Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-04-02
From Pierce City Miner


Before any discussion of the forest
reserve question in the west there
should be clear understanding Of the
governments policy in creating and
managing these reserves" said Mr..
Clifford Pinchot, forester, of the bureau
of forestry. :! Z.
Through ignorance of this policy
probably justified in some measure by
occasional mistaken Interpretation of
it by over-zealous or incompetent Off
cials, many citizens have objections to
reseserves which they would be the
first to drop if they understood the true
situation. The government has but one
aim in creating forest reserves-the
best permanent use of the land by the
people and the prevention of any of it's
resources.
1.-THE possible uses of most forest
areas are manifold. They may include
the production of lumber, or of mineral,
or of pasture, or the conservation of
water. One of these functions may be
the most important or all may be- fairly
well balanced, but in any case the in
dustries and resources of a region, or a
state, should be considered as parts of
a whole, each contributing to and shar-
ing the general good. Practically every
important industry in the inter-moun-
tain states, whether mining, agricul-
ture, grazing or numbering, depends for
its existence upon the forests of these
states, and the forests can serve all
these interests best only if placed un-
der management which will prevent
undue promotion of one at the expense
of the aggregate good of all. A trip
through the white pine states of the
Great Lakes region, or through hund-
red other once forested districts of the
world will convince any man of the
short sighted abuse of the timber re-
sources, and of the effect of attendant
forest fires on permanent prosperity.
For awhile prosperity is evident every
| where, farms are cleared, railroads are
4 built and times are good, but. it does
not last Only the best timber is cut,
while millions of dollars worth of poor
er material, which in time would 'be
worth quite as much, is destroyed by
fires. These fires also kill all young
growth and seed trees and eventually
turn the land into a desert, which is
abandoned by its owners and does not
even pay taxes. The mills are moved
away, the towns abandoned, and the
farmers find themselves without mar
ket, and the enterprises, and sometimes
even the counties, which were built up
on such unstaple foundations, become
bankrupt. This is not theory, it is his
tory written in lumber district after
lumber district, not only ali over the
United States, but throughout the
world. The lumbermen were not tt
blame, it was only the natural outcome
of conditions which obliged them tx
conduct their business in this way o.
lose money. The private owner of tim
Der often cannot afford to do otherwise
But the government can, and this is tn,
reason why every civilized country il
the world, including our own, ha
adopted the forest reserve system.
eff sufficiently large and we'll distrib
: uted areas can be held as reserves, onl,
the mature timber cut and the youn,
1 growth protected from fires, there i
no reason why numbering should not b
permanent and profitable industry
f Small mills scattered over the timbe
r districts, will perpetuate local prosper
e ity and the price of lumber to the resi-
e dent will be low. Without reserves tn
t present tendency toward syndicat
. ownership of all commercial timber
. apt to result not only in wasteful use
d but in the disappearance of the sma
: mill and in high prices for lumber. A
L most if not quite as important is tn
o relation of forest reserves to mining
a which absolutely requires an immens
: amount of timber and sustained SUP
e ply of water. In all cases its profit
o depend directly upon the cheapness @
e these commodities, Without proteC
: ton from fire and from enterprisin
lumbermen who may acquire all timbe
around them and ship it out of tn
n states, many important mining camp
f are certain to be in serious straits in
o few years.
Zone of the objects of forest reserve