Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-07
nEhEoRrAL ON FOREST PRESERVATION

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MEMORIAL ON FOREST PRESERVATION.
The State Board of Forestry has sent up
to Congress a long memorial upon the
subject of the preservation of the timber
lands of this State from further destruc
ton, for such devastation as has already
been accomplished is appalling, when the
field Is looked over carefully. Some weeks
ago we commented at length upon the
proposition now before Congress- in the
form of bill to withdraw all timber lands
from entry and sale, and to appoint
Forestry Commission to classify the lands,
protect the timber tracts and report upon
such plans for care and disposal of them as
the facts shall justify.
At that time the RECORD UNION said
that no more important measure had come
before the people since the settlement of
the issues Of the war of the rebellion, and
the more we study the subject the stronger
is our conviction that such EXPIRE sion was
not hyperbolical. The perusal of the
memorial referred to confirms US in that
Judgment. The subject is one of trans
cendeut importance, at the same time it is
one to which the earnest attention of the
mass of people can be drawn only with
difficulty. The disposition to let the fu-
ture lake care of itself, to put off until
fairer day the work of the hour essential
TO the prevention of great disasters; the
inclination to look upon forestry as a
sentimental subject; the fact that but very
few have studied the true relation of forest
growth 10 the climatic changes, the agri-
culture and sanitary conditions of coun-
try-all conspire to render the mass of
people lukewarm, to put it mildly, upon
this subject. The reading of the memorial,
thegist OF which appears in another column,
we trust will, therefore, engage all citi-
zens who feel any sort of concern for their
country and stimulate them to active in
terest in forestry.
The indiscriminate destruction of our
forests is storing up for US casket of
plaques that will be presently opened to
our wee and CONSERVATION. The Board,
in It's memorial, hints at some of these ills
as already beginning to be manifest in the
decrease Of the water supply of the Feather,
the Sacramento, the San Joaquin and the
Kings rivers; in the notable decrease of
rainfall in some sections and its abnor-
nifty in others; in the menace unre-
stricted timber destruction constitutes to
legitimate numbering and to agriculture.
Three principal causes combine to work
the destruction of the forests that clothe
the slopes Of our mountains, conserve the
capacity of the soil to retain the rains that
fall upon them, favor the use Of waters by
storage for the reclamation of arid lands
and for the purposes of irrigation in dry
seasons Of lands in the fertile valleys;
modify the rigors of cold and temper the
seasons of heat; invite and stimulate rain
fall and contribute to the ozone that gives
to the atmosphere its stimulating quail
ties; promote the nayigability of rivers by
preserving the streams and springs upon
which their tributaries feed, and at the
same time protect the natural water-powers
that enable manufacturing to be carried
on with the best economy. The first of
these causes of I'll is the depreciation of
timber thieves; the second, destruction by
fire due to the carelessneSs of hunters, and
third. the objectionable clearing, by burn
ing brush and timber, in which sheep
herders engage to enlarge their free graz
ing areas, and the damage done young
growth by the herds aad the tramplipg
Of the soil By the feet of stock. Added to
these may be the too liberal policy of the
Government in disposing of timber lands
and the failure to set aside needed reserves
and timber parks.
The forests of the Sierras have been ab-
solutely without protection. As we write
citizen relates single experience of the
past summer, which is but The type OF
many. He stood upon shore of Lake
Tahoe and saw at a short distance a single
tree kindle into fame He drew the at
tention of residents st the lake to the spec
tacle, and was told that it was probably
the result of the negligence of some camper
or hunter, or perhaps the willfulness OF
some herder. He was unable to rouse the
people to any interest in extinguishing the
FIRE by telling the tree and smotheCing the
flames. Within twenty-four hours, froln
that solitary confer the fire spread over a
large tract, and in less than a week swept
a distance of ten miles in belt Of fame 5
mile or more in width. Yet that is bul
one Of a hundred instances Of the vandal
ism that is denuding our mountain slope.
and imperilling some of the immediate
vital interests Of the people, to say nothing
OF the threat it contains against the com
fostable occupation of the valleys in ii.
future on the one HAND, and the use Of Il,
rivers on The other.