322 Proceedings o^ the 



of justice in the far West. Now, happily, this deplor- 

 able condition of affairs is obviated through the passage 

 of the Forest Reserve Law, and the bona fide miner 

 is given opportunity to secure timber in a legitimate 

 manner from the public lands. 



This one point alone, gained through the develop- 

 ment of American forestry, should commend the sys- 

 tem to every person truly interested in the continued 

 prosperity of the mining industry. Still, the difficulties 

 mentioned might have been overcome by direct legisla- 

 tion, and the vital matter of forest preservation left 

 untouched. 



Every successful lode mine is a consumer of enor- 

 mous quantities of forest products. Such properties 

 as the Homestake mine in South Dakota, the great 

 copper mines of Butte and Anaconda in Montana, or 

 the lead-silver producers of the Coeur d'Alenes in 

 Idaho, require almost incredible amounts of timber 

 for their operation. While commonly there is natu- 

 rally a fair supply of timber in the mountainous regions 

 where such mines are found, it is far from inexhausti- 

 ble. The first impulse of the miner in the hurry and 

 scurry of the newly discovered mining region is to 

 cut and slash indiscriminately. He takes a tree here, 

 another there, as his immediate needs may suggest. 

 He gives no thought to the refuse from his cutting. 

 He is heedless of the damage that may be done to the 

 remaining timber, and he is utterly extravagant in the 

 use of that which costs him nothing, and which there 

 is no one to claim or protect. 



What might be expected, ensues. Fires start in the 

 cut-over tracts, spreads through the accumulated debris 

 to the adjacent forests; and the country for miles 

 around is devastated. Recurring fires continue the 

 destruction, and in a relatively few years the mining 



