EDITORIAL 



three million horsepower. Twelve of these were for 

 power projects to be developed in connection with pulp 

 and paper manufacture in Alaska. The total potential 

 waterpower resources of the National Forests are es- 

 timated at a minimum of 8,497,000 horsepower and at a 

 maximum of 16,874,000 hoirsepower. 



As a result of systematized regfulation by the Forest 

 Service, the forage crop of the National Forest is now re- 

 turning an annual income to the Federal treasury of close 

 to $2,500,000. Ey a system of range allotments under 

 which nominal grazing fees are charged, the Forest Serv- 

 ice has brought the Natonal Forest ranges under prac- 

 tical and profitable administration which protects their 

 productivity, stabilizes the stock industry and promotes 

 the agricultural development of the country. Over 38,000 

 stockmen use the Forest ranges under paid permits and 

 graze a total of almost 10,000,000 head of adult live stock. 

 This amounts to 25 per cent of the live stock industry of 

 the western states. In addition, local settlers are per- 

 mitted to graze, free of charge, over 100,000 work and 

 milch animals on the Forests. These are animals used 

 on the ranches and farms. 



The value of the National Forests for recreation is 

 increasing by leaps and bounds. Already some six mil- 

 lion people visit the Forests annually to camp, fish, hunt, 

 hike, motor or rest. These forest tourists come from all 

 parts of the United States. It has been estimated that, 

 based upon present recreational use only, the National 

 Forests represent a value of five cents an acre per year, 

 or a total recreational value to the American people of 



FORESTRY 



pARTICIPATION of lumbermen, as evidenced by 

 ' their representation at the recent meeting of the 

 Texas Forestry Association, is an outstanding feature 

 of the present forestry situation in the Lone Star State. 

 It will be remembered that at the last session of the 

 Texas legislature, forestry legislation was the subject oi 

 a vigorous contest which served to set the lumbermen 

 apart as opponents of certain features of the associations 

 program. The main issue was a state severance tax as 

 applied to forests. This the lumbermen fought with great 

 aggressiveness on the grounds that it was class legisla- 

 tion. While the bill failed to bcome a law, the contest 

 was close and brought out a surprisingly strong and 

 widespread public sentiment for definite forestry legisla- 

 tion. This sentiment, coming from many unexpected 

 sources, seems to have aroused the lumbermen to the 

 growing need for action. 



In any event, a larger number of lumbermen than ever 

 before attended the recent meeting of the State Forestry 

 Association and took an active interest in the delibera- 

 tions. Differences were adjusted and a constructive pro- 

 gram framed, to which the lumbermen pledged their 

 support. While those who had advocated a severance 

 license tax, dropped the proposal in the interest of har- 

 mony and a solidly supported program. The recommenda- 

 tions adopted, if put into action, will mark a definite 

 step forward. Among the measures proposed are the 

 purchase by the state of cut-over lands for state forests 

 and game sanctuaries, adjusted taxation of lands devoted 



277 



nearly $10,000,000 a year. And the recreational use of 

 these Forests today represents possibly less than one per 

 cent of their total potential use. The rapid increase in 

 the number of people deriving pleasure from the Forests 

 is due in large part to their recreational development by 

 the Forest Service. Over a thousand campgrounds have- 

 been set apart and posted and recreational permits have 

 been issued for over 6,000 summer homes, cabins, hotels 

 and club houses. 



Values thus far considered are those arising from the 

 work of nature and as applicable to the use of the people 

 of the nation. The development of property so immense 

 and so diversifiedly valuable naturally has entailed man- 

 made investments. In order to transact the business of 

 the National Forests and to protect them from fire, 27,844 

 miles of trails, 27,000 miles of telephone lines, 1,184 

 miles of stock driveways and 7,700 miles of roads have 

 been constructed at a total cost of $25,833,000. Approxi- 

 mately $5,000,000 more have been invested in other need- 

 ed improvements such as fire breaks, lookout towers, 

 ranger stations, camp grounds, bridges, fences, water 

 development, forest nurseries, etc. Approximately 100,- 

 000 acres have been successfully reforested by planting 

 trees. They represent a large potential value. 



All this, and. much more, are your National Forests. 

 They are an empire of growing wealth. In area, they 

 are greater than the combined acreage of forest land In 

 Germany, France, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Bel- 

 gium, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain. 

 As a public property, are they not worthy of your watch 

 ful appreciation? 



IN TEXAS 



to the growing of timber, greater encouragement in tlie 

 reforestation of land chiefly valuable for forest crops, by 

 the establishment of demonstration areas and other 

 needs, more effective fire control and broader co-opera- 

 tion with the Federal Government. Althoug'h the former 

 opposition of the lumbermen has been removed, the fact 

 that the association's program will have to be financed by 

 direct appropriations or the issuance of bonds by the 

 state in lieu of a severance license tax calls for nothing 

 short of the lumbermen's aggressive support. 



A long range view of the situation indicates that the 

 lumbermen of Texas have been given an unusual oppor- 

 unity to join forces with other interested organizations In 

 an active and constructive effort to give the state the 

 kind of a forest policy it needs. Certainly, the urgency of 

 the situation is apparent. With an original stand of vir- 

 gin pine timber covering 14,000,000 acres, only 2,000,000 

 acres remain uncut. This is being cut at the rate of 

 200,000 acres a year, so that the exhaustion of the state's 

 virgin pine is placed at ten years hence. In the mean- 

 time the state's need for timber is increasing and the pre- 

 diction is made that within a very few years Texas will 

 pass from a lumber exporting to a lumber importing 

 state. Indeed, it is a question if this change has not al- 

 ready taken place. The present yearly lumber cut of the 

 state is slightly less than one and one-half billion feet, 

 while a recent estimate from the state forester's office 

 places the annual consumption of wood by the state 

 at almost two billion feet. 



