Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-28

nothing more than the continuous use OF
the same land for growing successive
timber crops. This makes IL possible To
take from the forest the material needed
by the mines, the railroads. the sawmills.
the StOckmen. the cities and ranches OF
the west. without injuring the users oil
the water fed down from the forest-coV.
cred mountains. In short. the national
forests are basic in the industrial life
OF the whole west. They are maintaine,
as great economic resources for the bene-
ut of the people. They not only guaran-
tee the permanence of every form of ac-
tIvity directly or indirectly dependent
upon a supply of wood land this means
practically every activity. but also fur
nish the irrigator his water. the stock
man his summer range the electric com
panles their power and commerce most
important protection against the shoai-
ing of streams and obstruction OF har-
bors through deposits Of silt
The forest service is charged with the
care of a wild and mountainous forest
region greater i'm total area than all the
north and middle Atlantic states down
to and including Virginia and West Vir-
s1nia. the protection from fire and theft
OF an amount of standing timber which
would be worth. if delivered at the mill,
at present prices, more than all the navies
of the world, and the transaction of a
vast amount of BUSINESS. which. although
but just beginning. Yielded in cash to the
government last year over $1.5OO.OoO. and
Is growing at the rate Of half a million
year. All this involves an immense
amount of work. In the single matter
OF the prevention of loss by forest fires
the saving Of property through the work
of the forest service is enormous.
with an average patrol area last sum-
mer OF 2OO square miles to each man
employed. slightly over $4,000 worth of
timber was destroyed by fires which
burned over slightly less than 10000 acres
of timber land. Altogether BOO fires
were reported. Over LOO of these
burned over less than five acres each be-
fore they were put out. Other admins
tratfve duties include the marking of all
thinner to be cut. tree by tree, supervision
of all lumDerfng operations. control of
the methods of handling stock and pro-
lection OF the forests against unauthor-
izer grazing, and the attention required
by large number of applications for
free use of timber from the forests-a
right given to settlers. miners, residents
and prospectors who have no timber of
their own and cannot purchase without
hardship. What does all this cost the
government?
Cost Of Forest Service.
Last year 1T cost the government very
little, and less than the year before
Though the expenditures for the support
of the forest service have been increas-
ing steadily, the net cost has been de-
creasing for several years Administra-
ton of the national forests began in
1879. At that time the forests were under
the control Of the Department Of the In
terror. What is now the forest service
was small division in the Department of
Agriculture, engaged in Investigations
educational work and the promotion, Ia
some extent, of the practice Of forestry
Thn saff Hons
for the fiscal year 1S9S-99 for the support
Of this division were $2S,52O, and for the
administration of the national forests by
the Department of the Interior $11J 900;
ests were s. ,534. The total area of the
forests was something over 46OOO.O00
acres. In the fiscal year 19O6-O7 the re-
ceipts were over 81 .571.OOO. and the total
expenditures for all the work of the
forest service, including both administra-
ton Of the national forests and general
Investigations of educational worth, were
slightly less than 81. 791 900. In other
words. the net cost to the government for
administering and protecting 1JOOOO,OOC
acres Of forests. and for extensive work OF
other kinds, was greater by only $4,000
than the total expenditures for 1899, when
the area was 4S.O0O,OOO acres. Since 1S9!
no other year has shown SO small an ex-
cess of expenditures over receipts as that
Of last year. II we omit from our calcu-
poses than the administration of the
government forest property, We find that
the national forests themselves are earn
ing small net balance in the govern
ments favor. In other words, the ma
tional forests in the year 1907 were more
than self-suppOrting.
This merely illustrates what the ex-
perience of European countries has amply
proved-that the larger the expenditures
made upon a forest, the larger is its pro-
ductlveness. SaxOny spends annually 81
an acre upon her forests and receives a
net revenue of $3.50. Prussia spends 81 IS
per acre annually and clears s.. so France
spends 80 and clears S1.75. The United
States spent in the last fiscal year a little
over mills and cleared not quite nine
tenths of l mill.
The reason for this is not hard to see
In its natural state a forest is an mac
cessible and undeveloped property of
a very low per-acre value, and capable
of making very low returns. AS with any
other undeveloped property. if We invest
money in its improvement. develop its re-
sources. attract population to its neigh
borhood and provide the means for getting
out Its products cheaply, the returns will
be enormously increased. The returns
from the national forests are contributions
to the general welfare. The important
thing is not that our forests should be
made to pour great sums into the national
Treasury in the form of cash, but that
they should add to the national wealth
through the wise utilization of all their re-
sources.