346 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. 



regard to economy, or provision for the future, that, at the present time, 

 not only are we facing a serious timber famine, but the national health 

 is endangered, industry has been crippled, agriculture compromised, prop- 

 erty — and in many instances life — rendered insecure, and the beaut v 

 and attractiveness of the landscape materially diminished. Floods, 

 droughts, the contamination and discoloration of streams, the extermina- 

 tion of valuable wild game and fish, and the impartment of a desolate 

 appearance to vast areas intended by Nature to be pleasant retreats for 

 the soul-weary, recreative grounds for the sport-loving, and natural sana- 

 toria for the enfeebled and over-taxed, are some of the evils which have 

 followed in the train of unreasoning forest decimation. 



Rapid Decrease of standing Timber 



The alarming condition of affairs, with regard to the approaching 

 timber famine in the United States, was thus summarized, in 1890, by 

 Dr. B. E. Fernow, then Chief of the Division of Forestry, of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture: 



'The area of timber land in. the United States, although changing 

 daily by clearing of new farms and by relapsing of old ones into woodland, 

 may roughly be placed at 500,000,000 acres. All we can do is to estimate 

 the range of possibilities. 



"With the utmost stretch of imagination as to the capacity of wood 

 crops per acre, if we allow even the entire area of 500,000,000 acres to 

 be fully timbered, and keep in mind the enormous yields of the Pacific 

 coast forests, 1,250,000,000,000 cubic feet of wood is all that could be 

 crowded upon that area. This figure would far exceed the most highly 

 colored advertisement of a dealer in timber lands, except on the Pacific 

 coast; in fact he would be afraid to assert one-half as much, for it would 

 make the average cut of timber per acre through the whole country 10,000 

 feet, board measure. The above figure in cubic feet represents wood of 

 every description, allowing as high as 33^ per cent, for saw timber. Since 

 we consume between 20,000,000,000 and 25,000,000,000 cubic feet of wood 

 of every description annually, 50 to 60 years would exhaust our supplies, 

 even if they were as large as here assumed, and if there were no additional 

 growth to replace that cut and no additional consumption. 



