FORESTRY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. 27 



ditions, transportation facilities, and similar factors. Many forest 

 regions, however, now have enough timber and are sufficiently de-i 

 veloped economically so that a sustained annual yield large enough 

 to warrant lumbering operations can be obtained within easy work- 

 ing distance of a permanent center ; and this will become more and 

 more true, both for these and other regions, as settlement and cle-: 

 velopment of the country proceed. Even where for one reason or 

 another it may not be feasible to continue lumbering operations 

 indefinitely from the same center, it is entirely possible to apply 

 the same general principle. The only difference is that there would 

 be temporary subcenters, which would be moved from place to place 

 at infrequent intervals, but which would nevertheless support a per- 

 manent population and would always remain in the same general 

 region. The essential point is to maintain a balance between the 

 annual cut and the annual growth on any given unit, which prefer- 

 ably should be as small as economic conditions make practicable, 

 and to have a definite and comprehensive plan for the utilization 

 of this cut. 



If in the actual handling of our forest resources this ideal has been 

 conspicuous by its absence, the blame may be laid upon economic con- 

 ditions that have hitherto prevailed. The system of unregulated pri- 

 vate ownership, the vast bodies of mature timber ready for cutting, 

 the pressure of unrestricted competition, and the fact that lumbering 

 has been a pioneer industry, which operated chiefly in regions of 

 comparatively poor economic development, all conspired to make it 

 unprofitable, and therefore impracticable, to handle the forests on a 

 permanent basis. The time now has come, however, when this is no 

 longer true. Conditions to-day are radically different in nearly 

 every respect from those which heretofore have imparted to the in- 

 dustry its temporary character. It is now possible to practice the 

 kind of forest management that will make the industry permanent 

 and self-supporting. 



Handling the forest lands of the country on the basis of sustained 

 yield by no means necessarily involves decreased returns from the 

 business. On the contrary, it may prove even more profitable. When 

 timber " mining " is practiced the only profit that can ordinarily 

 accrue to the timber owner is through a speculative rise in the value 

 of his stumpage. This increase in value must be sufficient to meet not 

 only the usual carrying charges but also a depletion charge for the 

 forest capital destroyed. Assuming that the present stand of timber 

 under private ownership is 2,200 billion board feet and that at the 

 present rate of cutting all this will be removed in 55 years, the deple- 

 tion charge against the industry is nearly 2 per cent. Until recently 

 stumpage values have risen rapidly enough to met both this depletion 



