 with the prospect of enactment. That is the 

 kind of thing that seems to be most worthy of 

 congratulation on the part of the association. 

 The association is now getting on the ground 

 where its work counts, through Mr. Craig and 

 his committee. I know it will give every mem- 

 be r of the association pleasure, as it doe's every 

 member of the Forestry Service. 



Now your chairman has referred to the fact 

 that there has been some little disagreement at 



tlie other end of the avenue on the subject of 

 the forest Service. I have known from the time 

 when my conscience awoke to me in early life 

 that I was a bad man, and 1 have now had it 

 not only seared upon my trembling conscience 

 but the specifications have been given to me so 

 there is no question about it any more. We 

 will accept that ; I know it is so now. On the 

 other hand, I want to enter a demurrer to one 

 of the charges which has been made, and that 

 is the question of not merely Forest Service, but 

 of the general land policy of the government. 

 If any of you have read the reports of the 

 debates you have seen that the Forest Service 

 has been repeatedly charged with two things : 

 In the first place, it is busy gettiug all the 

 timber of the country into the hands of the 

 so-called lumber trust, if such an organization 

 exists, in order to raise prices and prevent the 

 small man from going into the lumber business ; 

 in the second place, it has been busy in pre- 

 venting the honest settler from going on to the 

 lands in the West and making a home. 



Now there is one authority on this subject 

 who when quoted seems to me to settle the 

 question, and that is the President of the 

 United States [great applause]. Now what the 

 President says about what the Forest Service is 

 doing and what the whole land policy of his 

 administration is doing is this : That the whole 

 thing that he is trying to do in forestry, m 

 grazing, mineral resources and the general ad- 

 ministration of the public laws is to promote 

 tlie foundation and maintenance of prosperous 

 homes ; that is the first object of the whole 

 thing, and it is the exclusive object. All the 

 rest of the things that the Forest Service is 

 trying to do, tlie Land Office and the Geological 

 Survey are means to that 'end. If there are, and 

 there are certainly many acres of- land included 

 in forest reservations in the West, we are going 

 to call them national forests in the future, as 

 they have been so designated by Congress. The 

 Forest Service has no more eager desire than to 

 see (hat laud used for the making of a home; 

 that is the end of our existence. Every bit of 

 that land may be taken up on a showing that it 

 is adaptable to agriculture, for the making of a 

 home, and every bit of that land where it comes 

 in large enough bodies to make it possible, when 

 we ascertain It is suitable for agricultural pur- 

 poses, so far as the Forest Service has anything 

 to say, it will be exclusively offered for home- 

 stead entries. 



There is no other way of protecting the for- 

 ests from fire, except to have scattered through 

 that forest a lot of men whose interest it is 

 to prevent tires ; that is the first and most 

 desirable thing. We want settlers all through 

 the forest reserves everywhere. The idea that 

 these forests are lands withdrawn from use and 

 that the object is to keep men out is as dia- 

 metrically contrary to the fact as anything can 

 be. .We want the settler and his co-operation 

 and assistance in protecting the forests against 

 tire, against the taking of timber, and against 

 any other possible harm that might come to 

 t bein, and we propose to see, so far as the 

 Forest Service has anything to do with it, that 

 those lands are open for that use. 



When we pass outside of the boundaries of 

 the national forests then we come into direct 

 co-operation with your great work of making 

 homes, whether in the East or iu tlie West. It 

 is the supplies that the national forests are 

 going to furnish that will keep your business 

 going ultimately, and they will make it possible 

 to continue this great work of home making in 

 all sorts of ways all over the country. It is 

 one of the keenest sources of satisfaction to me 

 that we are working together along these lines. 

 A word as to the fact that the forest asso- 

 ciation controls a great deal of stumpage. It 

 does control several hundred million feet, but 

 -" nothing like so much as is controlled on the 

 outside, but nevertheless a very large amount. 

 It is perfectly obvious that the possession of 

 this vast amount of standing timber by the 

 government is going to have a steady effect on 

 prices and is going to prevent the cornering of 

 the product by any man or combination of men, 

 and is going to act very powerfully for the 

 general good. That we "all see will have a 

 very steadying effect — the possession of these 

 great areas of timber which will not be with- 

 drawn from use, but on the other hand put to 

 very vigorous use. During the past year we 

 have sold about a billion feet of standing timber 

 and we shall sell more of it in the next year. 

 This timber will be removed under restrictions 

 which will make the forests permanent. Nearly 

 all of it is in the western states. We have on 

 tile now applications for about two billion feet 

 from the northwestern states, Oregon and Wash- 

 ington. In the large pine districts we find we 

 could take in one place suppressed trees only 

 t wo inches in diameter and use them for lagging 

 in the mines. In other places it is impossible 

 to use anything except timber 16 and IS inches 

 in diameter. The Forest Service is trying to be 

 practical in everything of that kind. 



Gentlemen, that is about all that I wanted to 

 say, except to express once more my very great 

 satisfaction at being in co-operation with "a body 

 of men like this. If anybody will make a 

 motion — while I am not authorized to express 



