1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



381 



forhia lumbermen toward forestry is 

 excellent. Many of the operators are 

 from the lumber-producing districts 

 of the South and East, and have seen 

 the disastrous results of non-conser- 

 vative logging". Moreover, they rea- 

 lize that unexploited timberlands are 

 no longer easily obtainable and that 

 their present holdings must be man- 

 aged with a view to future continuous 

 production if their business is to be 

 perpetuated. The strong natural ten- 

 dency of the California forests to re- 

 produce themselves and the exceed- 

 ingly high value of the several com- 

 mercial species, strengthen the possi- 

 bilities of conservative management, 

 and slightly modified logging methods 

 combined with reasonable fire protec- 

 tion will change the whole aspect of 

 affairs. 



Cooperation which will give the 

 private timberland owners the assist- 

 ance of State and Federal foresters is 

 the need of the hour. This assistance 

 in matters of fire protection and of 

 management has already been fur- 

 nished in several cases by the Bureau 

 of Forestry, and the tendency is to- 

 ward expansion in this direction. 

 After the organization of the state 

 forest system, active cooperation may 

 be expected from the technical forest 

 officers of the state. On the whole, the 

 outlook is promising, and although the 

 most serious results would follow a 

 continuation of existing methods, 

 there is almost absolute certainty that 



within the next decade all will be 

 changed for the better. The systems 

 of logging and of fire protection ap- 

 plied by the National government on 

 the forest reserves will demonstrate 

 the possibilities for profit in conserva- 

 tive forest management; while the 

 growing scarcity and increased value 

 of both major and minor forest pro- 

 ducts will make possible the better use 

 of private timberlands, and the re- 

 forms introduced will insure a decided 

 economic advantage to the owners of 

 such conservatively-managed land. 



This question of private timberland 

 ownership and management in Cali- 

 fornia is extremely important and 

 should receive careful local study in 

 each of its many phases. No attempt 

 has been made here to more than 

 briefly outline the more striking points, 

 and indicate in a. very general way the 

 influence which the lumbermen exert 

 on the forest policy of the state. To 

 summarize, it may be said that if pres- 

 ent methods remain unmodified the 

 forest and water resources, which are 

 two of California's greatest assets, will 

 suffer irreparable injury, and the gen- 

 eral policy which aims to secure the 

 highest use of these resources will lose 

 its force. On the other hand, if the 

 practicability of forestry on private 

 timberlands is fully demonstrated, 

 there is no state where there is better 

 opportunity for the development of an 

 effective forest system, or where a 

 greater variety of important commer- 

 cial interests will be benefitted. 



