MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



FOREST RESOURCES OF 



THE UNITED STATES 



(By R. S. Kellogg, Forest Service.) 



The forest area of the United States is es- 

 timated at 500 to 700 million acres. The 

 amount of merchantable timber standing upon 

 this area is estimated at from 1,400 billion to 

 2,000 billion feet. Our estimates of both the 

 forest area and the amount of standing timber 

 are very deficient, but we are fairly certain 

 that the quantities do not exceed the maxi- 

 mum given. Five groups of states embrace 

 the naturally timbered areas of the country: 

 The Northeastern States, the Southern States, 

 the Lake States, the Rock Mountain States, 

 and the Pacific States. Of these groups the 

 Rocky Mountain and Pacific are occupied by 

 forests in which practically all of the timber 

 producing trees are conifers or hardwoods, 

 while in the other three groups, both conifer 

 and hardwoods occur. A very large propor- 

 tion of the original stand of timber in the 

 Northeastern and Lake States has already 

 been cut. In the Northeastern States partic- 

 ularly cutting at the present time consists 

 largely of second-growth timber, with the 

 exception of the sprue in Maine. The South- 

 ern States all contain much virgin timber, of 

 which yellow pine is the most abundant, but 

 it is being cut at a rapid rate. So far the 

 drains upon the Rocky Mountain and Pacific 

 forests have been much less than upon the 

 eastern forests, and it is from these regions 

 that much of our future timber supply must 

 come. 



The present drains upon the forests in the 

 United States are exceedingly heavy. The 

 output and value at the point of production 

 of all kinds of forest products in 1906 is con- 

 servatively estimated as shown in the follow- 

 ing table: 



Output of Forest Products. 

 Annual output of forest products in the 

 United States: 



Quantity. Value. 



Lumber ft. B. M.. 40,000,000,000 $ 650,000,000 

 Firewood cords .. 100,000,000 350,000,000 

 Shingles and lath.. 37,000,000 



Hewed cross-ties 



number 78,000,000 35,000,000 



Cooperage stock.... 32,000,000 



Gum turpentine and 



rosin 25,000,000 



Pulp wood cords.. 3,000,000 15,000,000 

 Tamarack and ex- 

 tract 10,500,000 



Telegraph and tele- 

 phone poles 4,000,000 9,000,000 



Round mine tim- 

 bers cu. ft 170,000,000 7,500,000 



Timber exported 



(unsawed) 5,000,000 



Wood used for dis- 

 tillation Cords . 1,200,000 3,500,000 

 Wood used for 



veneer ft. B. M. 350,000,000 3,000,000 



Maple sugar and 



syrup 2,500,000 



Posts, poles and 



other products... 15,000,000 



Total $1,200,000,000 



Lumber Used Recklessly. 



It is interesting to note in this connection 

 that the per capita lumber consumption an- 

 nually in the United States is about 450 board 

 feet, while that of Europe is but 60 board 

 feet. Up to the present time in the United 

 States, with a few notable exceptions, we have 

 treated timber in the same reckless manner 

 as we have all other products of the earth. 

 Originally it was an incumbrance on the 

 ground which must, in many cases, be re- 

 moved before ordinary agriculture could be- 

 gin. The time has now arrived, however, 

 when, unless we institute orompt and far- 

 reaching measures to prevent it, a serious 



timber shortage will be upon us. The annual 

 production of lumber in the United States 

 has increased but little more than 7 per cent 

 in the last seven years. On the other hand, 

 the production of Portland cement has in- 

 creased over 700 per cent in the same length 

 of time; that of pig iron has almost doubled, 

 and the value of the stone output has grown 

 nearly 90 per cent. The fact that we still re- 

 quire large quantities of timber, despite these 

 substitutes, is most clearly demonstrated by 

 the course of lumber prices in recent years. 

 According to the statistics of the Bureau of 

 Labor, the average rise in the prices of all 

 commodities during the past ten years has 

 been 36 per cent, while at the same time the 

 rise in the price of the leading kinds of lum- 

 ber on the New York market in the same 

 period has been over 70 per cent. 



Using Up Our Forest Capital. 



It is probable that under the present condi- 

 tions of abuse and neglect, the annual growth 

 of the forests of the United States does not 

 exceed one-third of the annual cut. No one 

 doubts for an instant that we are rapidly us- 

 ing up our forest capital. Comparing our 

 best estimates of timber consumption with 

 those of timber growth and stand, we find 

 that an exhaustion of our original timber is 

 indicated in 20 to 30 years. This does not 

 mean of course that 20 to 30 years hence we 

 shall have no timber, but it does unquestion- 

 ably mean that at that time the best of our 

 timber will be almost entirely gone, and that 

 we shall then be depending upon second- 

 growth timber and upon timber which was left 

 when the original cut took place. 



Every indication points to the fact that 

 under the present condition the maximum an- 

 nual yield of forest products for the country 

 as a whole has been reached, and that within 

 a comparatively short time there must perforce 

 be a marked decrease in the output. With 

 this decrease there must come a radical ad- 

 justment to changed conditions on the part 

 of many of the wood-using industries. 



Role Michigan Forests Have Played. 

 In this connection it is interesting to note 

 the role which the forests of Michigan have 

 played in the lumber industry. For more 

 than twenty years Michigan was the leading 

 lumber-producing state of the Union, and it 

 has been estimated that the total amount of 

 pine lumber cut exceeded 160 billion feet. 

 These are figures which pass comprehension 

 until they are translated into more familiar 

 terms. The quantity of lumber which they 

 represent would fill ten million ordinary 

 freight cars, which, coupled together, would 

 make a train 7,500 miles long. In another 

 form, this amount of lumber would make a 

 board walk 5 feet wide and two inches thick 

 3 million miles long, or sufficient to reach 

 one hundred and twenty times around the 

 earth at the Equator. Again, it would make 

 a vast plank way one mile wide and 2 inches 

 thick, stretching across the continent from 

 New York to San Francisco. In still another 

 form, the 160 billion feet of pine lumber 

 which Michigan has given to the world would 

 furnish the lumber, lath, shingles and all wood 

 work for 10 million six-room houses, capable 

 of comfortably housing over half the present 

 population of the United States. The value 

 of this quantity of lumber at the point of 

 production was not less than 2 billion dollars, 

 or 50 per cent more than has been added to 

 the wealth of the Nation by the gold fields 

 of California since their discovery in 1848. 



Economic Importance of White Pine. 



The economic importance of the white pine 

 of Michigan in the national development can 

 scarcely be over-estimated. In the earlier 

 days, besides supplying local demands, it went 

 south and east along the lakes to Cleveland. 

 Buffalo and Tonawanda, thence to be distrib- 

 uted to thousands of consumers. Later the 

 tide swung westward. Chicago became an 

 immense distributing point, and the flood of 



white pine lumber spread out over the prairies 

 and the plains, furnising cheap and comfort- 

 able homes to the new settlers of the treeless 

 regions. In fact, it may be truthfully said, 

 that had it not been for the white pine, the 

 settlement of the great Central West would 

 have been seriously retarded for many years. 

 Everything in the house, from studding to 

 doors, window frames and shingles, was of 

 white pine, which could be obtained reason- 

 ably at the nearest railway station. Without 

 this cheap and abundant supply of lumber, the 

 homes of the early settlers must of necessity 

 have been far inferior to what they were, 

 and it would have been impossible for the 

 farmer and the village mechanic to build 

 their homes at a relatively small cost. And 

 today, when we can see the signs of an ap- 

 proaching timber famine in the United States, 

 the political economist is quick to note that 

 one of the most far-reaching effects will be 

 the increased cost of home-building, and the 

 consequent tendency toward landlordism and 

 concentration of ownership. 



Exploitation- of the White Pine. 



The exploitation of white pine in Michigan 

 began during the 30's, though it is reported 

 that a small mill was operating at Mackinaw 

 in 1780. The Saginaw Valley first became 

 prominent in the production of pine lumber, 

 and it was at Saginaw in 1834, that the first 

 steam saw mill in the state was erected, to be 

 followed two years later by a mill at Alpena. 

 It was not until toward the close of the 50s, 

 however, that the lumber centers which later 

 reached such great importance, became estab- 

 lished. Of the various pine-producing regions 

 of the state, the Saginaw Valley ranked first, 

 being crediteed with nearly one-fifth of the 

 total cut of white pine in Michigan since lum- 

 bering began. The Muskegon district came 

 close on the heels of the Saginaw Valley reg- 

 ion in point of importance, and it, in turn, was 

 followed by the Green Bay district. Now, 

 however, little but stumps, brush and sti etches 

 of sand greet the eye where once flourished 

 the vast pineries of the Southern peninsula. 

 The northern peninsula has almost the entire 

 monopoly of the small quantity of white pine 

 still standing in the state, and a few big mills 

 are steadily cutting away at it. 



Michigan Supplied Nation's Demand. 



The nation asked for timber, and Michigan 

 supplied it. In doing so she swept her pine 

 forests clean, and what the lumbermen left 

 was in many cases devoured by hungry fire. 

 Then the tax collector came. The lumber- 

 men refused to pay taxes on the apparently 

 worthless residue, and today we have one- 

 sixth of the state of Michigan on the delin- 

 quent tax list, an area of 6 million acres 

 which is now a source of expense to the state, 

 but which, if rightly managed at first, would 

 have brought in a steady income. At this 

 late day the people are beginning to realize 

 that even this cut-over and burned land has 

 a value, if properly handled. And so, it is 

 being set aside in forest reservations, where 

 through slow and patient effort a white pine 

 forest will again gradually appear. There is 

 no reason to doubt that when this forest is 

 reproduced it will supply a great need for 

 white pine timber and be a source of revenue 

 to the state. 



The Twentieth Century Movement. 



In the years to come, historians will prob- 

 ably record the fact that the most important 

 and far-reaching movement begun early in 

 the Twentieth century was that for the con- 

 servation of our natural resources our for- 

 ests, our minerals, our public lands and our 

 streams. We are coming to the realization 

 that these great natural assets, which are the 

 foundation of our splendid material develop- 

 ment, are exhaustible, and most of them ir- 

 replaceable. When all the coal is taken from 

 a mine, no coal appears there again, and noth- 

 ing is left but a useless hole in the ground. 



