ADVANCEMENT OF FORESTRY 795 



is exactly what Wisconsin needs or is the form of organized effort 

 which will produce maximum results with a given expenditure of time 

 and funds. Such associations are hard to organize, hard to finance, 

 and may, if not properly administered, be more of an obstruction than 

 a help to constructive forestry and more of a handicap than anything 

 else to those officially in charge of forestry work in the State. Senti- 

 mental features are apt to be given a prominent place in such popular 

 associations at the expense of the fundamental economic consider- 

 ations. 



FORESTRY IS A MATTER OF BUSINESS 



Forestry is primarily a matter of business rather than of sentiment — 

 a "business necessity," as President Roosevelt pointed out in his 

 message to the 57th Congress. It is believed, therefore, that the 

 greatest progress can be accomplished in the shortest time if efforts 

 are devoted to organizing the business and economic interests of the 

 State into some effective means of promoting forestry as a strictly 

 business proposition which promises to return a profit to everybody 

 concerned. With increase in forest production this profit will come 

 in reduced taxes because of the profits from State forests, in increased 

 business due to lumbering operations, in decreased freight charges 

 on forest products, in more taxable wealth for the support of roads 

 and schools, in regulation of streamflow and conservation of water 

 resources, in increased property values and recreational values ,in 

 stabilized communities and manufacturing industries, and in lower 

 prices for forest products. 



The State cannot get along without wood and its economic prosper- 

 ity will demand cheap wood in abundance. The only way this wood 

 can be obtained eventually will be to grow it. Rut growing timber is 

 a slow process requiring at least 50 years. Our present supply of 

 timber if cutting continues at the present rate is estimated to last not 

 more than 20 years more. Jt is obvious that if our paper mills, our 

 furniture factories, our farms, and our cities are to have enough wood 

 after that 20-year supply is gone, steps must be taken immediately to 

 start a new crop of trees growing on at least part of that emj)ire of 

 iflle forest land which is larger than the whole State of Massachusetts. 



If this 5 milli(jn acres were stocked with thrifty young timber it 

 would be i)roducing a net annual yield of at least 300 board feet per 

 acre or ] ,50().000,000 feet per year. At the low stumpagc value of 



