4 



INTRODUCTION. 



reason for offering an apology of any sort for the expenditure 

 of enormous sums of money for the improvement of forest con- 

 ditions, nor for the slight expenditure necessary in taking the 

 important initial steps in that direction. On the contrary, 

 those states which have not acted when they have known the 

 truth have not measured up to their obligations. 



In calling attention to the condition of West Virginia 

 forests and to the necessity for a more economical use of them, 

 we bring before the farmerp,, the manufacturers, the lumbermen, 

 before business men, professional men, capitalists, laborers, and 

 men of every trade and calling, a question in which they are 

 all alike interested. In no state are the forests greater timber 

 producers, and in no state do they occupy a more important 

 position than in "West Virginia. The non-agricultural lands 

 lie on our mountains at the heads of the streams. The removal 

 of forests from these lands would affect not only the citizens of 

 this state but all who are influenced in any way by the flow of 

 the Ohio river. The approximate figures given below will serve 

 to show the situation briefly. 



There once existed within the present limits of West Vir- 

 ginia an almost unbroken forest covering more than 15^ 

 million acres and containing 150 billion feet of timber. During 

 the t:me which has elapsed, from the clearing of the first acre 

 by civilized men to the present, the virgin forest area has been 

 reduced to one-tenth its original size or to 1^^ million acres. 

 In addition to this area there are extensive cut-over forests 

 aggregating about 3 million acres; and 5 million acres of far- 

 mers' woodlots. The present forests, then, cover 60 per cent 

 of the state and contain not less than 25 billion feet of standing 

 timber. There are 83 mammoth band saw mills and about 900 

 portable saw mills operating within the state. These have a 

 combined annual capacity of approximately !]/> billion feet. 

 Should all of them continue to operate as at present they woiild 

 cut the timber of the state in a little over 16 years. 



There are many reasons why the situation is not as hope- 

 less as the figures above may suggest. The greatest of these 

 reasons is found in the attitude of public officials, law-makers 

 and common people whose knowledge of the value of the forests 



