DEVELOPMENT OF PUIJPWOOD RESOURCES. 25 



National Forests for many years, but the interval between reap- 

 praisal dates of saw timber sales in the States is usually three years. 

 Pulpwood contracts in Alaska provide that these reappraisals shall 

 be made by determining the current value of corresponding timber, 

 due weight being given to the quality and accessibility of the stump- 

 age and other physical factors in the particular operation. The re- 

 appraisal plan has proved to be reasonable and fair both in prin- 

 ciple and in application, as is evidenced by the fact that, while pro- 

 vision is made for an appeal to the Secretary of Agriculture from the 

 decision of the United States Forester in fixing reappraised stumpage 

 rates, no appeal has as yet been received. The good faith of the 

 Forest Service has never been questioned in its reappraisal work. 

 It is as willing and able to satisfy operators for pulpwood in Alaska 

 as it is to satisfy operators for saw logs, pulpwood, or other materials 

 on the National Forests in Idaho or California. 



The principle of reappraisal at intervals during the life of a long- 

 term contract for the purchase of timber from a National Forest is 

 essential as a means of preventing speculation in Government prop- 

 erty. Without it there would be at least an opportunity for a pur- 

 chaser to have his chief interest not in a bona fide manufacturing en- 

 terprise, but rather in the chances for disposing of his contract to his 

 own pecuniary advantage. The effect of the establishment of such 

 a speculative system would be disastrous so far as it concerns the 

 actual development of such industries as the manufacture of pulp 

 and paper in Alaska. Furthermore, wholly aside from the prin- 

 ciple that the public is entitled to a fair return for its property, the 

 intent of the law is that National Forest timber shall be sold at not 

 less than its market value. It is the manifest duty of the Forest 

 Service to secure such returns from long-term as well as short-term 

 sales. 



In many respects this principle of reappraisal works to the ad- 

 vantage rather than to the disadvantage of the purchaser. Under 

 Forest Service timber-sale contracts a purchaser pays for timber in 

 relatively small amounts prior to cutting. At no time during the 

 life of the sale is it necessary for him to make a heavy investment in 

 standing timber. In order to justify the establishment of a new 

 pulp and paper mill, backed by privately owned timber, a heavy 

 initial investment in timberlands would be necessary, and this 

 investment would be steadily increased by interest charges, taxes, 

 and protection costs. On the Pacific coast it is customarj^ for tim- 

 berland owners to consider that their investment in standing timber 

 doubles every 8 or 10 years. This is a fixed charge which can not 

 be avoided. A purchaser of National Forest stumpage, however, 

 has no such inevitable increase in the cost of his raw material, for 

 each reappraisal merely determines the actual current value of the 



