AMERICAN FORESTRY 



47 



FOR CAMPAIGN FOR FOREST POLICY 



ing is belated. Even under the best forestry 

 it takes from 50 to 100 years to mature 

 a timber crop. If the American people 

 half a century ago had recognized the need 

 of conservation and replenishment as they 

 do now, and had united in forwarding 

 an efficient plan constantly to provide new 

 timber, there would now be no cause to 

 fear a prospective lumber and paper famine 

 in the nation. 



But the country did not look ahead. The 

 consumption of lumber is more than three 

 times its growth, advises the American 

 Forestry Association. The prediction is 

 that saw lumber will be gone in 50 years 

 except out here in the North- 

 west. Only one-fifth of the 

 nation's original forests remain. 

 The bulk of (that is in the 

 Pacific Northwest. 



According to compilations 

 announced this week by the 

 District Forest Service at Port- 

 land there is left 30475,000 

 acres of commercial timber in 

 the private and national for- 

 ests of Washington and Ore- 

 gon. It is estimated that 

 Washington State alone is 

 cutting between 5,000,000.000 

 and 6,000,000,000 feet annually. 

 Of the total area of standing 

 timber in the two States, 15.- 

 047,000 acres is under private 

 ownership and 15.428,000 acres 

 under federal control. This 

 stand of merchantable timber 

 represents 745,000,000,000 feet. 

 The original forest area of 

 both States was 48,000.000 

 acres, with 4.330.000 acres hav- 

 ing been logged-off and 7,500.- 

 000 acres destroyed by fire. The 

 annual area being cut over at 

 present is estimated at 260.000 

 acres. The American Fores- 

 try Association is urging fed- 

 eral and State legislation and 

 the co-operation of timber owners, wood- 

 using industries and individuals to assure 

 ample timber land in the future. The eco- 

 nomic welfare of the nation requires bet- 

 ter protection of our forests and the re- 

 forestation of devastated timber land. 



valuable part of the standing timber, is 

 cut five and a half times as rapidly as it 

 grows. The price of lumber, therefore, 

 has'risen far out of proportion to the gen- 

 eral increase of prices ; and yet this in- 

 crease has itself been enormous. 



The situation has come home to every 

 American. The manufacturer, the farmer 

 and the builder feel the shortage and ex- 

 pensiveness of lumber. The shortage of 

 houses throughout the country is mainly 

 owing to the scarceness and the extreme 

 cost of lumber, laths and shingles. The 

 scantness in the supply of woodpulp is felt 

 in the price of books, periodicals, paper 



to supply the nation for centuries. Fore- 

 sight and care will finally cause lumber 

 to become a comparatively cheap article 

 again. But waste lands must be planted 

 and tended scientifically. Private owners 

 must be made to understand that their 

 forests are not bonanzas to be exploited 

 and abandoned, but properties that can and 

 should be made to yield yearly dividends 

 forever. 



The great forests that are gone can not 

 be replaced. But conservation of those 

 that exist and planting forests on unde- 

 veloped areas can assure us of a permanent 

 if restricted supply in the future. 



SEEMINGLY UNIMPORTANT, BUT DANGEROUS ENEMIES 



Spokane Spokesman-Review: American 

 forests are destroyed four times faster 

 than new forests are grown. This is not 

 the statement of an alarmist or amateur. 

 It is the measured declaration of that re- 

 sponsible and official organization known 

 as the Forest Service of the United States. 



Nor is that statement the worst feature 

 of the timber situation. The foresters add 

 that saw timber, the most needed and most 



wrappers and cardboard containers. Lum- 

 ber, instead of becoming cheaper, is likely 

 to cost yet more in the future. The price 

 of every product made from wood is des- 

 tined, unless drastic measures be taken to 

 correct the ratio between cutting and the 

 growth of timber, to advance still more 

 sharply. 



Our predicament does not result from 

 lack of resources. Outside of private for- 

 ests and of public reserves where timber- 

 ing is prohibited there exist 80,000,000 acres 

 available for reforesting. An even larger 

 area is partly productive, but is devastated 

 annually by fire. The areas capable of 

 yielding timber are abundant enough, if 

 only forestry and conservation be practiced, 



Marinette Eagle-Star: With 

 smoke from nearby forest fires 

 blowing across the country and 

 enveloping everything like a 

 heavy fog, we are brought face 

 to face with the realization that 

 the protection against destruc- 

 tion of the timber which is 

 still standing, is far from 

 adequate. 



Much of the timber is owned 

 by large companies which can 

 better afford to stand the an- 

 nual losses from fire, than 

 could the individual who occa- 

 sionally suffers losses from 

 this source, yet with every foot 

 of timber that is destroyed, 

 comes an additional cost to 

 that which is manufactured 

 into lumber for various pur- 

 poses, and the ultimate con- 

 sumer, as in all other cases, is 

 the one who pays for that 

 waste Which should have been 

 avoided by adequate fire pro- 

 tection to our forests. 



And not only does the 

 burned timber add to the cost 

 of lumber which is bought by 

 the ultimate consumer, but 

 this same waste causes an 

 amount to be counted in 

 with the total through the law of sup- 

 ply and demand. Each year, our forests 

 are hacked and burned away, many times 

 faster than they are being grown. With 

 little thought of the future, this process 

 oontinues year after year. 



Reforestation and timber conservation 

 are subjects discussed to some extent but 

 never acted upon. It would seem that 

 eventually some definite line of action look- 

 ing to the accomplishment of these purposes 

 would be adopted by the government. We 

 still have time to prevent a timber famine, 

 although we are many years behind in the 

 work. It is high time to outline a policy 

 of reforestation and timber conservation. 



Portland Telegram. 

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