Forest Resources and the Nation's Economy 



shipments of timber products probably 

 exceed truck shipments. 



In other ways, also, timber from 

 the forest influences industry and 

 trade. Electric power and rapid com- 

 munication depend on the 50 million 

 poles that support telephone, tele- 

 graph, and power lines. About 8 mil- 

 lion new poles are needed each year 

 for replacements and additional lines. 



Coal heats homes and factories, 

 powers industry, and moves trains. 

 Wooden mine props, ties, lagging, and 

 cribbing are essential to mining. 



The timber industries, themselves, 

 offer a substantial market for goods 

 and services. For example, manufac- 

 turers of logging and specialized wood- 

 working equipment and paper and 

 pulp machinery are wholly dependent 

 upon the timber supply. A substantial 

 volume of trucks, tractors, power gen- 

 erators, and a great variety of small 

 tools are also consumed. 



Another function of the forest, one 

 of the most important, is to supply 

 water by protecting watersheds. Prac- 

 tically all industry and trade depend, 

 in one way or another, on a supply of 

 water that is adequate in amount and 

 effectively controlled. 



Permanent and prosperous indus- 

 tries and communities need an ade- 

 quate water supply. Consumption is 

 enormous. For example, the five main 

 urban centers from Boston to Wash- 

 ington consume about 3.5 billion gal- 

 lons of water daily. Good management 

 of the forest cover at headwaters is 

 one way of protecting the source. 



In many parts of the West, water 

 shortages are potentially and actually 

 acute. As population and per capita 

 consumption of water increase, many 

 cities are going greater and greater 

 distances in search of water. San 

 Diego, Los Angeles, and San Fran- 

 cisco tap sources hundreds of miles 

 away, and spend large sums for reser- 

 voirs, aqueducts, and pumping sta- 

 tions. The headwaters of nearly all 

 lakes and rivers lie in forested areas. 



Supplying water to homes and 

 industry is the largest of municipal en- 



725 



terprises. In 1945, operating revenue 

 from water-supply systems in cities 

 that have populations of 25,000 or 

 more was 310 million dollars, or nearly 

 150 percent greater than operating ex- 

 penses. To the extent that such water 

 originates from forest land, municipal 

 water systems depend upon the forest. 



All but three States use power de- 

 veloped from streams. Manufacturing 

 industries in most sections partly de- 

 pend on hydroelectric power. In 29 

 States water power is also important 

 as a source of electric current for 

 homes and city lighting. Water is the 

 source of nearly one-fourth of the 

 country's electric-power capacity, yet 

 water power still undeveloped is capa- 

 ble of producing electric energy greater 

 than that now supplied by both fuel 

 and water. Good management of for- 

 est cover on upland watersheds is vital 

 to safeguarding power development. 



Conversion of stream flow to electric 

 energy creates a market for goods and 

 services by providing construction con- 

 tractors and producers and distribu- 

 tors of materials with millions of dol- 

 lars' worth of business. Dams built to 

 store water for power production rank 

 among the Nation's great engineering 

 feats. One of the latest, the 2,160-foot- 

 long earth and concrete Center Hill 

 Dam in north-central Tennessee, built 

 for hydroelectric-power production 

 and flood control and completed in 

 1948, cost the United States about 33 

 million dollars; the Grand Coulee Dam 

 in Washington cost more than 110 mil- 

 lion dollars. 



Rivers and lakes of the United States 

 are important media in the distribu- 

 tion of goods. Between 1938 and 1947, 

 freight commerce on the natural water- 

 ways averaged about 200 million tons 

 annually, more than 20 billion ton- 

 miles. Maintenance of an adequate 

 forest cover materially aids navigation 

 by retarding sedimentation, lessening 

 floods, and maintaining more stable 

 water levels. 



Another major function of the forest 

 is to produce forage in the form of 

 grasses, weeds, and shrubs under trees 



