36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



The Status of Forestry in the 



[The following article is taken from a circu- 

 lar entitled "The Status of Forestry in the 

 United States." by Treadwell Cleveland, Jr., 

 recently issued by the Forest Service. In this 

 issue IS considered merely what the federal 

 government is doing in forestry, as related by 

 Mr. Cleveland ; in a future number state and 

 private forestry will lie covered. This circular 

 treats of present conditions in forestry matters 

 so thoroughly that these articles should be of 

 interest to every timber land owner in the 

 country. — Editor. ] 



The Forest Situation 



A very few yeaj'S ago "forest conserva- 

 tion ' ' was little more tlian a phrase ; to-day 

 it is a vital issue in our national develop- 

 ment. In connection vi-itli the general plan 

 to conserve all natural resources, it is the 

 most important and far-reaching economic 

 policy ever adopted and pursued by any 

 nation. 



These things are bouud up with the prac- 

 tice of forestry because the forest is one of 

 the chief supports of the whole material 

 fabric of our civilization. The forest means 

 not only a permanent supply of wood and 

 the life of all the industries which depend 

 upon it, but also the control of the waters 

 for human use. There is only barrenness in 

 the future of the nation which has lost the 

 use of wood and the control of water. 



The sort of use that was made of natural 

 resources during the pioneering stage, while 

 right enough at the time, is far too waste- 

 ful to be carried on into the new industrial 

 era. In order to know how to use a thing, 

 however, it is necessary first to find out how 

 much of it there is to use, and taking stock 

 of our forest resources has led to startling 

 results. 



It has shown that we are still destroying 

 the forest as we use it; that we are taking 

 from it every year three and a half times as 

 much wood as is added by the new growth. 

 It has shown that less than one-third of the 

 growing tree felled by the lumberman is ever 

 used at all, so that two-thirds of all the 

 timber cut is simply destroyed. It has 

 shown that one-eleventh of all the forests are 

 swept by fires every year, and that on the 

 average since 1S70 forest fires have yearly 

 cost $50,000,000 in timber and 50 lives. It 

 has shown that over 99 per cent of the 

 forests in private hands — which comprise 

 three-fourths of all the forest land and four- 

 fifths of all the wood — is thus devastated by 

 destructive use and the scourge of unchecked 

 fires, while less than 1 per cent is properly 

 handled for successive crops or effectively 

 protected from fire. The forest as a resource 

 is rapidly being obliterated. 



It is not use which destroys the forests, 

 but waste. Not use as such, but destructive 

 use, combined with inexcusable neglect, is 

 causing the forests to dwindle under our 

 progressive demands upon them. The prob- 

 lem, therefore, is not to be solved by disuse, 

 but by wise use and protection. These to- 

 gether will so stimulate forest growth that 

 the needed wood may be harvested without 

 depleting the stock on hand, and will keep 



intact the protective cover at the stream 

 sources. 



In waste alone we reject more than two- 

 thirds of the lumber that might be taken 

 from the standing trees. At least half of 

 this waste is unnecessary. In the first place, 

 we waste the forest by refusing to take ad- 

 vantage of its full capacity for growth. 

 Protected and properly managed, our for- 

 ests will produce far more wood than they 

 do at present. But while it is wasteful to 

 cripple the forest by a violent lumbering 

 which destroys young growth — the promise 

 of the future forest — it is doubly wasteful 

 to lock up the forest and let the ripe timber 

 lUe and decay, for in the former case the 

 forest at least contributes a temporary sup- 

 ply of wood, whereas in the latter case it 

 contributes no wood at all. 



What the Nation Is Doing 



The National Forests 



Congress authorized the President to es- 

 tablish National Forests in 1891. They were 

 called "forest reserves" then, and in fact 

 they were "reserves," for Congress did not 

 at that time make provision for the use of 

 their great resources, which are estimated 

 to be worth over $2,000,000,000. A law was 

 passed in 1897, however, which made it pos- 

 sible to use and to protect their resources. 

 To give them a name in better accord with 

 their object, the ' ' reserves ' ' were renamed 

 "National Forests" by Congress in 1907. 

 Now there are nearly 195,000,000 acres of 

 National Forests, including about 27,000.000 

 acres in Alaska and Porto Eico. 



The object of the administration of the 

 National Forests is to use them in such a 

 way that they will yield all their resources 

 to the fullest extent without exhausting 

 them, for the benefit primarily of the home 

 builder. The controlling policy is serving 

 the public while conserving the forests. 



'lue administration of the forests by men 

 actually on the ground is secured by group- 

 ing the 150 forests in 6 districts, with head- 

 quarters, in the districts, at Missoula, Den- 

 ver, Albuquerque, Ogden, San Francisco, and 

 Portland. This arrangement also guarantees 

 dispatch in business and prompt payments. 

 Only matters of exceptional importance are 

 referred to the Forester, in Washington. 

 district offices 



Each of the district offices has at its head 

 a district forester and an assistant district 

 forester. A chief of grazing has charge of 

 range matters. A chief of products handles 

 the preservative treatment and strength tests 

 of timber, and studies market conditions, A 

 chief of silviculture has charge of timber 

 sales, planting, and silvical experiments. A 

 chief of operation supervises the personnel of 

 the forests; the permanent improvement 

 work, through an engineer in charge; the 

 accounts of the district; and the routine 

 business. The Forest Service never passes 



United States 



on the land titles themselves; this matter 

 rests always with the General Land Office of 

 the Department of the Interior. 



Each of the chiefs and assistant chiefs of 

 office spends about half of his time in the 

 field on forest work. 



Following is the number of forest officers 

 on duty on December 31. 1908: 



Supervisors 106 



Deputy forest .supervisors 70 



Forest assistants 117 



Forest planting assistants 11 



Lumbermen 17 



Forest rangers 188 



Deputy forest rangers 420 



Assistant forest rangers 413 



Forest guards 151 



Total 1,493 



Xatioxai, Forest Business 



The growth of the timber sale and grazing 

 business of the National Forests during 1908 

 was remarkable. 



During that year timber to the amount of 

 386,384,000 board feet was sold in 5,062 

 separate sales. Of these sales 4,584 were 

 made for timber valued at $100 or less. 



The uses to which the resources of the 

 forests are put are classified as follows: 

 (1) Timber sales, (2) free use of timber, 

 (3) grazing, and (4) special uses, the most 

 important of which is the development of 

 water. 



timber sales 

 All timber within the National Forests 

 which can be cut safely, and for which there 

 is actual need, is for sale. Green timber 

 may be sold except where its removal would 

 make a second crop doubtful, reduce the 

 timber supply below the point of safety, or 

 injure the streams. The limited supply on 

 some forests prevents sales except for local 

 use. All dead timber is for sale. 



FREE use of timber 



Forest officers are authorized to grant per- 

 mits without charge for $20 worth of timber 

 during any one\ear to persons who may not 

 reasonably be required to purchase. This 

 amount may be increased in cases of great 

 and unusual need, or to assist enterprises of 

 a public or benevolent character. Under 

 these regulations timber is taken from every 

 National Forest for fuel, fencing, and build- 

 ing material required by settlers, for mining 

 timbers needed in developing mineral claims, 

 and for such community uses as the con- 

 struction and maintenance of schools, 

 churches, and bridges. More than 30,714 

 free-use permits were issued in 1908, in 

 which year about one-fourth of all the tim- 

 ber cut from the National Forests was under 

 free-use iiermits. 



grazing 

 In the National Forests grazing is regu- 

 lated in the interest of the stockmen, who 

 pay for permits. The leading objects of the 

 grazing regulations are: (1) The protection 

 and conservative use of all National Forest 

 land adapted for grazing; (2) the permanent 



