Evening star., 1907-11-17
DEF0RESTATI0N IMPROVISATION

| in waste by water. but likewise by winds
| which sweep with fury over the country.
The writer returned from Bordeaux IN
| 1896, where he had been made familiar
| with the conditions which had contrib
uted to the establishment of Arcachon
| in the Bay of Gascony; submitted 10 the
| DEPARTMENT OF Agriculture proposition
| to plant with maritime pines the Atlantic
coast from New Jersey to Flor da. Bre-
montier. the distinguished French engl-
neer, in 17SS successfully liked the shift
| ing sands of Arcachon by means of mari
| time pine plantations. The writer sus-
| gested that Bremontiers system might be
applied to the reclamation of the barren
sandy shores of the American coast.
4
| The writer would SOW with pine seed
(Which grow rapidly and without cultiva-
tion) sanitary forests from
Coast Sandy Hook to the Florida
p,, keys. These forests would
constitute. like Arcachon.
| wonderful health resorts. Moreover. they
| would form barriers of protection against
the blasting blizzard winds which sweep
| from the east and northeast across the
| continent. the undoubted legacy to the
| United States Of excessive deforestation.
| The writer was encouraged by the Secre-
| tary of Agriculture, but he was advised
| that the states must take it up. The
| states did nothing and there the mat
chaplain United States Senate. writing
| of deforestation. may be cited on this
| head:
Il tell you, it makes a man cry.
have watched this thing. and have been
| on all sorts of committees about It. and
1 have concluded that really with the
| oest intentions in the world nobody can
manage it except the nation. The gov
ernor will tell you that the state can
| not manage 1t.
France and every country of Europe
have found out from experience that the
| nation must manage the forests. The
| more you think about it, the more you see
| of it, the more you are convinced that II
the affair of some particular state or par
| ticular county. still less OF particular
men,
France had her Colbert, the minister
who warned her against the misfortune
| that would overtake her because Of lack
Of forests. The United States has Gilt
ford Pinchot, forester. who has done and
is doing great service In the protection
and conservation of the forests of Amer
ica Mr.. Pinchot Is the author OF an IN.
| teresting brochure which should be read
by every patriotic American. The Use
Of the National Forests" The author
begins by explaining why national forests
were first formed. and says:
dent of the United States to establish
forest reserves and created the first one
the Yellowstone-that same year. Con-
gress took this action because the for
ests Of the great mountain ranges IN tne
west were being destroyed very rapidly
by fire and reckless cutting. 1t was real
lied that unless something were done to
protect them the timber resources OF the
country and the many industries depend
ent upon the forest would be badly Grip
pled So the law aimed to save the tim
Der for the use of the people and to hold
the mountain forests as great sponges
to give out steady flows Of water for use
in the fertile valley below"
| x+
Mr.. Pinchot In the New York Outlook
has an article entitled THE Conserva-
ton of National Re-
National sources" He says: 1--WE
are prosperous because
iosPe'''y' our forefathers be-
oueathed to US a land OF marvellous re-
sources still unexhausted. Shall we con-
serve those resources. and In our turn
transmit them. still unexhausted. to our
descendants? Unless we do. those VINO
| come after US will have to pay the price
of misery. degradation and allure for the
progress and prosperity Of our day: When
| the natural resources or any nauon oe
come exhausted, disaster and decay In
every department OF national me Ioii0W
as a matter of course. Therefore the
conservation of natural resources Is the
| basis, and the only permanent OASIS, OF
national success. There are other conal-
| tions, but this one lies at the founda-
| ton.
istic of the American people Is their su-
| perb practical optimism-that marvellous
hopefulness which keeps the individual
efficiently at work. This hope1uhess oI
the American is. however. as short
sighted as it is intense. AS a rule II
| does not look ahead beyond the next DEC
| ade or score of years, and falls wholly 10
reckon with the real future OF the ma
ton AS people we eerian haxs oeen of our re
| sources to be inexhaustible. For example.
not a few of the coal fields of Iowa and
Missouri are already exhausted. The
| methods Of mining are Wasterui ana Ine
loss is prodigious and inexcusable." For
example again, only about per cent OF
the power Of the one hundred and hfty
million tons annually burned on the rail-
ways Of the United States is actually used
productivity or Is lost There is waste In
oil, in iron, coke. blast and other furnaces.
and waste in soil. and Prof. Shaler is cited
to show that according to his estimate
been destroyed by deforestation in the
states south Of Pennsylvania.
The lowest estimate reached by the for
est service Of the timber now standing
in the United States is
Limit Is 100000, 100000 feet. board
in Sight measure; the highest 2.ooo.-
!" ss'' Ooo,OoO,oO0 The annual
consumption is OOO,OOO,OOO feet,
while the annual growth is but a third Of
the consumption, or from 10000, 100000 to
10 600, 600, 900 feet. The probable duration
of our supplies of timber. says Mr..
Pinchot, is not more than thirty-three
years.
What will happen when the forests
fail?" asks Mr.. Pinchot. I'm the first
place the business of numbering will dis
appear. irrigated agriculture will suffer
most Of all, for the destruction OF the
forests means the loss of the waters as
surely as night follows day: In word
when the forests fall the daily life Of the
average citizen will inevitably feel the
pinch on every side And the forests have
already begun to fall
The press of Europe as well as America
is thoroughly awakened as to the neces-
sity of government control in order to
prevent further defo -estation and pro-
mote afforestation. 1t is announced that
the inland waterways comm SSlon will