"What's the Matter with Wood Utilization" 



If I were to answer very briefly 

 your inquiry, "What's the matter 

 with Wood Utilization ?" I would 

 simply say, there is nothing the 

 matter with it. The Office here is 

 growing and we are rapidly 

 extending our work on practical 

 problems. Since I believe there is 

 something vitally wrong, however, 

 with wood utilization as it pertains 

 to the forest schools at present in 

 this country, 1 am going to take 

 the liberty of elaborating on the sec- 

 ond answer and of giving you, 

 unofficially, my views upon the sub- 

 ject in question. 



When we divide the subject of for- 

 estry in this country into the two 

 parts of "Forest Production," and 

 "Forest Consumption," we find that 

 the forest schools are very largely 

 devoting their instruction to subjects 

 dealing with the former division. 

 Only incidentally (to my knowledge) 

 are they giving instruction on the 

 subjects which would come under 

 the division of "Forest Consump- 

 tion." It would seem, therefore, that 

 they hold that the production of for- 

 ests, their management, etc., is mor? 

 important than the utilization of the 

 present ones. I am inclined to dis- 

 agree with this view, and to hold 

 strongly that it is much more impor 

 tant that we wisely use our present 

 resources than it is to provide for 

 the future, a view which is con- 

 curred in by many of the largest 

 lumbermen and wood-users in the 

 country. 



And why have not the schools 

 given the attention, it apparently 

 deserves, to the division of Forest 

 Consumption or Wood Utilization ? 

 Largely, I believe, because they have 

 had available neither the instructors 

 nor the facilities for carrying on 

 this branch o'f work. Men with a 

 recent and wide experience in the 

 utilization of wood .by the principal 

 industries, and with an intimate 

 knowledge of the latest practices in 

 the manufacture of both the m-iin 

 products and tl:c by-products from 

 wood, are verv scarce indeed. It is 



also doubtless true that very few 

 of the schools could have available 

 the rather expensive facilities neces- 

 sary for carrying on the demonstra- 

 tive part of this line of work. The 

 result is, that instruction in "For- 

 est Production," which is more eas- 

 ily carried on in the class-room and 

 on the forest farm, has been given 

 undue prominence and has taken 

 away much of the endeavor that 

 should have been directed toward the 

 other field. 



The signs of the times, however, 

 show that this "other field" the 

 field of wood utilization is goin^ 

 to be given more attention in the 

 future. The lumbermen are demand- 

 ing it; the Forest Service is givin > 

 more attention to it; and the forest 

 schools must soon take it up more 

 extensively. 



From the resolutions adopted by 

 the Hardwood Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation of the United States, it is 

 seen that the lumbermen are very 

 arxious not only that the Forest 

 Service devote more attention to 

 problems of wood utilization, but 

 that there be trained for their use, 

 young foresters who are capable of 

 intelligently attacking such problems. 



I also wish to point out another 

 important feature of this trend of 

 affairs. The field of work for the 

 foresters, which thus far have been 

 produced from the forest schools, 

 has been almost entirely in the For- 

 est Service, and in that part of the 

 Forest Service which is concerned 

 with the management of the National 

 Forests. The demand for this class 

 of students has very rapidly dimin- 

 ished in the past year and there is 

 now before the young forester the 

 problem of securing work in other 

 fields. The other field is that of 

 wood utilization, and the graduate 

 of the present type of forest schools 

 is pretty poorly equipped to take up 

 that kind of work. 



In conclusion, I desire to say that 

 I feel strongly that the forest school 

 of the University of Michigan should 

 pive serious consideration to includ- 

 ing in its curriculum decidedly 

 more instruction along the lines of 



