FOREST RESEARCH AND THE WAR ' 



By Earle H. Clapp 

 Assistant Forester, U. S. Forest Service . 



The experience of the past year and a half in forest research has 

 shown that in many respects we were better prepared for war than we 

 knew. We had a background of twenty or more years, during which 

 we developed an organization and made a very considerable progress 

 in the formulation and solution of problems. A staff of experts was 

 developed on such questions concerning our forests as stand, distribu- 

 tion, and quality, on the economic and technical problems of produc- 

 tion, and on problems connected wath the mechanical, physical, and 

 chemical properties of wood and its conditioning and utilization for a 

 wide range of purposes. A nucleus was formed around which could 

 be built quickly and effectively an organization capable of whatever 

 expansion might be required. Results were being accumulated. To 

 those of us who have been in close touch with the situation, it is still 

 something of a surprise how completely all the data of past years have 

 been used and how often most of them. Where results were not ready 

 and could only become available through weeks and possibly months 

 of investigation, it was possible to turn for advice and immediate assist- 

 ance to experts whose knowledge and judgment have matured through 

 years of investigations. 



A better conception of the requirements of war-time research may 

 be secured by considering briefly the magnitude of the requirements 

 and the diversity of the use of forest products. England's limited 

 forest capital is largely depleted with the four years of war. A large 

 forest area in northern France is devastated or cleared and her annual 

 cut is anticipated for 20 years. Likewise Italy has so reduced her 

 limited forest capital that cutting for at least one decade and probably 

 two nmst be far below normal. We do not know definitely what has 

 happened in Germany or x\ustria, but through devastation or exploita- 

 tion the forests of an enormous area on the eastern front have been 

 wiped out. To aid in supplying the needs of the western front, Canada 

 sent specially organized forces to Britain and France for timber cut- 



* Delivered before the Society of American Foresters at its annual meeting, at 

 Baltimore, Md.. December 28, 1918. 



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