70 



TIMBER DEPLETION, PRICES, EXPORTS, AND OWNERSHIP. 



best means of liquidating existing equities in such lands, as 

 in the case of Indian reservations, now exists in the National 

 Forest Reservation Commission, representing three executive 

 departments and both Houses of Congress, which passes upon 

 purchases under the Weeks law. 



THE REFORESTATION OF DENUDED FEDERAL. LANDS. 



The current appropriations of the Forest Service should pro- 

 vide for the progressive reforestation of denuded lands In 

 National Forests, to be completed in not more than 20 years, 

 with a yearly sum beginning at $500,000 and increasing to 

 $1,000,000 as soon as the work can be organized on that scale. 



The National Forests contain several million acres of forest 

 land so severely burned that it can not be restocked without 

 planting. To restore this land to timber production Is an im- 

 mediate Federal responsibility. Tree planting is most urgent 

 on denuded watersheds from which water is obtained for power, 

 irrigation, or municipal use. The work already done by the 

 Forest Service has established methods, costs, and the limits 

 of successful reforestation by artificial methods. This project 

 can, therefore, be undertaken upon an assured basis of costs 

 and results. 



A STUDY OF FOREST TAXATION AND INSURANCE. 



Legislation carrying a moderate appropriation is needed 

 which will authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to study the 

 effects of the existing tax methods and practices upon forest 

 devastation, to devise model laws on forest taxation, and to 

 cooperate with State agencies in promoting their adoption. The 

 same law should authorize a study of forest insurance looking 

 to the assembling of authentic data on risks, practicable forms 

 of insurance, the distribution of losses, etc. 



The annual property tax is not adapted to lands employed in 

 growing 50 or 75 year timber crops, and is an important cause 

 of forest devastation. While land taxes rest with the States, 

 the Federal Government can do much to further wise changes 

 by an authoritative investigation and the formulation of 

 equitable tax laws adapted to timber-growing land. While for- 

 est insurance must be developed largely by private initiative, 

 investigation will be of material help in promoting this impor- 

 tant aid to timber growing by private land owners. 



THE SURVEY AND CLASSIFICATION OF FOREST RESOURCES. 



Legislation is needed, with an appropriation of $3,000,000, to 

 be available for from two to four years, as the work may re- 

 quire, which will permit the Secretary of Agriculture to survey 

 the forest resources of the United States, determine the present 

 volume, together with the present and possible production of 

 each class of timber in every important forest region, and ascer- 

 tain the requirements as to quantity and character of timber 

 of each State and of every important wood-using industry. 

 This survey should mark out, by broad lines, timber-growing 

 land from land suited to farm crops to the end that the forest- 

 growing resources of the United States may be fairly estimated 

 and utilized in consideration of other land uses. Senate bill 

 3555, for the survey of pulpwoods, covers part of the compre- 

 hensive investigation necessary. 



Exact information upon timber stands or growth and upon the 

 areas of forest as distinct from agricultural land is not to be 

 had. It is essential for developing a national forest policy de- 

 signed to supply timber of the kinds and in the quantities and 

 places needed by the country. 



CURRENT APPROPRIATIONS FOR FOREST RESEARCH. 



The current appropriations of the Forest Service should be 

 sufficient to maintain experiment stations in all the principal 

 forested regions of the United States. 



Further research is not necessary to determine the urgency 

 of the action proposed. But a continuous study of the technical 



phases of reforestation in the principal timber regions, with 

 their tremendous diversity of forests trad methods of forestry 

 practice, is essential to carry the national policy forward to 

 the best results. Recent cuts in congressional appropriations 

 will necessitate closing the four experiment stations hitherto 

 established in the Western States. Not only should those sta- 

 tions be restored, but provision should be made for additional 

 experiment stations covering the other important forest regions 

 of the country. 



The survey of forest resources should be undertaken at once ; 

 but the essential facts as to timber depletion and its causes 

 are so clear that no time should be lost in enacting the legisla- 

 tion recommended, particularly for cooperation with States and 

 the extension of National Forests. The first point of general 

 attack in arresting devastation is to stop forest fires. Hence a 

 law permitting effective Federal and State action in this matter, 

 as already outlined, is of the greatest urgency. 



THE STATE LEGISLATION NEEDED. 



The State legislation necessary to stop forest devastation will 

 necessarily vary in different regions. Certain essential features 

 of such laws, however, are common to all of the States contain- 

 ing large forest areas. The more important of them may be 

 stated briefly as follows: 



FIRE PREVENTION AND REFORESTATION OF PRIVATE LANDS. 



State laws should provide for the organized protection of all 

 forest lauds in the State during periods of fire hazard, the pro- 

 tected areas to include all cutover and unimproved land, as 

 well as bodies of timber. The protective system should include 

 patrols during dry weather, lookout stations, fire breaks and 

 roads where effective, and organized fire-fighting forces. Every 

 forest owner, large or small, should bear his proportionate 

 share of its cost, about half of which may be properly borne by 

 the State itself with the aid of the Federal Government. Police 

 regulations for the control of fire during dry periods, in con- 

 nection with railroad or industrial operations near forest land, 

 land clearing or slash disposal, hunting, etc., and for (he con- 

 trol of incendiarism, form an essential feature of the protective 

 system. 



State laws should establish the responsibility of owners of 

 forest land for complying with such equitable requirements as 

 may be determined upon and promulgated by the proper State 

 agency, dealing with precautions against forest fires, the dis- 

 posal of slashings, methods of cutting timber or of extracting 

 particular forest products, such as naval stores or pulpwood, 

 and such other equitable requirements as the authorized State 

 agency shall determine upon as necessary to prevent devasta- 

 tion. All timbered and cutover land in State or private owner- 

 ship which is not now required for other uses than timber 

 growing should be classed as " forest land " and placed under 

 the control of the State forest organization as far as it deems 

 measures of control necessary to prevent devastation. 



The agency in each State charged with the administration of 

 the laws dealing with forest fires and devastation preferably 

 should be a nonpartisan commission exercising wide latitude 

 under the general authority of the State in determining equi- 

 table regulations applicable to various classes of forest lands. 

 It should have authority, backed by penalties prescribed in the 

 law, to enforce its regulations, subject to appeal by landowners 

 to a judicial review. It should have authority to investigate 

 any questions concerning the forests and forest industries of 

 the State and to advise and assist forest owners in carrying 

 out the most effective technical methods on their land. It 

 should have authority and funds for growing planting stock 

 and distributing it to local owners in the State at cost. It 

 should have charge of the acquisition and administration of 

 State forests and of the classification of receded tax lands to 



