The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1897-04-09

1t seems to be clear, so great is the
Importance of the relation of the forest
aspects, that it is one Of those problems
which the state can no longer leave alb
solutely to the caprice and sclfshness OF
individuals. The individual is for the
most part shortsighted, intent only or
immediate utilization for commerce.
purposes. The lumberman's outlooi
merely covers the stripping of piece
of woodland for its available timber
and moving to the next, leaving jagged
eyesores of stumps, saplings and under
brush. This it will take from 80 10 30
years to renew, even if the forest frs
does not sweep over it with ali awful
fury of flames, involving in many in
stances CONGREGATIONS extending hun
dreds of square miles Every year reelzs
with such destruction. Thousands Of
squatters, too, have been in the habit Of
clearing lands by fire, destroying thou
sands of acres to get the use Of hun
dreds for tillage. The breath of fire has
done more than the AK to deforest our
country. Again, in remote woodland re-
gions, where the difficulty of marketing
lumber is great-as, for example, in
parts Of West Virginia, North Carolina
and Tennessee-the ignorant mountain
eer will destroy the trees and thousands
Of acres for their bark, leaving the Cir
died giants to droop, die and rot. Such
are very few of the salient causes the
operation of which is and has been rap
idly destroying our forest acreage, and
the effects Of which, unless some coun-
tercheck is devised, will work incredi-
BILE loss to American civilization and
progress.
But the awakening of public opinion,
slow as it has been, promises something.
1t begins to show itself in government
tai action. Against the sluggish indiffer-
ence of such states as New Hampshire,
which, in spite of the persistent efforts
of the late Austin Corbin and other pub
lie spirited men, refused to set apart q
forest reservation as an object lesson in
the art of forestry and tree culture, we
have the examples of New York, with
her splendid Adirondack reservation,
protecting the sources of the Hudson
and of Pennsylvania, which has done
something similar in the Allegheny re-
gion. While not more than half a dozen
states have taken steps directly in this
way, the example is contagious and
promises to be speedily followed. More
important than any state legislation in
its effects has been the wise action Of
congress.
Under the law passed March 3, 1898,
10 forest reservations have been set off,
which protect the well heads Of the prin-
cipal rivers between the Mississippi
river and the Pacific ocean. Four Of
these are in California, five in Colora-
do, one in Oregon, one in Washing
ton, one in Wyoming, one in New
Mexico, one in Arizona and one in
Alaska. They include a total of 15,-
900, 900 acres out Of the $4,000, 900
acres Of government forest land, rang
ing from 500 to 5000 square miles in
extent 1t is believed, too, that this is
only the beginning of governmental eff
fort 1t were well, indeed, if its whole
the river gods. These reserves may
easily be made object lessons in the art
Of forestry, showing how the woods,
nurtured and harvested with skill, can
be made greatly to increase their boun-
ty. The existing forest acreage in our
country is 500, 600, 900 acres. At the
current rate of use and with the meth
DDS in vogue the annual growth does
not supply the demand; the capital
stock is constantly impairing. European
forest methods would not only meet this
impairment, but increase the reserves.
It is then of immense importance that
government supervision should attach
schools of forestry to its great woodland
parks and nurseries. Then the knowl-
edge of the true methods of treating the
woods would flow down and gradually
fertilize the ideas Of private owners,
just as the springs and rivers protected
by those forests flow down and fertilize
the meadows JOHN GORDON.