or serious lumber famine which is rapidly approaching. 



There are in Minnesota vast areas of idle land ; the 

 decreasing timber supply, rising cost of lumber and 

 increasing population, the increasing need of lumber 

 for building purposes, etc., are the vital factors that 

 confront the people of Minnesota. 



Lumbermen and foresters agree that within the 

 next twenty years, the great forests of the South will 

 be exhausted. This will throw thousands of wood 

 working plants' out of business and thousands of peo- 

 ple out of work. Must Minnesota, once the King of 

 the Pine producing states, suffer the same humiliation 

 just on account of not heeding the warning, and 

 profiting by the experience of others? 



The Eastern states have already recognized the 

 coming shortage and have begun purchasing lands 

 and reforesting them, as a protection against a future 

 timber famine. New York appropriates millions of 

 dollars every year to purchase lands for forests and 

 water supply. 



The matter of timber shortage in Minnesota affects 

 the country as a whole. If we do not contribute our 

 share to the country's supply of timber we are shirk- 

 ing our responsibility. We have exported timber 

 without reservation until now our forests cannot 

 supply us at home. We are consuming more than we 

 are producing, and at our present rate, the supply 

 will be short lived. The shortage of this crop cannot 

 be helped in one year, but requires from fifty to one 

 hundred years and nothing on earth can shorten that 

 period. Continued delay only makes the situation 

 more grave. 



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