Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-12-03
PRESERVATION OF
THE FORESTS

Optimism Is a good characteristic,
but il carried to an excess il becomes
foolishness. We are prone to speak ~
the resources Of this country as mex
haustible. this Is not so. The miner
al wealth OF the country. the coal, iron,
oil, gas and the like. does not repro
duce itself. and therefore is certain
TO be exhausted ultimately; and waste
fulness I'm dealing with IL today means
that our descendants will feel the eN-
haustion "A generation or two before
they otherwise would. But there are
certain other forms Of waste which
could be entirely stopped-the waste
OF soil by washing for instance, which
is among the most dangerous OF all
wastes now IN progress I'm the United
States, is easily preventable. so that
this present enormous loss OF fertility
is entirely unnecessary. The preserva-
ton or replacement OF the forests Is
one Of the most important means OF
preventing this loss. We have made n
beginning ln forest preservation, but Il
IS only a beginning. Al present lumber
ing b. the fourth greatest industry pa
tho United States, and yet 50 rapid
has been the rate Of exhaustion OF TIM
Der ia the United states in the past
and so rapidly Is the remainder being
exhausted. that the country Is unqucs-
tionably on the verge Of a timber fam
ine which will be felt in every house
hold I'm the land There has alrea%'
been rise la the price OF lumber but
there is certain 10 be a more rapid and
heavier rise IN the future Tho present
annual consumption Of lumber Is GER
talnly three times as great as the an
nual growth. and II the consumption
and growth continue unchanged. prac-
ticaliy an our lumber viii be exhausted
In another generation. while long before
the limit 10 complete exhaustion is
reached tine growing scarcity VIII
make Itself felt in many blightng ways
upon our national welfare. About 20
per cent Of our forested territory ~
now reserved ln NATIONAL forests; but
these do not include the most valuable
timber lands, and iu any event the pro-
portion is too small to expect mat the
reserves can accomplish moro than "a
mitigation OF the trouble which Is
ahead for the nation.
DRASTIC ACTION NEEDED.
Far more drastic action is needed.
Forests can be numbered so as u give
90 the public the run use OF their mere
camille climber without the slightest de-
triment 90 the forest amy more than
it D. detrimeut to- r. farm t0 furnish
harvest. 500 that there is no parable
between forests nud mines, which can
only Doe completely used by exhaustion
Hut forests. 10 used a8 on our for-
fsts have been used in tho past ana
as most of Thorn are still used. viii boz
either wholly destroyed, on so damaged
that many decades have to pass before
effective use can be- made of them
again AN these fncts are so obviouH
That u is extraordinary that b should
be- necessary to repeat them. Every
business man boz the land every writer
in the newspaper every man on we
man OF an ordinary school education,
ought 90 De- able to SEQ that immense
quantities. OF timber are used in mo
c0HntrV that the forests which supply
his timber are rapidly being exhaust
3D. and that II no change takes place,
exhaustion will como comparatively
soou. and that the effects OF n VIII be-
an severely IN the everyday NE on
our people. Surely. when those facts
are so obvious. there should be- no de-
boy Do taking preventive measures. get
wn seem ns nation tO be- willing 10