922 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



Forest devastation has been so long continued and is so widespread 

 that in the eastern half of the United States alone 100 million acres 

 have been changed from rich forests into idle wastes. This is an area 

 three times that of Pennsylvania or five times greater than Iowa. 

 That fire must follow lumbering is accepted by lumbermen as a matter 

 of course. That is one reason why forest devastation continues un- 

 abated and the area of idle forest land is constantly and enormously 

 increased. 



Forest devastation has created the present shortage in forest prod- 

 ucts. It is responsible for our tremendous deficit in growing timber, it 

 has thrown great regions into virtual bankruptcy, and it has generated 

 labor troubles of dangerous proportions. 



To cut and use mature timber is necessary and right ; to devastate the 

 forest is wrong and needless, and it must be stopped. It is wholly 

 practicable to harvest the ripe timber of a forest without forcing the 

 land into long years of useless idleness. 



If destroying the forest to make way for farms may once have 

 been necessary, if ruining the forest by lumbering may once have 

 seemed expedient, it is now neither necessary nor expedient. Forest 

 devastation has long been an unmitigated evil ; today it threatens our 

 national safety and undermines our industrial welfare. Lumbering 

 must continue ; forest devastation must stop. 



WHOLLY ADEQUATE EVIDENCE AS TO THE SITUATION IS NOW AVAILABLE 



We know enough about forest conditions in the United States to 

 act without delay. Evidence has been piling up for 30 years and more. 

 Within the last 1 years repeated and elaborate Government investiga- 

 tions have covered almost every phase of the forest industries. These 

 investigations have been conducted by many different official bodies 

 and for varying purposes, but whatever the agency and whatever the 

 purpose, the final reports confirm each other as to the basic facts. 



The basic facts are these : 



1. The United States is the world's greatest timber consumer. 



2. The bulk of all our standing timber is privately owned. 



3. The privately owned forests have been and are being devastated. 



4. The acreage of idle forest lands is already enormous and is 

 rapidly increasing. 



5. A timber shortage has already developed. 



6. The timber shortage will soon become more acute. 



7. The timber shortage is due to forest devastation. 



