The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-12-28
NEED Of FOREsI PROTEgTION in VI
~ HUI Maxwell

West Virginia forests have been IN
1.-THE past and may stili be Ii the fu-
ture, one Of the states chief sources
or wealth. But the future cannot
share IN this wealth unless measures
are speedily taken to protect our
woodlands from waste and destruc'
tion, and to restore large tracts which
are now barren or which may become
50. Timber worth millions Of dollars
has been destroyed by fires, and year
by year, the remaining areas are being
consumed by the spring and antum-
nal confagraHon, and no concerted eE'
fort is being made to check the de-
struction. Other States, alive. to the
necessities Of the case, and actuated
by a CONSEQUENCES Of the duty which
they owe to the future, have appro-
priated large sums, and have organ.
lied departments to save their forests
and to encourage their people to plant
and care for new woodlands to pro
vide for the needs Of coming genera
lions as well as to increase present
wealth. California has set apart $780,
900, Pennsylvania 100000. New York
S700 O0O while other States, realiz.
ing the danger Of total destruction of
their forests, have vigorously taken up
the work of saving and restoring
them.
West Virginia cannot, and need not,
spend so layishly. A few thousand
dollars a year by the state-a sum
perhaps not greater than the remuner-
alton of a sheriff in a first class coun-
twill accomplish much II wisely
and economically used. The prlnci-
pal portion Of the expenditures by
some other States has ben for the pur.
pose of buying waste lands and plant
ing trees. West Virginia need not do
this, because nearly all our lands will
reforest themselves If protected from
fire. Private owners will, 1t is be-
lleved, take up the work on their own
lands, If they are made to see the ne
cessity of IT and the large profits
which will accrue to themselves and
to those who shall follow them.
The two salient features Of State
forestry law should be, first, the best
practical provision to prevent the oc-
currence of fires, and to extlnguish
them when once they gain headway:
and second, to encourage, advise, anil
instruct the owners of land, large and
small, in planting new woodlands, and
in protecting the natural growth which
will usually spring up when the first
growth has been destroyed These
1.-TWO objects II kept steadily in view
and IL wisely and carefully encour-
aged and carried out, will add millions
Of dollars to the States wealth, and
with the expenditure of only very
small annual sum by the State.
Our timber resources can be both
created and saved. Our gas, coal, AMI
oil can lie saved and husbanded only.
not created. Our timber can he made
perpetual source of profit which will
never be exhausted. but when the first
harvest of our gas, oil. and coal has
been garnered, no second harvest will
lever be possible. Thus, while the pres
ent value of our timber is less than
the value of tile coal in our hills, the
ultimate value, growing and repro
duced from generation to generation.
Will farsurpass all OF our other sources
Of wealth, with one exception, agricul-
Iture. But to realize from this great
storehouse which nature has placed
within our reach, It is necessary that
We shall do our part, and do 1t now.
We cannot permit these resources TO
Ibe wasted, destroyed, and squandercl,
and still have them.
Aside from the value Of the timber
as a commercial commodity, there ls
another reason why our forests should
he saved. The value of our agrIcul-
tural land depends largely upon the
woods which cover our mountains.
Strip the wilderness from our uplands
and our streams will dry up in sum-
mer, and in the spring Of the year our
fields and bottom lands will be wash.
ed by floods from rains and melting
snow. The woods, with their carpets
of leaves and moss, act as sponges to
take up the excess Of water when rain
Is abundant, and to squeeze 1t out
gradually in time of, drouth. Many
countries of the old world which once
supported dense populations. are ies'
erts now. Tho primary cause Of the
change is believed to have been the
stripping of forests from the land. If
our forests go likewise, we may expect
similar results. is ii not the part Of
wisdom, of duty, of economy, and Of
patriotism to postpone no longer the
conservation of our forest resources?