The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1908-12-11

year, not counting the loss by fire,
II times their yearly growth. Our
lumber cut has increased less than
10 per cent in the last seven years.
But the average price of all kinds of
lumber at the mill has risen 40 per
cent and the raise will continue.
We invite by overtaxation the misuse
of our forests. We destroy by fire
enough standing timber in one year
TO last the nation for three months.
/ We should plant, to protect farms
from wind and to make stripped or
treeless lands productive, an area
larger than that of Pennsylvania,
Ohio, and West Virginia combined.
so far. lands successfully planted to
trees make total area smaller than
Rhode Island. And year by year, by
careless cutting and by fire. we lower
the capacity of existing forests to
produce their like again or totally de-
stroy them. The condition of the
world supply of timber makes us al
ready dependent upon what we pro-
duce. We send out of our country
II times as much timber as We
bring in Except for finishing woods,
relatively Insignificant in quantity;
We must grow our own supply, or go
without.
WHERE WE MIGHT STAND.
BY reasonable thrift, We can pro-
duce a constant timber supply beyond
our present need, and with it con
serve the usefulness of our streams
for irrigation, water supply, naviga-
ton, and power. Under right man
agement, our forests will yield over
four times as much as now. We can
reduce waste in the woods and in
the mills at least one-third, with
present as well as future profit. We
can perpetuate the naval stores in
dustry. Preserve treatment will re-
duce by one-fifth the quantity OF
timber used in the water or in the
ground. We can practically stop
forest fires at total yearly cost of
one-fifth the value of the standing
timber burned each year, not count
ing young growth. We shall suffer
for timber to meet our needs, until
our forests have had time to grow
again. But if we act vigorously and
at once. we shall escape permanent
timber scarcity.
WHAT MUST BE DONE.
For each million acres of forest in
public ownership over three million
are privately owned. The conserva-
ton of public forests is the smaller
task before the nation and the states.
The large task is to induce private
forest owners, which means 3 mil
lion men, to take care of what they
have, and to teach wood users, which
means every one, how not to waste.
If these things are done. they will
conserve our streams as well as our
forests. If they are not done, the
usefulness of our streams will de-
crease no less than the usefulness of
our forests. We must stop forest
fires. By careful logging, we must
both reduce waste and leave cut-over
lands productive. We must make
the timber logged go further, by
preservatie treatment and by avoid
ing needless loss in the mill, the fac
tory. and in use. We must plant up
those lands now treeless which will
be most useful under forest. We
must so adjust taxation that cut
over lands can be held for a second
crop. We must recognize that tim
Der cost no less to grow than 1t does
to log and saw We must continue
and perfect, by state and nation
the preservation by use of forests al
ready publicly owned; and we must
extend 1t to other mountain forests
more valuable for the permanent
benefit of the many than for the
temporary profit of few.