VALUE OF A FOREST RESERVE TO 



NEW ENGLAND 



BY 

 J. H. GALLINGER 



Tinted States Seiiaior from New Hampshire 



T" 1 HE sentimental side of a White 

 Mountain Forest Reserve has 

 been warmly discussed during the past 

 few years, and in all parts of the 

 country it has its able and eloquent 

 advocates. The aesthetics of the situa- 

 tion appeal strongly to all who have 

 visited the White Mountain region, 

 and personally witnessed the devasta- 

 tion of the magnificent forests that is 

 now under way. It is not strange that 

 lovers of the beautiful should unite in 

 protesting against the wholesale de- 

 struction of the timber lands of North- 

 ern New Hampshire, and I am glad 

 to unite with them in any effort that 

 will tend to stay the ravages of the 

 unscientific and wasteful methods now 

 in vogue. But there is a practical as 

 well as a sentimental side of the ques- 

 tion, to which I beg briefly to call at- 

 tention. 



The important relation between the 

 perpetuation of the forest and the 

 abandoned farm is not always appre- 

 ciated. When lumbering ceases, the 

 mills and other wood-working indus- 

 tries disappear, and the farms in many 

 parts of New England no longer pay, 

 so that the farming people move away. 

 It is a curious fact that some of the 

 problems of the Orient in ancient 

 t'mes and of Italy in Roman times are 

 being repeated in our day on American 

 soil. But our people are slowly learn- 

 ing that an intelligent use of the for- 

 ests will perpetuate its products, and 

 steady the industries dependent upon 

 them. The forest product in New 

 England, especially in the last decade, 

 since paper has been made in large 

 quantities from spruce pulp, is of the 

 utmost importance. It ranks next in 



value to agriculture and manufactures, 

 and includes not only lumbering, saw 

 mills, and paper and pulp mills, but 

 also the many wood-working factories 

 that make articles all the way from 

 furniture to shoe pegs. We are told 

 in the latest census that in New Hamp- 

 shire alone there are $8,163,081 in- 

 vested in 29 paper and wood pulp 

 plants- employing 2,391 persons, pay- 

 ing annually $1,036,856 in wages, and 

 producing annually a gross product 

 valued at $7,244,733. 



These figures are for one of the 

 forest industries in one of the New 

 England States, but they .suffice to 

 show the great number of families de- 

 pendent upon the forest families of 

 woodsmen, mill hands, factory opera- 

 tives, managers and owners. In the 

 well being of the forest all New Eng- 

 land is vitally interested, and the sen- 

 timental argument of saving the for- 

 ests to be sure of summer boarders is 

 inconsequential in comparison with 

 other and greater interests which are 

 affected. The proper care of the re- 

 maining spruce forest, and of our hard 

 wood and second growth trees, should 

 be undertaken promptly, in order that 

 we may not suffer in New England as 

 we did from the disappearance of the 

 primeval crop of white pines. 



Because of the time element in- 

 volved it is not possible for individu- 

 als, nor even for corporations, to cut 

 the forests in a manner that ensures a 

 future crop. To hold the property in- 

 volves, as a rule, a loss in taxes and 

 fire protection that benefits only a 

 future generation. The principle is 

 now recognized in many of our States, 

 iti New York, Pennsylvania. Michigan 



