INTRODUCTION 



WHERE WE STAND TODAY 

 What We Have 



The five states of Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and 

 California contain half the merchantable timber in the 

 United States today a fact of startling economic signifi- 

 cance. It means first of all that here is an existing resource 

 of incalculable local and national value. It means also that 

 here lies the most promising field of production for all time. 

 The wonderful density and extent of our Western forests 

 are not accidental, but result because climatic and other 

 conditions are the most favorable in the world for forest 

 growth. In just the degree that they excel forests else- 

 where is it easier to make them continue to do so. 



What We Are Doing With It 



On the other hand, forest fires in Montana, Idaho, Wash- 

 ington, Oregon and California destroy, annually, on an 

 average, timber which if used instead of destroyed would- 

 bring forty million dollars to their inhabitants. Idleness of 

 burned and cut-over land represents a direct loss almost as 

 great. 



These are actual money losses to the community. So is 

 the failure of revenue through the destruction of a tax 

 resource. Equally important, and hardly less direct, is the 

 injury to agricultural and industrial productiveness which 

 depends upon a sustained supply of wood and water. 



7 , ] 



