Cutting on National Forests of Pacific Coast. 379 



(i) Is cutting needed for local industries^ Instead of the 

 absence of other industries being a reason for not cutting timber 

 on the Forests in this region, it is on the contrary, a strong reason 

 for encouraging cutting to take place. The local population is 

 chiefly dependent on the lumber industry. In some cases towns 

 have been established within or near the National Forests on 

 account of hoped for mining development; in others, on account 

 of the lumber industry itself. In many of these cases the mining 

 industry has failed to develop satisfactorily, and the population 

 must fall back on the lumber industry. It is evident, therefore, 

 that these towns are dependent entirely on the lumber industry, 

 and that its failure will necessitate the removal of the local resi- 

 dents, with a consequent abandonment of the homes which have 

 been created, and the destruction of much capital. Hence, where 

 a population dependent on agriculture could remain and secure 

 such lumber as is needed from outside sources, if necessary, in 

 the case of the population dependent on the lumber industry 

 the homes of the people are dependent on a timber supply and 

 hence on cutting from the National Forests if other timber has 

 been exhausted. No further argument should be necessary to 

 show that cutting is often even more essential in this region than 

 in other National Forest regions. Where no development has 

 taken place as yet none can take place until cutting of timber 

 begins. The only important bearing aside from this, that the 

 lack of sufficient local consumption to utilize the local timber 

 supply has, is its bearing on the size of sales. Since it is wholly 

 unnecessary to restrict the use of the National Forests here to 

 local consumption, as is the case in some poorly timbered regions, 

 sales of such size as will economically supply timber for export 

 to other parts of the United States should, on the contrary, be 

 encouraged. Horse logging and small mills wasteful in operation 

 cannot do this. 



(2) Effect of Withholding Cutting from the National 

 Forests on the Future Timber Supply. Since governments 

 should provide equally for the present, the immediate future, and 

 the distant future, no system of forest management other than an 

 approximately sustained annual yield management can, for a 

 moment, be considered. It can easily be shown that if the 

 National Forests are to be handled on a substantial annual yield 

 basis, neither the immediate nor the distant future can be bene- 



