Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1880-01-30

Timber on Public Lands In Idaho.
Gov. Brayman in his last annual re
port to the Secretary Of the 1nteriol
makes the following just comments up
on the treatment Of timber upon the
public lands in Idaho and elsewhere;
In the northern part of the territory
the rainfall promotes the growth Of
timber equal to the wants Of dense
populations Most of the mountain
ranges have also supply. The plains
are destitute. A porter o. the lands
destitute of rain in Summer, and which
are too high to admit of irrigation,
must forever remain blank, hidcous
desert. In process Of time, the great
levels along the streams, upon which
water can be carried by canals and
bitches, will he made productive of
timbg,ls This must be the work of .
fixed, far-seeing population, willing to
provide for the wants of posterity. At
present tho struggle Of existence is too
sharp, the desire for immediate re-
wards too absorbing, and population
too meager to give encouras em,nt that
forest-planting will be resorted to for
the supply Of wants SO distant. Trees
are the growth of an age, and not of a
year. One generation can destroy,
and this generation is wantonly de-
stroyins the supply Of the future, and
for want of which these mountain dis
tricts may become desolate and the adj
jacent valleys be abandoned. Mining
processes and the reduction of ores re.
quire large consumption of timber.
AS new mines are opened and the val
leys are occupied, the demand will in
CREASE, whereby the forests in their
vicinity will, in q few years disap 20 ~
This must be met by transportation of
fuel from abroad at ruinous COST. For
example, the supply of Boise City, the
capital q the Territory, consisting of
pine and fir, is brought from the noun
tains twelve miles away at an average
cost Of So per cord. Quantitie, are al
80 foated down the river at high wa
ter. A gradually diminishing supply
is found in small growths Of cotton
wood and poplar along the streams.
Lumber for building, fencingand other
domestic uses is drawn from the same
sources. Woodchoppsrs naturally Sc
lect the best trees for cutting, as those
furnish greater quantities, and ar,
prepared for use with less labor. As
it is the public domain bears the loss,
the ordinary motive to economy is
wanting, and the thrift Of saving un-
thought Of, the government being, as
in toc great portion of its service in
the territories, huge, helpless imper-
sanaRty which any may plumber at
will. Notwithstanding the vigorous
-o9orts recently employed by the de-
partment to enforce the laws and lin
it this waste, the evil goes on, and as
long as the wants of the people con-
tinue to increase, no plan yet devised
will stay it; for with or without law,
the people must consume the timber
growing on public lands or abandon
the country.
Added to the growing consumption
OF timber for dome ,tic and industrial
uses, is the prevalencs of fires during
the Summer and Autumn of each wear.
There being no rainfall the whole
mountain region awaits combustion.
A hunters chanc, shot, the embers of
ON abandoned campfire, match ap-
piled in spirit of malice or id'e mis-,
chief, does the work. While tassing
through the mountain region, or re.
turning from the east, was scarcely
out Of sight Of fires, devastating vast
tracts Of valuable timber The Wa
satch range in Utah, the Sawooth
range in Eastern Idaho, the Goose
Greek mountains Southern Idaho.
were. enveloped for long distances in
flames. Twenty-ssven thousand acres
were burned over on the Fort Hall
reservation, caused by a fire set by an
Indian to drive beaver from its nest.
Frequent fires during the present sea
son have swept over the mountain
sides in this vicinity, consuming the
very timber from which the citizens of
the territorial capital draw their sup
ply, y is considered by those compe-
tehtato Judge that the wooded lands Of
Idaho are being laid bare by these
confagrations much faster than by all
that is taken for consumption by the
sentipe population.
belonging to the future more than
t6the present is the scientific fact that
the destruction Of the forests produces
atmospheric changes, reducing the
rainfall, followed by perpetual barren
ness While protected from the direct
rays OF the heat, the SHOWS melt grad
uallyi preserving humid atmosphere,
aud supplying the streams, whereby
mining and agriculture are aided, until
late IN the Summer, and embryo for
ests nourished.
Great provinces in Europe and Asia,
once the homes Of millions, the thea.
ter Of industry and high civilization.