FUR CULTURE ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



By Smith Riley 



Forester for Rock Creek Park, Washington, D. C. 



The Federal Government has been entrusted with the responsibiHty 

 of protecting and bringing to their highest Use 156 miUion acres of 

 pubHc forest land in this Nation. The protection, culture, and use of 

 the trees, of course, is the first purpose. However, when full consid- 

 eration is given to the variety of the types embraced in these reserva- 

 tions, it will readily be seen that the possibility of cultural use covers 

 an enormous field. Obviously, in the establishment of reservations to 

 cover certain types of land, full recognition must be given to the place 

 these lands occupy in national use and no opportunity should be lost 

 to have them do their part in economic production. 



There are many uses to which lands producing trees can be put 

 without interfering with the principal purpose. Such production may 

 be considered as by-products from the forest lands and while consid- 

 ered in this capicity it may take its place as no small feature of the 

 lands production as a whole. 



It has been said that the demand for fur has existed since primitive 

 man sought skins to shield his body from the cold. This demand is 

 fundamental and will endure while man inhabits the earth and furs 

 are to be had. Its strength can be judged by the volume of trade it 

 supports. In 1913 the dressed and manufactured furs imported into 

 the United States were valued at more than $15,000,000. North 

 America furs annually marketed in the United States and England 

 have an approximate value of $f)0,000,000. These figures show the 

 commercial importance of fur, and in addition to this the fur trade 

 furnishes a livelihood for many thousands of workers in the factories 

 and stores of the country. 



The fur resources of the United States have been destructively used 

 throughout the whole life of the Nation. In the history of the fur 

 trade there is not one instance of constructive action looking to the 

 building up of this valuable resource. In Chittenden's accounts of 

 the far western trade he repeatedly refers to the detrimental results in 

 the destructive '^lethods employed in the development of the trade. 

 S94 



