The San Francisco call., 1906-12-30
Forestry Service Should Be
Improved by State
BY q. LII, state Forester

!. ,o,-+aebn,caf man could be found
who had suf1cient rudimeEtary Know
edge of forestry to be or value- y.
this reason all technical work deVolseu
on the State Forester and the urse
years work included no AID 10 lahu-
owners along the line of forest replace
meut. The law contemplates ADVISORY
aid to prospective planters to encour-
ars and direct their own efforts 70
form forest plantations, and lnstructs
the state Forester to enter into agree
ments for this purpose with landown-
ers who will pay the travehns anu
aeld expenses (not salaries) OF tnosa
engaged in the work Although a Sec
ond assistant was secured on August l
Of this year he, too. lacks teennicai
training. Consequently the state For-
ester remains the only tecnnioally{
trained forester In the employ or tns'
state. and upon him devolves all orig
mai work recurring technical knowl-
edge.
This condition, caused and main
tanned by the low statutory salary OF
assistants, has effectively prevented
technical work along several attractive
and desirable lines. There Is public
demand Of large proportions ror expers
advice In planting several foress
species, and particularly eucalyptus
This demand cannot be met by the
State under present conditions.
Through the hearty cooperation OF
the forest service plan has recently
been prepared, the first under the State
office, for q tract OF cut-over redwood
land belonging to the Union Lumber
Company at Fort Bragg. This COM
pay offers cospieuous example, oe
the modern tendency toward sustained
forest management. 1t ts providfn8
now for supplies to fall back on when
It's present large tract of virgin red
wood shall have been cut. Other lunn-
bermen would do we'll to emulate the
wise foresight OF this company and
anticipate the day when there VIII be
no virgin tracts to exploit. The old
habit of moving westward for virgin
supplies as soon as one field had been
exhausted will never work again. Now
~ the time to realize this.
An attractive field deserving OF
technical investigation is the practi-
cability of establishing the naval
stores industry in California Recent
analyses made by the Forest Service
of crude resin from the Sierra pines
have demonstrated that these species
yield from 90 to % per cent of turpen-
tine, which Is 1 or per cent abovef
the average yield from the standard{
turpentine pines of the South. BY the
Introduction of the cup and gutter"
system in the Southern pineries. the
Forest Service has completely revolu-
tionized the methods OF turpentining.
Under this system the damage to the
forest has been reduced to minimum
while at the same time the product
has been increased over 25 per cent.
The State Forester should be equip
ped with sufficient technical force to
investigate and develop these possi-
bilities, which are fraught with much
importance to the Industrial life of the
State.
The act OF 1905 provided for ad-
visory aid in forest management un-
der conditions identical with those
described for forest replacement. The
objects of this offer are to encoura ge
1umbermen to harvest their forest pro-
ducts and dispose of the debris from
logging in such a way that the tract
cut over will be refOrested by natural
means. Commonly this may be ac-
complished very simply by creating
conditions of soil and cover favor
able to the termination of the seed
and fostering of the growth of the
species which it is desired TO repro
duce- The seed must be supplied. of
course. either from mother trees left
standing temporarily or artifcially
Although this plan appears exceeding
ly simple. many difficulties beset it's
application unless under.expert super
vision. for the requirements Of the
species under treatment must be fuDF
understood. particularly the optirnur1
agement there seems to be no reason
why our valuable forests OF sugar pine
should not be harvested and repro
duced continuously instead OF lost af-
ter one cutting.
The State of California occupies a
unique position In that her forest re-
sources are comparatively very great.
The forest throughout the State, ex-
cepting possibly small portion OF
the redwood belt. Is situated on land
absolutely worthless for any other
purpose than forest production. The
mountains must be kept under forest
cover to conserve the rainfall and pre-
vent the destruction Of the valleys by
floods. even IL their timber product
was not material necessity. Through
out the northern part Of the State. at
least, this protective function Of the
forest Is not incompatible with lurn
bering, If rational cutting method
Is Followed and fires are prevented
a1rerWard. In the extreme south ft
VIII probably be necessary In sonna
cases to debar the AK TO preserve the
forest.
In all events, both north and south
IRE must be prevented as far as nos
sfble or the loss Of the forest will ha
followed by the certain crfpp1fnr ~
every other industry in the State A.
the present time the State is not
equipped to prevent fires or furnish
technical advice. This desirable ma
chfnery forms the special feature In
the amended forest law which tbs
present Legislature Will be asked TO
enact.