The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-03-16
THE F0RESTS
OE KENT y!!G {. !! J!
PROGRESS MADE IN TIE MOVE.
MENTOR THEIR PREsERvA-
TON.

d 3
Kentucky Is making good progress
In the noi ement for the pressryatitn
OF the forests of the State In 1905
the legislature enacted the law pro-
vidiLg for the State Board Of Agrieul,
ture, Forestry and Immigration. Dur
ing the following winter the RoaId
asked and received the cooperation Of
the United States Forest Service in
study Of the forest conditions OF the
state. the work was begun last sum.
ner an& the investigations of con.
siderable area of land in the eastern
part 81 the State completed. At tic
third ann;al meeting Of the Kenmaky
l.uirle.s Institute at Frankfort, N
Fe 1rliuiy, the subject Of forestry was
discussed With an interest VIII i p:,rn.
!ses for &rntucky high place ann ns
the other progressive States Sh;tr arc
looking to the careful use anil cote
servatIon Of forest resources
T!.c Ywrer in which tle forest"
problem has been approached Indicates
t.,at the PEOPLE of Kentucky re.a&t
that lie Ultimate solution OF the I'm
RI ndine ,tnber scarcity must, slr tie
farmer. depend largely on how he han
dies his Individual timber resources,
and that there is no better way than
for him to consider the woodlot as
bank account, using the interest which
is constantly accruing, but leaving the
capital undiminished. Much education
work, however, will be needed to Sc
cure this desirable end.
A bill has been introduced in the
Legislature providing for the appoint.
ment of State Forester. The wisdom
of this Is evident since only by the
appointment of State forester can
the work begun In cooperation with
the Forest Service be maintained and
carried to a successful conclusion. I'm
til such time, however, as the State OF
Kentucky is ready to assume the man
agement Of its own forest problems,
the National Service is willing and
anxious to cooperate in every way pos
sible for the furtherance Of forestry
among private owners In Kentucky.
In the cooperative Investigations OF
forest resources now in progress, the
government has agreed to apportion
sum equal to the $4,000 appropriated
by the State, making total of $4,000
available for the work. During the
past summer the study has exhausted
$1,000 Of this amount, leaving $1,TOo
with which to continue Investigations
this season.
Kentucky has always been rich in
forest resources. but like many other
states she has reached the place
where the timber is produced on a
continually decreasing scale and 1t Is
necessary to protect and use carefully
the forests which remain. In 1899
Kentucky cut TS4 zoo, coo board feet of
hardwood lumber. In 1906. the cut
had fallen to els, O0O,~Jo board feet,
decrease Of over 16 per cent. in the
past eight years. In the same period
the cut of yellow poplar has fallen off
over 81 per cent. This reduction, is
in spite Of the fact mat during the
same time prices of hardwood have adj
vanced on an average of 20 per cent,
and the demand has increased accord
ingly. These figures mean that Ken
lucky, which is one of the chief hard
wood producing States in the Union,
and is still the first State in the pro-
duction Of yellow poplar, has rapidly
diminishing supply of timber.