The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1907-09-12
NATIONAL FORESTS
and LUMBER SUPPLY

A point in the industrial progress
OF the United States has now been
reached where development OF the
,ountry Is made, not In the face OF
the forest but with its essential aid.
The old process of exhausting the
supply of timber In a region and then
seeking new fields is practically over.
Already the lumber Industry Is turn
ing back on its tracks A quality OF
timber is eagerly sought In the Lake
states which few years ago was ig-
nored as utterly worthless, and 10 the
south the whole pine region is being
gone over In a close search Tor the old
field pine, tree once despised but
now bought uD at prices much higher
than I'll ose formerly paid for the mag
nifieent timber of the virgin forests.
A publication just issued by the de.
partment Of Agriculture, entitled
National Forests and the Lumber
Supply" defines the important part
which the national forests are des-
tined to play In the economic devel-
opment OF the country. Abuses have
grown up under the laws which pro-
vide for the disposition OF public
land, notably the segregation OF large
holdings of timberland for speculative
purposes. Timber from the national
forests Is now purchased by the thous
and board feet, and payment Is made
upon the sctual scale of the logs when
cut. Two dollars and half per
thousand feet Is comparatively low as
present charges go, but since the cut
ranges from 5000 to 1000 feet per
acre, the government receives from
fire to twenty times as much fol the
timber as it did under the timber aud
stone act.
Public opinion now demands, rot
that the government should dispose OF
its remaining timberlands as rapidly
as possible and leave il to private en-
terprise to exploit the forest hastily
but that what remains of the national
forests should be more conservatively
used. The government has been forced
into the lumber business solely In or.
der that supply of forest products
may be guaranteed to future genera
tions.
Probably 65 per cent of the total
stand of merohantable timber within
the forests 10 located on the Pacific
coast, where for long time the enor'
nous supply of privately owned tim
beI will satisfy most Of the demand.
This more accessible private timber
surrounded the forests as the meat OF
an apple surrounds the core. 1t has
been entirely eaten away in many
places, while In others it Is locked up
by speculators. Tbe thing to remem
ber, then, is that this immense body
of public timber Is there as great
reserve against the time when private
timberlands will be depleted, and tor
use as weapon against monopoly.
The first effect OF national forests
upon prices, particularly where there
IS still great deal of available tim
Ter, is to raise the price of outside
stumpage toward its actual value by
withdrawing the excess supply of low. |
priced timber from the market But |
later, as the supply of timber dwin.
dies and values are forced upward by |
speculative holdings, the effect OF the
forests will be to check the advance
CT prices.
In the virgin forest, growth is just
about balanced by decay. In the
Nc5tcih ibiobtrs uoWcfct, hubui ut w
teIioration Is greatly augmented by |
forest fires. The fires usually do most |
harm by damaging merchantahle tim
ber, but, great as this injury is, vast
ly more actual loss in forest wealth
results from the yearly burning over
OF the grass aud undergrowth OF the
forest. Ground fires do not consume
the large trees, but they destroy seed
lings, outright and injure growing
trees so that they quickly decay. Fin
ally, the forest floor, composed of
mold of needles, twig, aud MOSES, is
burned away.
Ear beyond the present iAfluence OF
the national forests upon the lumber
supply will be their Importance in the
future. The United States ia now
facing a shortage in the stock of avail
able timber. The yield from the ma
tional forests will aid greatly to
bridge over thefpeiiod in which ma
ture timber will be lacking, a period
which will last from the time the old |
trees are gone until the young trees
are large enough to take their places.
Ire definite result, therefore, of the
sale Of timber from the forests will be
to sustain the lumber business, to
maintain steady range of timber
values and so discourage speculation,
and, far more important still, steadi-
ly to further the uninterrupted de-
vleopment Of the great industries de-
pendent upon wood.