790 



The National Geographic Magazine 



over $11,000,000 and realizes $17,054,- 

 144; Saxony spends upon only 400,000 

 acres over $900,000 and realizes $1,651,- 

 882. Yet in all these countries, unlike 

 our own, the forests have had great sums 

 spent upon them in the past in the form 

 of permanent improvements, to which are 

 largely due their present returns. A for- 

 est can no more be made to yield a con- 

 stant return in valuable products without 

 the investment of capital in improving 

 the property than can a farm. 



IMMENSE POSSIBLE PROFITS FOR THE 

 PEOPEE 



If the United States spent as much per 

 acre upon these forests as Prussia does 

 upon hers, they would cost each year 

 $250,000,000. If they brought in as 

 much per acre, the gross revenue which 

 they would yield would amount to $650,- 

 000,000, and the net revenue to $400,000,- 

 000. The development of the wealth- 

 producing possibilities of the national for- 

 ests — not, it must be insisted, in the nar- 

 row sense of income yield to the national 

 treasury, but in that of economic useful- 

 ness to the people — is hardly begun. 



I have asked for an appropriation for 

 the Forest Service during the fiscal year 

 1909 of $3,200,000. This, if all spent 

 upon the national forests, would amount 

 to 2 cents per acre. France spends annu- 

 ally upon her state forest 95 cents per 

 acre, Switzerland $1.32, Prussia $1.58, 

 and Saxony $2.32. These are the coun- 

 tries in which the management of the for- 

 ests is most profitable in products. The 

 countries which spend most do so because 

 their forests are brought to a high state of 

 development. Thus utilizing their full 

 productive powers, they derive from them 

 a net profit which is very high. On the 

 other hand, the countries like Sweden, 

 Hungary, and India, which spend from 2 

 to 34 cents per acre, derive a very low 

 revenue — in other words, a small volume 

 of products — from their forests. 



It is as sure that forest land can be 

 made to grow successive crops of trees 

 under proper methods as that plow land 

 can be made to grow successive crops of 



wheat; as sure that forests can be made 

 to conserve the water supply as it is that 

 manuring enriches the soil. 



The use of the national forests by the 

 people of the West is increasing at an ex- 

 traordinary rate. The value of timber 

 sales, the number of stock grazed, the 

 demand for free-use and special-use per- 

 mits all tell the same story. The forests 

 are more and more contributing to the 

 material welfare of those in their vicin- 

 ity. 



IMPROVING THE RANGE 



Unlike the demand for timber, the de- 

 mand for range in the national forests is 

 already large enough to employ prac- 

 tically the full productive capacity of the 

 land. There were grazed last year on 

 the forests over 1,200,000 horses and 

 cattle and 6,650,000 sheep and goats, rep- 

 resenting a total investment of perhaps 

 $44,000,000 and a probable annual profit, 

 under the conditions of recent years, of 

 $8,000,000. Upon the cattle industry of 

 the western range depends to a large ex- 

 tent the farmer of the prairie states for 

 the profitable marketing of his corn crop, 

 the workingman of the East for his food 

 supply, and our foreign trade for one of 

 its important articles of export. Under 

 the conditions which obtained before the 

 Forest Service undertook to regulate 

 grazing, the carrying power of the range 

 had seriously fallen off through over- 

 grazing and competition. By putting a 

 stop to these evils the Forest Service has 

 not only partially restored the range to 

 its former carrying power, but has also 

 given greater stability to the stockman's, 

 industry by recognizing his right to pro- 

 tection against newcomers, and made it 

 possible for him to bring his stock 

 through in better weight and condition. 



An exhaustive study of the possibility 

 of range improvement through artificial 

 seeding, through changes in the present 

 methods of handling stock to favor the 

 growth of the best native forage plants, 

 and through extermination of poisonous 

 plants has been inaugurated. The whole- 

 problem of range control and improve- 



