Our Forest lieserve Problem. 



m 



fonncftcd witli iiiipoi-tcd timlxT and 

 limljcr in-udiicts is i>»M-t"(jniicd al)r<»iid ; 

 the lal)()r iiicidciital to lioiiic-t^i-own 

 timhtT would 1)1' pcrforincd in our 

 own country aiul would atVoi-d main- 

 ttMiaiici' tu many tlmusands ot" i'aiii- 

 ilifs." 



( >i- takr tln' t'oilowinjr from a ic- 

 port issued only last fall l)y a cau- 

 tious liritisli K'oyal Commissinn lui 

 Forestry : 



'Tho final and conclusive test of 

 tlic value of afforestation must he its 

 ahility to imj>rove the existing con- 

 dition of a »riven district as to |>op- 

 ulation. employment and economic 

 returns. If. l»y means of att'orcsta- 

 tion on a financially sound hasis. 

 laiul whi<'h is too j)oor to cultivati- 

 can hf made to <rive more employ- 

 ment and support a lar^'er p<i|>ula- 

 tion than it is capahlc of doin^; un- 

 der pastoral conditions, then the 

 future of afforestation as a nu'ans of 

 increasin<r jn'osperity is assured, and 

 af^'orostation on the lines supfrcsted 

 would not only |>ay its way. but 

 hrintr in a considerable return.' 



Business Management Necessary. 



If fur nu other reason than be- 

 cause of the *lont;-time element' in- 

 volved, forestry is essentially a busi- 

 ness proposition ■ — ni-itlu-r |)olifics 

 nor sentiniiiit can In- trusted to 

 maintain over lonp periods a corr«'cf 

 and unif(wm forest policy, ("aiuid 

 ians are most fortunate in the help 

 they nuiy pet from their pood neiirh 

 l)or the I'tnted States in solvinp flieir 

 natioiud forest |)robh'm both how 

 to do it. as in their federal forest ser- 

 vice, and just as truly how not to 

 do it. as seen today in the preat 

 commotnvealths of .Michipan and 

 New York. New York State's for 

 estry poliey is the preatest anonudy 

 I know. The law decrees that n«»t a 

 stick of timber dea<l or alive shall be 

 out or used from the state reserves, 

 and yet. while at the one end they 

 are lettinp all this fine mature tim- 

 ber po to waste and ruin, at the 

 other end they are frantically prow- 

 inp and importinp antl plantinp o»it 



millions of little pine an<l spruce 

 secdlinps. There, in the h.-art of that 

 liusy state, one finds fifteen hundred 

 thousand acres of tind»erland pro- 

 diicinp no income a monument to 

 the power of sentiment a miser's 

 way of c(»nser\ inp resourees all due 

 to bad p(dicy. 



No; business manapcment is the 

 sole policy which will stand the test 

 of time, ajid slowly but surely im- 

 prove each reserve until it is produc- 

 ing a maxinuim sustaini*<| yield. We 

 hear a lot abotit '('onservatiott' now- 

 a-days. \Vhat is it. anyway* In u 

 spee<-h maile one year apo Sir Wil- 

 frid Laurier defined conservation in 

 four words so succinct and t'oniprc- 

 hensive that they <'over the whole 

 pround. lie called it Wise I'se. 

 Wisely Kcpulafed." Think it over. 

 It apfdics almost ctjually wi-ll to the 

 >o-calle(l non-renewable res«inreeH 

 which are mined, as oils and min- 

 erals; and to the renewable re.sourtes 

 which are croppe*!. such as Hsherios 

 and forests. 



Test it on this set of loppinp rub'S 

 now beinp applie<i to op«*rationK on 

 the Hidinp .Mountain reservi*. I'art 

 of them, as that eallinp for low 

 stumps, are to ensure wise use of the 

 crop now ready. Others make pro- 

 vision for seed- trees and proper 

 brush-disposal, to provide for a new 

 ero|i aixl insure it apainst tire — that 

 IS. present use wisely n'pulati'il in 

 nrder that the future of the forest 

 may be saf«puarded. and its produe- 

 \ug power steadily in«'rease«l in 

 • luanlity and <puility as crop after 

 crop is r«'moved. Thai con- 



servation That is the p. .. f the 



Forestry Branch— every acre a pro- 

 ducinp a«'re. 



If we ••onsider this i'*- 



\elopinp. under a ' •♦t 



policy, the Kidinp >!•■ ^* 



for instance, must we not approach 

 It in thi' same r ' li- 



nens man would ■ • -'•* 



her wiTe \us and ti ' **"* 



merely on thirty to tor' 

 life, hut on a thousan«l viars ju->t 



