AMEKICA AND THE WORLDS WOODPILE 



11 



will have to be solved and the shortage met long before those forests 

 are in a position to meet it. Moreover, the solution will have to be 

 much more practicable than attempting to supply our enormous 

 hunger for wood from the distant equatorial forests. 



THE UNITED STATES MUST DECLARE FOREST INDEPENDENCE 



This brief outline of the forest situation in all countries shows 

 plainly that America can not reasonably depend upon the world's 

 woodpile for adequate supplies of timber. Competition for soft- 

 woods will naturally become more intense as the needs of the con- 

 suming countries grow and as the reserves diminish. And by the 

 time our virgin hardwoods are gone, there will be no appreciable 

 surplus of similar material in the Temperate Zones. Although we 

 may get much of our higher-grade woods from tropical forests, to 

 depend on them for the bulk of our hardwoods would involve ex- 

 tensive changes in our wood-using habits and largely increased 



< 



UNITED STATES.. 



-J s 







M 



LL 

 1 



10 



c 



N 



CUBIC FEET 



IS 20 2 



PER CENT OF TOTAL 

 WORLD PRODUCTION OE- 



SAW ALL 

 5 TIMBER TIMBER 

 ..J2.6. .43.2 





2.. 

 1.. 



























































^ 



ZZ 





































A-Z........4A 



/.-5._ .4.0 



I.I 3.5 









CHINA 



EZ 



Z.3 

 71 



INDIA 

















































O.7. 2.8 



SWEDEN 



FINLAND. 



72S. 

 BE 



EZ 



m 



EZ? 

 EL 

 2. 

 71 



a.. 

















































_:„:■*.& .Z.6 



J.4. Z.3 



. QA. 2.3 





GERMANS. 



L. 

















































....j2.3_ 2.1 



I.Z J.7 



/./. JA 





YUGOSLAVIA 



MEXICO _. 



CHIL E. 



















































0.2 J.2 



..0,2 _./.2 



POLAND. 



CZECHOSLOVAKIA 

 ITALY.. 



a. 



XL 

 7\ 



















































.....1.2. J.2 



1.3 1.0 



















































0.3 ....0.6 



NORWAY 



E_ 



















































. ..I.I. .0.6 



S9 SAW TIMBER XZZZ1 ElREWOOD 





THE CUT OF TIMBER IN PRINCIPAL PRODUCING COUNTRIES 



Fig. 3. — The cut of timber in principal producing countries 



expenditures for hardwood products. Nor would it be desirable, 

 even if it were possible, to depend upon other countries for essential 

 raw materials that can be produced at home as cheaply as they can 

 be obtained abroad. 



There are in the continental United States (exclusive of Alaska) 

 approximately 460,000 square miles of softwood and 275,000 square 

 miles of hardwood forest land. A recent careful study of land 

 utilization and agricultural trends leads to the conclusion that there 

 need be no reduction in our forest area to meet agricultural require- 

 ments, at least during the next 50 years. Much of this forest land 

 is capable of producing timber at a rate hardly surpassed by the 

 forests of any other part of the Temperate Zone. There are very 

 few regions of equivalent extent where the growth of hardwoods 

 exceeds that in portions of the southeastern United States, or where 

 the growth of softwood equals that of our Pacific coast Douglas fir 

 and redwood and much of our southern pine and white pine. 



