The Topeka state journal., 1908-05-14
GOV. PARDEE'S SPEECH.
Directs Attention to Forests of the
Coasts States.

Washington, May 14.-Ex-Governor
Pardee of California spoke of the
states, rivers and forests at the White
House conference this afternoon. He
said the forestry problem of the south
ern part of the state consists in the
planting of new, rather than in the
protection and cons servation of existing
forests. Its water problem, dependent
upon that of reforestation, consists in
creating new natural forest-litter res
ervoirs for the retention of the melt
ing SHOWS and rains, which under pres
ent conditions run off the bare noun
tains in floods to the ocean. In north
ern California, the stream and forest
problems consist entirely, or practical
ly so, in protection, preservation and
conservation.
Upon the solving of these problems,
he said, depended these important
matters for the future of the state:
Electric power irrigation, navigation
of rivers, reclamation of swamp and
overf1owed river lands, lumber and
timber.
The streams from, which power may
be obtained have been, within the last
few years, filed upon in such numbers,
under the lax laws of California and
the United States, that ~" fear is ex-
pressed in many directions that the
power has been already pretty well
taken up. Many of these filings are
for purely speculative purposes; others
are for future development; but COM
paratively few of them, not more than
a dozen or fifteen. are actually being
used or in process Of preparation for
utilization. The fear is becoming
prevalent that the acquisition of these
water - by private persons or cor
porations will lead to monopolies and
overcapitalizations, and that, in this
way, these great and most important
natural resources will not be at the
chief disposal of the people. The ac-
ton Of the United States government,
however in regulating the use Of the
streams, ought to prevent an absolute
and oppressive monopolization of
them.
A start has been made by the state
toward an efficient forest service. 1t
is not yet what it should be, but
beginning has been made and quite a
number of tn hose who formerly waste
fully numbered their land and left it
bare and fire-baked are beginning to
appreciate the necessity and economy
of scientific numbering and forest pro-
lection:
Because the state is new and but
thinly populated having only two mil
lion people, on one one million acres of
territory, her natural resources have
not been, as in some of the other
states. nearly if not quite annihilated;
nevertheless, her people have made
quite extensive inroads into her forests.
Because Of the fact that her unforest-
ed lands have been more than suffi-
cient for the support of her popula-
ton, California has not been COM
PEELED, as other states have been, to
sacrifice her forests in order to gain
land for farming purposes. The de-
struction of her forests has resulted
only from careless and prodigal COM
mercial operations upon them, to-
gether with fires resulting from these
operations or carelessly set for other
purposes. In Oregon, Washington and
California, the nations future store of
timber is situated Both in quantity
and quality the Pacific coast states are