In many large cities electricity for lighting purposes and communication 

 is delivered to the consumer by means of underground wires. In small 

 cities and rural communities, however, these wires are supported by wooden 

 poles. The total volume of timber in such poles used in this country yearly 

 is about 37 L 2 million cubic feet. The 3/2 million poles would be enough to 

 extend a telephone line around the world, with an extra line across the 

 United States. 



Forests and land transportation. — Forests have always played an important 

 part in transportation. In the early days the covered wagon and the 

 sailing boat, both made mostly of wood, were the chief methods of trans- 

 portation. Then came the railroads with their wooden cross ties and cars. 

 Steel has replaced wood for many railroad purposes, but the wooden tie 

 is still in demand because no substitute has been found which so success- 

 fullv absorbs vibration. Each year the railroads use about 55 million 

 wooden ties to keep up their tracks. They have paid around $120,000,000 

 a year for these and other timbers. The increased use of treated ties has 

 caused some decrease in the number needed. It is also significant that one- 

 twelfth of all freight revenue is obtained through the shipping of forest 

 products, (figs. 8 and 9). 



Recent electrification of railroads indicates a still greater dependence on 

 forests. Power for such purposes must be cheap and dependable. One of 

 the transcontinental railroads has more than 600 miles of electrified lines 

 which are directly dependent upon forest streams for their power. 



Forest highways built primarily to aid in fire suppression have become 

 a part of the national network of roads open to the public. The forest 

 contributes large quantities of freight for the trucks on the highways. 

 These facts indicate an important relation between forests and transpor- 

 tation. 



Forests and water transportation. — So important is water transportation in 

 the distribution of goods in many parts of the United States that the 

 improvement and maintenance of navigable channels and harbors has been 

 made a Federal responsibilitv. Forest growth protecting the head- 

 waters against too rapid run-oft of rain and snow with consequent washing 

 of soil is needed to help regulate stream flow. Where there is no such pro- 

 tection, clogging of stream beds and irregularity of flow often hinder 

 navigation. 



Wood has given way to other materials in the change from raft, birch- 

 bark canoe, and wooden windjammer to modern shipping vessels, but 

 there is still a strong demand for wood for docks, decks, piles, and ship 

 finishings and furnishings. Lumber is an important part of cargoes from 

 the Pacific Northwest through the Panama Canal to east coast cites. The 

 cost of transporting logs from forest to sawmill has been low, because wood 

 floats. This fact has had much to do with the location of sawmills and 

 important cities on streams and shore lines. 



Will Industry Become More Dependent Upon Forests? 



Lumbering and its influences. — -The United States is the greatest lumber- 

 producing and wood-using country in the world. (See tables 3,5, and 6, 

 pp. 42, and 44.) Lumbering was our pioneer industry. Forest products 

 helped in the building of our Nation. Forests and wood-using industries 

 still furnish employment, support communities, and represent investment 



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