ALASKA'S INTERIOR FORESTS 



453 



on specially favored sites annual 

 plant life becomes almost tropi- 

 cal during the long days of the 

 Arctic summer. Actual meas- 

 urements of tree growth, how- 

 ever, show a far more rapid 

 rate of growth than one would 

 expect, a growth that compares 

 very favorably with similar tree 

 species in the northeastern por- 

 tions of the United States. 



The bulk of the timber cut in 

 interior Alaska is for firewood, 

 probably several times as much 

 timber being used each year for 

 fuel as is used for lumber. Wood 

 has furnished the country with 

 heat, light and power, though 

 now native coal (largely Mg- 

 nite) is coming to be used. The 

 completion of the Government 

 railroad which traverses a coun- 

 try rich in coal deposits is re- 

 sponsible for this. The interior forests have 

 supplied several sawmills with logs. Spruce has 

 been sawed for many years at the several small 

 mills in the interior. The chief uses of lumber from 

 these mills has been for flume and sluice boxes, boat 

 building, and houses and business buildings in the towns. 

 The portion of the Government railroad from Anchorage 

 to Fairbanks, a distance of some 353 miles, has been 

 laid on ties cut from the forests along the right of way. 

 The local timber has also been used almost entirely for 

 camps and general construction work on the railroad, 

 most of the heavy timber for temporary bridges, how- 

 ever, having been shipped in from Puget Sound. 



Even with the most careful handling the forests of in- 



SPRUCE FLAT ALONG NENANA RIVER 



This is north of Healy, near the line of the Government railroad, now completed. There 

 is forest along nearly the entire line of this road from Anchorage to Fairbanks 353 miles. 



terior Alaska will probably not fully supply the future 

 needs of the country. Alaska is a country of vast dis- 

 tances and a scanty population, and wood, always an es- 

 sential product everywhere in a new country, will be 

 needed in enormous quantities. The availability of a 

 timber supply close at hand will make sure the establish- 

 ment and building up of the chief industries of the in- 

 terior country, mining and agriculture. Interior Alaska 

 has a climate not dissimilar to that of the Dakotas and 

 with its agricultural possibilities, already proven at Fair- 

 banks and in the Mantanuska Valley, there will come a 

 population commensurate with her resources. In the 

 Tanana Valley alone there are estimated to be 1,000 

 square miles of land suitable for agriculture. 



Owing largely to uncontrolled 

 forest fires, the pinch for timber 

 that is readily accessible is being 

 felt already in the Fairbanks re- 

 gion. Timber suitable for boat 

 and building purposes has to be 

 rafted from 25 to 60 miles, cord- 

 wood of second-growth birch 

 being more accessible. The eco- 

 nomic importance of Alaska's 

 interior forests must grow with 

 the development of her mining 

 and agricultural industries. 



Even if it were never to be 

 needed for local development, 

 owing to its smaller size and 

 relatively inferior quality, the 

 timber of the interior forests 

 can never compete as lumber 

 with either the large timber of 

 Alaska's coast forests or with 

 that from the Pacific Coast 



TYPICAL OF FOREST CONDITIONS 



Open forest of white spruce in the Broad Pass region. Small lakes, of crystal clearness and 

 beauty are found in this region. It is a vital necessity that the Government take measures 

 to protect first from fire the interior forests of Alaska which are destined to play so im- 

 portant a part in her commercial and economic development. 



