Canadian Forestry Journal, May, 1918 



1677 



Facing The Truth of Forest Exhaustion 



United States Lumbermen Invite Scientific 

 Guidance in Cutting and Logging. 



In any "alarmist" statement re- 

 garding depletion of the Canadian 

 forest resources are several patent 

 dangers to the cause of conservation. 

 At the same time, the great millstone 

 on the conservation cai se in Canada 

 undoubtedly is to be found in the 

 public belief that the forest supply is 

 practically inimitable. A deep rooted 

 conviction that we are drawing our 

 wood supplies from an inexhaustible 

 bank account is the real factor behind 

 public indifference and administra- 

 tive slothfulness. 



To demonstrate that Canadian 

 white pine for example is being cut 

 and burned without provision for 

 reproduction may suggest to some 

 persons that they should ask their 

 dealer for wood substitutes, to replace 

 boards with cement and shingles with 

 asbestos. The very contrary is the 

 conservationist's purpose, for he is an 

 advocate of the most thorough 

 utilization of forest products, and has 

 no brief for the wood substitutor. 

 Obviously the greater the public de- 

 mand for wood products, the higher 

 the value placed by private and pub- 

 lic administrators on the raw mater- 

 ials and consequently the more 

 efficient will be methods of fire pro- 

 tection and cutting operations. 



Truth is truth and sooner or later 

 will out. As concerns the forest 

 resources of Canada the earlier the 

 truth is known and ])ublished broad- 

 cast, the lighter will be the handicap 

 placed on the people of Canada in 

 days to come. In the spreading of 

 facts relating to the forest conditions 

 of the Dominion, incidental disad- 

 vantages to private investments must 

 be borne with what patience is 

 possible. 



Across the American border, the 

 forestry problem at the present time 

 is inviting the frankest discussion. 

 The old-time inclination to hush any 

 and all references to fire damage on 

 private timber tracts has apparently 



gone with a lot of other hobgoblins of 

 pre-war days. 



Who would have said five years ago 

 that the Western United States timber 

 owners would ask the government to 

 introduce scientific control of cutting 

 on their limits. And yet, here is what 

 the "'Timberman'" of Porland, Ore., 

 says in its most recent editorial: 



"The lumbermen and the Forest 

 Service should get together and work 

 out some definite plan for perpetua- 

 tion of the timber supply on some 

 scientific and workable basis. The 

 Government is interested primarily in 

 the available supply of timber for the 

 nation's use. Herein lies the marked 

 distinction between governmental and 

 private interests. The time for the 

 lumberman to consider this question 

 is now. There never was a more 

 opportune time than the present for 

 the lumbermen of the country to 

 initiate a broad national movement 

 looking to the assurance of the future 

 timber supply." 



And again: — 



.\ at i una I Business 



"The growing of timber is a national 

 function. It is not the business of an 

 individual. 



"Another step in formulating a 

 national forest policy would be the 

 purchase of all timber lands belonging 

 to private interests lying within the 

 National Forests in the West. 



"Then should follow the purchase 

 of areas of timber land lying within a 

 zone ten to twenty miles around the 

 National Forests. 



"With this as a basis there might be 

 evolved a co-operative plan between 

 the national Government and the 

 private holders of timber lands where- 

 by exchanges could be made of cut- 

 over timber lands for cutting rights 

 within the National Forests. The 

 basis of exchange could be deter- 

 mined, in a measure, by the size of the 

 tract, its location and adaptability for 



