4. Would forest growth equal forest drain if 

 fires were stopped? 



Adequate protection from fire, insects, and disease 

 would save a tremendous volume of timber. But even 

 if the 2 billion cubic feet per year loss f f om these causes 

 were entirely eliminated (which is impossible) forest 

 drain would still exceed growth by a substantial margin. 

 Also the benefits of better protection may be largely 

 offset by premature cutting of young growth. 



Although extremely important, fire control and pro- 

 tective work against insects and diseases are by no 

 means the sole or the main answer to the forest problem. 

 More than that is needed if forest growth is to be 

 stepped up sufficiently to meet our future requirements. 



5. Why worry when 

 only a small percent- 

 age of our timber is 

 cut annually? 



It has been said that be- 

 cause ordinarily only about 

 2 percent of our present 

 stand of saw timber is cut 

 for lumber in any one year, 

 there is no need to worry ; 

 it should last another 50 years, even if no new timber 

 were grown. 



But such statement neglects the fact that the cut for 

 lumber is only about 60 percent of the total drain on the 

 saw timber of our forests. In 1942 the total cut for all 

 purposes including pulpwoocl, fuel wood, and many 

 other products, was estimated at 3.2 percent of our pres- 

 ent total stand ; and losses from fire, storms, insects, and 

 disease acid to the drain. 



It should be noted also that in 1938 only about two- 

 thirds of the estimated 1,764 billion board feet of re- 

 maining timber was considered accessible at reasonable 

 cost. And we should remember that a larire volume of 



