AMERICAN FORESTRY 



685 



L- 



SEE A NATIONAL FOREST POLICY 



fact that lumber prices have jumped 300 

 per cent since 1914. Senator Harding 

 likewise has noted this fact and pointed 

 out the relation of an adequate national 

 lumber supply to the housing problem. An 

 inadequate lumber supply means higher 

 lumber prices and consequently less build- 

 ing. Curtailment of building is detrimental 

 to the American home as well as to the 

 development of the American city. 



The newsprint trade is also affected by 

 the curtailment of the lumber supply. The 

 Editor and Publisher, for example, says : 

 "Figures compiled by the American Fores- 

 try Association reveal that the New Eng- 

 land States are no longer self-supporting 

 in a lumber way, that the Lake States, 

 once our greatest producers of lumber are 

 now importing to keep alive the many wood 

 using industries in that section ; that the 

 supply of virgin pine in the South will be 

 exhausted at the present rate of consump- 

 tion in 15 years, and that the center of the 

 lumber industry is rapidly moving to the 

 Pacific Coast. This, of course, means long- 

 er hauls and higher freight. It means 

 scarcer, dearer newsprint. It means scarcer, 

 dearer lumber for every purpose. In re- 

 forestation lies the only salvation." 



Fortunately not only Senator Harding 

 but also Governor Cox have both recog- 

 nized the essential need for a national pro- 

 gram to restore the forest lands to pro- 

 ductivity. Hence we may reasonably ex- 

 pect that the matter will be brought be- 

 fore the next session of Congress and an 

 adequate forest policy perhaps formulated 

 before the forests are so depleted as t^ 

 cause serious embarrassment to the nation. 



Portland Oregonian: The American 

 Forestry Association shows in its official 

 publication that there is a movement well 

 under way to restore the timber of the 

 country before it is too late. Reforestation, 

 it is said, is actually under way. The story 

 of the taming of every wilderness has 

 been a story of waste indispensable under 

 prevailing circumstances. 



That events have a way of righting them- 

 selves is indicated by the reforestation cam- 

 paign. It remains only to conduct it with 

 the same energy that characterized the 

 work of those early settlers to make good 

 a great part of the loss within a measur- 

 able term of years. 



Trenton (N. J.) Advertiser: Since it 

 takes from 60 to 100 years to produce for- 

 est trees of commercial size, private owners 

 of timberlands are not likely to be in- 

 terested in forest reproduction as an in- 

 vestment, the American Forestry Asso- 



ciation points out. The relationship of 

 timbered areas to future needs ; their in- 

 centive to tourist travel ; the fact that they 

 serve as water reservoirs, etc., make the 

 public vitally interested in seeing them con- 

 tinued and for this reason state and na- 

 tional acquirement of logged-off areas and 

 protection of such areas against fire is 

 proposed as the solution of the continued 

 timber supply problem. 



Unless immediate forestry steps are taken 

 and taken in considerable magnitude a 



"THAT IS NOT ALL" 



Rochester Democrat-Chronicle 



Announcement is made that official 

 indorsement of the New York State 

 big tree competition, which is being 

 conducted by the State College of 

 Forestry, has been given by the 

 American Forestry Association. In 

 writing official approval of the idea, 

 the Association secretary said: "This 

 is a great stunt, this search for the 

 biggest tree in New York State. The 

 American Forestry Association has 

 several claims for the largest tree 

 from several states, and if you wish, 

 we will enter the winner of the New 

 York State competition in the na- 

 tional contest. We shall be very 

 glad to co-operate with you, for we 

 believe that the development of an 

 interest in the individual tree does 

 much to bring the public to appre- 

 ciate the value of the forest, as a 

 community of trees." The idea back 

 of the competition is clearly ex- 

 pressed in these -words. It would be 

 a matter of interest to locate all the 

 biggest trees of the State and from 

 among them find the champion. But 

 if that were all, it would nardly De 

 worth while. Fortunately, it is not 

 all, and the game, if it may be called 

 that, is eminently worth the candle. 

 The more the public can be induced 

 to take an interest in trees, the better 

 it will be for the forests, and so for 

 the public. 



serious situation will confront future gen- 

 erations. In fact, many boys and girls of 

 today and some mature persons as well 

 will live to see a time of embarrassment 

 and distress unless radical moves are made 

 to replace the trees that are now going so 

 rapidly into the maw of manufacturing, 

 the appetite of which grows with consump- 

 tion and becomes all the more menacing 

 as the supply decreases. 



is taken without further delay, says the 

 American Forestry Association of Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



While at the present rate of cutting it 

 is agreed that the forests of the United 

 States are sufficient for only 60 to 75 years, 

 it is pointed out by forestry experts that if 

 private organizations adopt logging meth- 

 ods that will protect young growth and 

 leave logged-off lands in condition for 

 forest renewal, the young trees of. today 

 will be of merchantable size, when needed. 

 This is dependent on keeping fires out of 

 the forests so that young trees will have 

 an opportunity to grow. 



Rochester Post-Express: Forest fires 

 are burning up a vast lot of the wood we 

 so much need. This ought to get special 

 attention for the plea which Charles Lath- 

 rop Pack, president of the American For- 

 estry Association, makes for protection of 

 timber areas against fire. Here in this 

 state under the Conservation Commission's 

 direction a start has been made at for- 

 est protection ; there are not enough signal 

 stations nor are they properly manned, 

 but, inadequate as the service is, it has 

 already safeguarded the state against 

 severe forest fire loss. While we are pro- 

 posing, arguing, propagandizing about re- 

 plenishing our forests, about tree planting 

 and wood conservation, we are allowing 

 whole areas of good timber to burn up 

 when a good protection service might pre- 

 vent this. The common sense thing to do 

 is to do everything possible to keep safely 

 the timber supply that we have. 



Buffalo Commercial: Depletion of the 

 forests of the United States within 60 to 

 75 years with a resultant slump in all en- 

 terprise that depends wholly, or in part 

 on forest products can be averted if action 



Milwaukee Sentinel: Charles Lathrop 

 Pack, president of the American Forestry 

 Association, in a recent statement, calls 

 attention forcefully to the necessity for a 

 constructive national forest policy, which, 

 he asserts, is imperative if the complete 

 denudation of American forests in the near 

 future is to be avoided. Some impressive 

 figures are cited by Mr. Pack, who points 

 out that the virgin forests of the United 

 States covered 822,000,000 acres and they 

 are now shrunk to one-sixth that area. 

 The relation of wooded areas to futu-" 

 needs of the country, their incentive to 

 tourist travel; the fact that they serve as 

 water reservoirs and many other reasons 

 make it a matter of public interest to see 

 that some methods of conservation that are 

 intelligent and workable are arrived it. 



It is matter of grave concern and its 

 importance can not be too strongly urged 

 on the people and the officials of the gov- 

 ernment. Under proper conditions the for- 

 est resources of the country can be made 

 to last forever. 



