INTRODUCTION J> 



Damage by Fire. It was soon after lumbering for use 

 began that forest fires became a common occurrence, and 

 these increased in number and severity, burning over the 

 majority of lumbered lands, and usually at the same time 

 enormous areas which had not been cut, and destroying 

 millions of dollars worth of timber. It is estimated that 

 since 1870 an average of 50,000,000 acres has been 

 burned and a damage of fully $50,000,000 done each 

 year, aside from the injury to young trees and to repro- 

 duction. 



Damage by Insects. The American forests have 

 suffered, further, incalculable injury by insects. In some 

 instances whole forests have been killed by bark-beetles. 

 Sometimes the damage attributed to fire has been in the 

 first instance due to beetles; and the dead trees and 

 debris were later consumed, or practically consumed, by 

 fire. In the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming 

 there has been a damage from beetles of $2,500,000 

 within a decade. 



Reduction of Supplies. Taking together the vari- 

 ous causes of destruction of forests, such inroads have 

 been made into our resources that a conservative esti- 

 mate shows that the bulk of our virgin supplies will be 

 exhausted in less than a generation. The supply of 

 forest products will then come entirely from what is 

 now classed as second growth. 



Heretofore, the only idea in the minds of the Ameri- 

 can people has been to utilize the great store of timber 

 which they found already at hand. The Government and 



