EDITORIAL 



421 



FOR THE GOOD OF THE FOREST 



T F a forest is kept at its highest productive capacity, 

 - practically all other ends will be attained. In the va- 

 rious discussions leading to policy and legislation this 

 basic fact is at times overlooked. For convenience separa- 

 tion is sometimes made into timber forests, protection 

 forests and other broad classes ; but if the prime end of 

 maximum wood production is kept in mind the forest as 

 such will be conserved and its greatest usefulness as- 

 sured. 



This thought is especially pertinent now when so much 

 is heard about devastation, the reclaiming of denuded 

 areas, and the perpetuation of forest growth on cut-over 

 lands. It applies with equal force to the Adirondack and 

 Catskill Forests of New York, where the protection of 

 water supply and recreation are given as reasons for 

 keeping state lands immune from cutting, and to the pri- 

 vate holdings of the South and West, where public wel- 

 fare requires the growing of successive timber crops on 

 lands unsuited for agriculture. 



The fire protection essential to any of these ends calls 

 for concerted action by both public and private interests ; 

 but the responsibility for succeeding or related steps is 

 not so clear. Between the theories of Federal and State 

 control and the advocacy of voluntary or compulsory 

 forest production on private land some middle ground 

 will be found, involving, it is to be hoped, an adjustment 

 and coirelation of the several interests concerned. 



The disturbing question is where the money is to come 

 from now and during the growing period. In the ulti- 

 mate settlement, the public will pay the bill, whether the 

 growing trees are financed with Federal, State or private 

 capital. It follows, then, that maximum wood produc- 

 tion, of desirable kind in the shortest time, will yield the 

 best return on the investment. For a long time invest- 

 ment must be made, not only as a future safeguard 

 against timber scarcity, but in an economic sense in the 

 use of capital for long periods. 



There is plenty of timber for today ; it is tomorrow's 

 supply which is at stake. The underlying economic basis 

 for all forestry agitation is the production of timber for 

 posterity on the reasonable assumption that the nation 

 will need wood for all time to come. As a scientific axiom 

 it is equally apparent that if forests are protected and 

 maintained for wood production they will at the same 

 time serve the various other purposes for which their 

 value is recognized. 



In the more direct application of this, it is apparent that 

 protection forests, such as are advocated, for example, 

 in parts of the Adirondacks, need not be limited to the one 

 use which would prevent the state from deriving a revenue 

 from these areas. Any cutting should, of course, be done 

 under very careful regulation and supervision, but start- 

 ing with the present over-mature forests, which are mak- 

 ing little if any net gain in wood volume because of slow 

 growth and loss from decay, the first step would be the re- 

 placement of the old growth as far as feasible with better 

 and more rapid growing trees. With this accomplished 



the upper slopes of primary value for protection purposes 

 would be managed so as to prevent denudation and ero- 

 sion; but at the same time utilize the timber crop as it 

 matures. Ample precedent for this is found in mountain 

 forest areas in Europe. 



On both public and private lands wherever located and 

 where the protection feature is not of importance, the 

 prime aim and object is to maintain a timber forest. The 

 recreation and game features are incidental, but are at- 

 tained as a matter of course. With fire protection, nature 

 largely assumes the task of reforesting lands from which 

 mature timber has been removed, and while in some re- 

 gions the natural reproductive capacity may not create a 

 new forest of the highest production nor of the most de- 

 sirable kind, only a relatively small amount of help is 

 needed to establish and maintain a productive forest. The 

 greatest public interest for he future may call for the 

 reforesting of the waste lands now entirely denuded oi 

 for forest planting where satisfactory naturii seeding 

 does not follow cutting, but while forest policies are in 

 the making and public sentiment is being crystallized, 

 the first and obvious step is to protect what we already 

 have, encourage natural forest growth in every way pos- 

 sible, and gradually as funds and machinery become 

 available increase the productivity of existing forest 

 lands while gradually bringing new areas under forest 

 cover. 



In whatever is done in creating public sentiment and 

 in passing legislation, it is important that facts not falla- 

 cies be promulgated. With all the good intentions in the 

 world the word "devastation" has been made a publicity 

 feature, yet without interpretation and explanation its 

 meaning may be entirely misunderstood. If it is devasta- 

 tion to cut a tree or a forest of trees, it is not clear how a 

 supply of lumber, pulpwood and other forest products is 

 to be obtained, and these are the things the public now 

 wants at low cost. If the good of the forest requires the 

 replacement of the over-mature stands with faster grow- 

 ing and more desirable species, the removal and utiliza- 

 tion of these old trees constitute devastation both to the 

 eye and as regards their complete removal. When these 

 terms are aimed at the lumbermen, as is usually the case, 

 misconception is created if only one side of the story is 

 told, and the broad and involved commercial factors ig- 

 nored. Equally fallacious is the popular idea of solving 

 the whole forest problem by planting two or three trees 

 for every one which is cut. Forestry as an art and science 

 must be applied with intelligence and in accordance with 

 physical conditions which vary not only by regions, but 

 almost property by property. The whole subject is too 

 big and too involved to be dismissed or solved with a few 

 slogans and scare headlines, or by legislation which does 

 not fully take into account the complex factors of the situ- 

 ation. The starting point is protection, followed by ra- 

 tional steps for the highest productivity in the forests we 

 have. 



