IMPENDING CATASTROPHE 



93 



even public spirited leaders of govermental depart- 

 ments were unable to see whither our destructive 

 forest policy was leading. 



Those sections of our country from which the 

 lumber was first cut are already beginning to feel 

 the effect. Our northeastern states are not now able 

 to produce more than ten to fifteen per cent of the 



A large portion of the lumber used by our eastern states has to be 

 hauled clear across the continent. 



wood they necessarily consume. Pennsylvania, 

 which was but a short time ago the leading state in 

 lumber production, now manages to find only enough 

 wood in its forests to fill the needs of the city of 

 Pittsburgh. Train loads upon train loads of lumber 

 from the Pacific Coast start daily across the conti- 

 nent. Three thousand miles is the distance from 

 which the New England States obtain much of their 

 wood supply, and indeed between one-half and two- 

 thirds of the price of lumber in most of our north- 

 eastern district goes not to the producer but to the 



