334 



PLANTS AND MAN 



sawtimber. From these figures may be gained some idea of man's 

 depletion of the forest areas easily within his reach (fig. 229). 

 Perhaps it was a far sighted deity that placed the nations store- 

 house of timber in the most inaccessible regions ! At the present 

 time successful eff"orts are being made to utilize more fully, and 

 wisely, these timber resources, and many of our once flourishing 

 eastern timber lands which through unwise use had been reduced 

 to a non-productive status, are being rebuilt as productive areas, 

 thus insuring to the population of the east a readily accessible 

 and economical source of wood. The cries of "timber famine," 

 raised by some of the early leaders of forest conservation in order 

 to arouse public sentiment, have been regarded with scorn by 



i-l620 



VIRGIN FORESTS-I926 



Fig. 229. — Original forest area and present forest area of the United States. 

 1620-1926. {Courtesy U. S. Forest Service.) 



some individuals, but it seems to have been the alarm that awak- 

 ened a public, now conservation-minded, to the fact that their 

 "forest budget" was badly out of balance. Having thus examined 

 our forest areas and the need for perpetuating them, let us now 

 look into some of the methods necessary to insure standing timber 

 for future generations of Americans. 



Reproducing the Forest 



Forests, if properly cared for, will reproduce themselves 

 naturally (fig. 230). It often happens, however, that ruthless 

 and unwise lumbering practices leave a forest in a non-produc- 

 tive condition. If such a forest is in an accessible area where 

 timber is valuable, or if the presence of a forest growth is vital 

 from the standpoint of watershed protection and erosion control, 



