Forestry and the Lumber Business. 



i65 



Michigan, are no longer operated, bo«>ati>*o 

 there are no more logH to saw. While 

 the output hatt declineii in the Lake 

 States, It haH rapidly inrroafoil, )>ecauM of 

 the hiiilding of now inillN, in the South 

 and WeHt, ho thut the a^rt^regate produc- 

 tion of the country huN Ih'imi growing. The 

 cenRUM roportH nhow the following lumber 

 production of the United HtatOH in re- 

 cent years: 



1904 34,135,139,000 feet. 



•1906 37,5r,0,730,OOO " 



1907 40,250,154,000 ' ' 



1908 33,224,369,000 " 



1909 44,585,000,000 ' ' 



The Panic of 1907. 



The declino in tho production during 

 1908 was duo to tho financial dopreHsion 

 following tho nionoy stringency of the la.Ht 

 quarter of 1907. Tho eniro lumber indus- 

 try has boon marking time since tha,t 

 panic. It is ono of tho very fow businesses 

 which have not fully recovered from tho 

 effects of the decline in prices suffered at 

 that time. But it is significant that while 

 the prices of lumber declined, the prices 

 of standing timber did not. Partly as a 

 conso'iuonco of tho completion of new mills 

 under way, the total production of lumber 

 in 1909 was the largest in the history of 

 the nation. 



Conservative Lumbering. 



There is every reason to believe that the 

 lumber production of the country has about 

 roachotl its maximum. If generally favor- 

 able business conditions are to continue for 

 a few years, it is evident that, with the 

 decline in tho output, the lumber business 

 will soon enter upon the third stage of 

 its development, namely, the adoption of 

 conservative methods of handling timber. 

 It is, therefore, easy to see why lumbermen 

 are coming to realize that something must 

 be done if their business is to bo prolonged 

 indefinitely. As long as the prices of lum- 

 ber have barely covered cost of produc- 

 tion, as has been the case with the great 

 majority of manufacturers since 1907, no 

 thought whatever can be given to forestry 

 methods. Lumbermen know that timber 

 products are indisj^ensable to our civiliza- 

 tion and that they can continue to be manu- 

 factured and consumed in tho present 

 volume but a few years at l)est. 



When in the course of natural event" 

 prices of stumpage have risen to the pro- 

 per basis, other conditions being favorable, 

 scientific forestry will surely be adopted by 

 lumbermen. They are too intelligent busi- 

 ness men not to undertake those methods 

 which will jwrpetuate their supplies of rav 

 material and prolong thoir business. If 

 forestry cannot be undertaken with profit- 

 able results it cannot be considered at all 

 by private individuals, as they cannot \m 

 'expected to conduct a work of this kind at 



a loss to themselves, no matter bow much 

 thejr may i>« prompted by sentiment or re- 

 gard for future generations. The price of 

 lumber muMt reat-h a {Kiint where it will 

 pay to grow trees or foreatrj eaonot b« 

 thought of. The time when forectry ran 

 be reriouxlv considered as a business pro- 

 position, therefore, de|>ends entirely uiioD 

 the dc\'clopmcnt of eeonomie conditions. 

 It is to help them hasten these conditions 

 that Itimbermon wt.. appeal to the forest- 

 ers. Hence, the interests of the lumber- 

 men and the foresters in working to this 

 end are mutuaL 



First Steps in Forest Ifanagement 



Aside from the present ina4lc<|uate value 

 of stumpage, the two great obstacles to 

 forestry are, as you know, fire and taxa- 

 tion. When these problems are solved, the 

 field for forestry will be open in America. 

 If tho professional forester is looking to- 

 ward a vocation in economic forestry, out- 

 side of tho Oovernmcnt service, he must 

 first address himself to the task of sub- 

 duing forest fires. 



A field which promises some opportuni- 

 ties for trailed foresters in the immediate 

 future is in the service of the States. A 

 number of the Utate Legislatures are at 

 this time considering the establishment of 

 State forestry work which will require the 

 services of technically trained men. This 

 work will be confined very largely at first 

 to fire prevention, particularly in the Lake 

 and far Western States. These states them- 

 selves own vast areas of timber, for whidli 

 improved protection from fires will be de- 

 manded as it increases in value. 



The first concern of the State foresters 

 will be the organization of efficient patrol 

 systems, with all that that invoh'es, namelj, 

 securing the co-operation of private tim- 

 l)€r owners, educating the public by word 

 and pen with regard to its interest in the 

 forest — the fact that forest wealth is com- 

 munity wealth — impressing every citizen 

 with the fact that every tree which burns 

 is a direct loss to him. The work of creat- 

 ing a healthy public sentiment in favor of 

 larger State legislative appropriations for 

 the prote(*tion and management of forests 

 will devolve upon the foresters. The enor- 

 mous losses by forest fires in the past year 

 have put the public mind in a more favor- 

 able attitude for advanced work along this 

 line than it has ever been before. It has 

 become recognized that the State should 

 not only insure its own property from loss, 

 but that it owes its citizens the protection 

 of their lives and property as well. No one 

 can do more to impress tiiis fact upon peo- 

 ple than the foresters, because when the 

 timber owner announces any such propa- 

 ganda his motives are immediately ques- 

 tioned. The ]woplc will recognize the for- 

 ester as a man qualified to speak and 

 speak unselfishlj. 



