a stumpage value of over $380,000,000. Unless 
this blister rust control work is carried on, 
future growth of this valuable timber on millions 
of acres will be lost. 
Bark beetles (Ips and Dendroctonus species) 
are among the most destructive insects in the 
pine forests, especially in the Western States. 
The grubs of these beetles tunnel under the bark 
and by destroying the cambium or growth cells 
killthe tree. In some areas, bark beetles destroy 
far more timber than fires. In one recent 5-year 
period pine beetles in Washington and Oregon 
killed nearly as much ponderosa pine as was cut 
for lumber in those States and 15 times that 
destroyed by fire. A recent bark beetle out- 
break in Colorado has killed more than a billion 
board feet of Englemann spruce timber. 
Foresters have a rhyme which expresses feel- 
ingly, if not elegantly, what they think about 
these insect pests: Printable lines inform us that 
the “beetle dendroctonus— 
Lives in the bark of the pine * * * 
And he’s harder to kill than a lion.” 
The spread of serious infestations of bark 
beetles, however, can be checked by selective 
logging or by felling and stripping the bark 
from, or burning, infested trees, if the work is 
undertaken in time. With frequent surveys to 
spot promptly any new outbreaks of beetle dam- 
age and with sufficient manpower to control 
damaging infestations, millions of dollars worth 
of timber can be saved annually. 
The spruce budworm is an insect which at- 
tacks spruces, balsam firs, and jack pine—all 
important trees for pulp and paper. During a 
widespread outbreak of spruce budworm in 
1910-20 in Quebec, New Brunswick, Maine, and 
northern Minnesota, it was estimated that more 
than 225 million cords of pulpwood was de- 
stroyed. Another serious outbreak in the Prov- 
inces of Ontario and Quebec now threatens to 
invade the spruce-fir forests of New England, 
New York, and the Lake States. Surveys in 
Canada showed that by 1943 about 90 percent 
of the balsam fir and 50 percent of the spruce had 
been killed on 12,000 to 15,000 square miles. 
The best known method of combating spruce 
budworm is to apply management practices 
which will keep the forest in good condition to 
resist attack. This calls particularly for reduc- 
tion in the proportion of balsam fir, especially 
overmature fir. In general, the type of manage- 
ment that discourages budworm also results in 
better timber yields. The new insecticide, 
DDT, may prove to be a practicable weapon 
against budworm. Even so, it will take man- 
power to apply it over large areas of forest. 
Control measures are necessary also for the 
gypsy and browntail moths, which damage 
forest trees in the Northeastern States; for the 
Dutch elm disease, which menaces forest as well 
as shade trees; and for a number of other insect 
pests and diseases. : 
Watershed Protection and Flood Control 
Nearly every year, floodwaters damage crop- 
lands and _ industrial 
properties and force 
thousands to flee from 
their homes. Many of 
our major streams 
which once ran crystal- 
clear today are char- 
acteristically muddy, 
burdened with soil 
washed down from ill- 
treated farm and forest 
lands. They go into 
flood stage on slight 
provocation. Millions 
of dollars must be spent 
for building and main- 
taining levees and 
other works to keep 
them in their channels. 
These are necessary 
defenses against rag- 
ing waters. They do 
nothing, however, to 
keep the waters from 
raging. That must be 
done on the water gs 
sheds where the floods 
come from. 
Half of the total forest area of the United 
States is of major watershed importance. An 
additional quarter has at least moderate influence 
on water run-off. (The remaining quarter is 
mainly level lands, deep sands, swamp and over- 
flow lands where run-off and erosion problems 
are relatively unimportant.) Much of the west- 
ern range country also is of high watershed 
importance. In parts of southern California the 
value of the brushland or chaparral forest for 
watershed purposes has been estimated at $300 
an acre—a value rarely exceeded by high timber 
forest anywhere. 
Measures which serve to promote good forest 
and range management generally will contribute 
greatly to water conservation and flood control. 
There are many watershed areas, however, 
where positive remedial measures will be neces- 
sary in aid of flood control. Many of these 
measures will, in turn, help to restore the lands 
to full productivity as timber-growing or live- 
stock-grazing lands. 
The needed watershed protection work in- 
