Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1907-05-10
THE TIMBER SUPPLY.

Every person in the United States
using over six times as much wood a
he would use il he were in Europe
The country as a whole consume
every year between three and fou
times more wood than all the forest
of the United States grow in tn
meantime. The average acre Of fores
lays up a store Of only ten cubic fee
annually, whereas it ought to b
laying up at least 80 cubic feet il
order to furnish the products takeI
out OF it. Since 1880 more thar
OO,OO0,OOO,O 1000 feet of timber have
been cut for lumber alone, including
$4,000, 900, 900 feet of coniferous timber
in excess OF the total coniferous
stumpage estimate OF the Census oi
1880.
These are some OF the remarkable
statements made in a circular just
issued by the Forest Service, which
deals with the timber supply Of the
United States and reviews the stump
age estimates made by all the i'm
portant authorities. study of the
circular must lead directly to the con-
clusion that the rate at which forest
products in the United States have
been and are being consumed is far
too lavish, and that only one result
can follow unless steps are promptly
taken to prevent waste in use and to
increase the growth rate Of every acre
Of forest in the United States. The
result is timber famine. This ccun-
try is today in the same position with
regard to forest resources was as Ger
many $50 years ago. During this per-
iod Of $50 years such German states as
Saxony and Prussia, particularly the
latter, have applied policy of gov
ernment control and regulation which
has immensely increased the produc-
tivity Of their forests. The same pol
icy will achieve even better results in
the United States, because we have
the advantage OF all the lessons which
Europe has learned and paid for in
the course Of a century of theory and
practice.
Lest it might be assumed that the
rapid and gaining depletion of Amer
ican forest resources is sufficiently
accounted for by the increase Of pop
ulation, it is pointed out in the circu-
lar that the increase in population
since 1880 is barely more than half
the increase in lumber cut in the same
period. Two areas supplying timber
have already reached and passed their
maximum production-the Northeast
ern states in 1870 and the Lake states
in 1900. Today the Southern states,
which cut yellow pine amounting to
one-third the total annual lumber cut
OF the country, are undoubtedly near
ing their maximum. The Pacific
states will soon take the ascendancy.
The state Of Washington in a few
years has come to the front and now
ranks first of all individual states in
volume of cut.
At present but one-flfth of the total
forest area OF the United States is
embraced in National Forests. The
remaining four-tlfths have already
passed or are most likely to pass into
private hands. The average age of
the trees felled for lumber this year is
not less than $50 years. In other
words, If he is to secure a second crop
Of trees Of the same size, the lumber
man or private forest owner must
wait, say, at least one hundred years
for the second crop to grow. AS a
rule, such longtime investments as
this waiting would involve do not
commend themselves to business men
who are accustomed to quick returns.
But the States and the Nation can
look much farther ahead. The larger,
then, the area of State and National
control over woodlands, the greater is
the likelihood that the forests OF the
country will be kept permanently
nrOHYotfvo