FOREST DEVASTATION !) 1 5 



always furnish the bulk of the Nation's timber supply. It is these 

 privately owned forests which are being devastated. It is their devas- 

 tation which must be stopped. 



Although they insist that they are essential to the safety and pros- 

 perity of the Nation, the forest industries have taken no steps to m- 

 sure their own perpetuation, have made no effort to put an end to 

 forest devastation, and have persistently avoided all responsibility for 

 maintaining a dependable supply of forest products. 



In its own behalf, and for its own protection, the public must inter- 

 vene. Further delay will merely aggravate the situation. 



The action required is obvious : forest devastation must be stopped : 

 lands now in forest must be kept continuously productive ; forest lands 

 now devastated and idle must be put to work. 



Specific means to these ends are here proposed. 



THE FOREST SITUATIOX 



AN .\DEQUATE SUPPLY OF FOREST PRODUCTS IS ESSENTIAL TO THE SAFETY AND 

 PROSPERITY OF THE NATION 



A large and accessible supply of forest products is as essential to the 

 national defense as coal, steel, or transportation. The workings of coal 

 and metal mines are supported by wooden props ; the best steel is 

 made from metal smelted with charcoal ; railroads run upon wooden 

 ties. There is not one item in the list of indispensable munitions of 

 v.-ar which does not involve the use of forest products. 



The same is true of the requirements of peace. Every peace-time 

 industry is dependent in some degree upon a supply of forests prod- 

 ucts. Food, clothing, and shelter of every kind require wood for their 

 production. No wood, no agriculture, no manufacture, no commerce. 

 Without the products of the forest, civilization as we know it would 

 stop. In peace as in war the safety and prosperity of our country 

 hangs upon a steady and generous supply of materials which the forest 

 alone can produce. 



A TIMBER SHORTAGE ALREADY EXISTS IN THE UNITED STATES AND IS RAPIDLY 



BECOMING ACUTE 



We are in the early stage of a timber shortage, which for many 

 3ears must continue to grow worse. 



The forests of the Northeast have been so reduced as to supply but a 

 fraction of the region's needs. Pulp-wood, for example, has become 

 so scarce that many of our mills depend upon Canadian forests, which 



