Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-12-21
FORESTRY ON MINING LANDS.
Cooperative Forest Management
Shared in by w. v. Company.

! One of the forest tracts which are
now being managed under working
plans prepared by the U. S. forest
service is situated in southwestern
West Virginia. About 24,OO0 acres
in the heart of the soft-coal region,
and consisting of mixed hardwoods,
form the basis of the plan. The own
ers, who are chiefly interested in min
! ing, asked the assistance of the for
est service, which was given in &C.
cordance with it's cooperative plan.
| They saw that the Introduction of
forestry would enable them to convert
the idle forest land into profit and so
increase the income from their hold
ings. Since the local logging methods
are so careless, and since grazing and
fire have wrought so much damage in
/ the region, ii is rarely that second
crops can be secured after once the
Virginia timber has been removed. The
plight of cut-over lands in southwest
ern West Virginia, generally, en-
forces the truth of this
In applying for the help of the For
est Service the owners had two main
objects in view. They wished to
handle their lands so as to obtain
continued supplies of timber sufficient
for the present and future needs of
the town and the mines, and, in adj
dition to this, to have a surplus of
valuable timber such as yellow pop
lar or white oak, to be cut and
marketed from time to time
The study of the tract on which the
plan is based revealed conditions com
mon in the region, and the recommen-
dations which were made by the For
est Service and which are being car
ried out by the owners apply in a gen
eral way to a number of similar for
est problems. Some account of the
data secured by the study and of the
advice to which they led would be of
profit to owners who have similar
problems to deal with.
Fires, everywhere the chief menace
to forests, have been instruct
i've in this locality. Spring and fall
are the dangerous seasons, April, May,
October and November being the
months when most fires break out.
consume underbrush, and kill young
growth, soaring the butts of the
larger trees. Sentiment toward these
fires is ind fferent The only source
of dread in regard to them is the pos
sble risk to some farm fence. Fires
are sometimes Intentionally kindled.
Scarcely a spot can be found in the
entire tract which has escaped fire,
and the ridges, where the east moist.
ure occurs have suffered grayely.
Repeated fires, even when they are
individually unimportant, do much
more havoc than is realized by the un-
initiated. Burning leaves which
should protect the ground, they leave
the soil exposed, to be eroded by the
rains and dried and hardened by the
sun and winds Impoverishment of
the soil necessarily follows, and, with
it, deterioration in the character and
growth of the timber. On spots
which are repeatedly burned over IL
is impossible to obtain reproduction
from seeds, since the seeds are burned
before they can terminate, or, If the
seeds escape, the seedlings are killeH
by the next fire The roots of seedl-
ings and saplings, persisting after
fires, reproduce themselves by sprouts,
so that little by little the entire stand
is changed to sprout growth. Another
effect of fire is the injury done to
larger trees. Attacked by fire after
fire. these trees are often reduced to
thin. hollow shell at the base. At
first only slight wound is caused,
but this becomes enlarged until
finally the butt log is worthless for
lumber. Such a tree must be butted
when cut with much loss of mer-
charitable contents.
Grazing has been carried on ever
since the early settlement of the
region Cattle, horses, mules, sheep,
and hogs were all found on the tract,
cattle in the greatest number. Cattle
and sheep have been the most in
furious. The bad effects of over
grazing are chiefly injury to the SOIL
to be seedlings, and to young trees
small enough to be reached by the
cattle. According to its composition,
the soil is either packed hard or pull
verified by the feet of the grazing ami
mails. The seedlings ard young
| saplings can never develop healthful
growth so long as their leaves and
tender shoots are again and again
| browsed. Occasionally, where log
ging has just been done, grazing
helps to expose the soil. ami SO may
encourage the termination Of seed,
but as soon as seedlings appear graz
ing on numbered areas becomes ex.
ceedingly harmful.
Perpetuation Of the forest naturally
| depends first and foremost upon its
ability to reproduce itself. In order