The Opelousas courier., 1902-02-08
FORESTRY IN THE SOUTH.
NOW The RICHEST T,MeEa Or,
GioN IN THE COUNTRY.

Tennsylvania, Wisconsin and MlchIoan
Onee valuable Lumber States. Are
TtacsleaI'y Denuded-Forces Which
Have c~o-operated In Destruction.
The most valuable forests NJ rho
onited States are now in the South.
pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michi.
san' the principal sources of lumber
supply In the past, are practically de-.
uuoeo. Reckless numbering, charcoal
burning, and the manufacture of pape,
pulp have co-operated as forces of de.
struction, and the result is that a great
iumoerlng industry, which should have
.asted for another century, has scarce.
~ outl1Ved the century which witness.
cd It's beginning. The discreet con.
serVation Of the forests deemed mex.
haust1ble when numbering began. and
measures for reboising the waste lands
not needed for agricultural purposes
after the lumbermen, the charcoal
burners, and the %wood-pulp makers
were through with them, would have
created new values to the extent of
hundreds of millions of dollars to re.
place those destroyed. That this was
not done Is not to be wondered at,
perhaps. Civilization swept westward
like a prairie fire. To clear land was
a hrst consideration, and labor was
neither cheap enough nor abundant
enough to permit that 1t be employed
In provision for the future. New com.
munlties are always reckless in squan.
dering natural resources. They seem
SO lin,itless and so much in the way
that it is not to be wondered at that
the effort is rather to waste than to
conserve them.
Until the timber supply of the West
began to fail that of the South was
neglected. It's vast forest areas had
scarcely known the woodman's axe
indeed, they had hardly been explored.
Their edges had been eroded, and there
was some numbering along the coast
for shipment to Northern markets.
They were, and still are, the great Ma
tional reserve Of available timber, and
extensive as are the numbering opera.
tons now in progress in the South, the
supply will not fail unless all the les
sons of Western experience are forgot.
ten or disregarded.
The movement already begun among
the wne of large Southern timbel
tracts to organize their numbering op-
erations under the guidance and d.
rection Of the Bureau of Forestry of
the Department of Agriculture, is one
which should receive the fullest ap-
probation and encouragement. Indeed,
the State Governments should do what
they can to stimulate progress in that
direction by offering substantial az
vantages to those who thus conserve
the wealth of the South. Land man
aged under a system of forestry which
preserves the young growth, and es-
pecially that devoted to tree growing
to restore It's forest character, might
very well be exempted from taxation
for a term Of years. The taxable value
of wood lands in the South is not great
enough to make the from
them a matter Of concern to State or
local authorities, and those certified
as under direction of the Forestry Blu
reau might very well be thus exempt |
ed. Trees grow slowly, and even a
small tax will often amount to more
than the annual increment Of value in
such property. Meanwhile, it is graft |
flying to learn from a recently publish |
ed report of the bureau that the South
is beginning to show an intelligent in
terest In this subject. The owners OF
i,534,000 acres Of pine and hardwood
lands have applied to the bureau for
working plans for conservative forest
exploitation, and its representatives
are kept busy giving advice and as
sistance where it Is being followed.
There are also some large tracts of
State and Government land which the /;
bureau has been asked to look after
and manage. This is as 1t should be.
The experience of half a century
should be enough to convince our peo-
pie that the adjective "inexhaustible"
as applied to natural resources of any
kind is misleading and meaningless.
New York Times.
i