The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-06-11
SAVE STATE
WEALTH
GEOLOGY A OF STATE
MAKES AN APPRO-
PRIATION.
Five Thousand Dollars to Be Used
for Economic Survey of Logged
Lands of Washington = Two
Thousand For Investigation of
Cement Resources.

At a meeting Of the state board of
geology in Seattle last week $751; 600
was appropriated for an economic sur
vey of the logged lands of the state.
The money for the purpose will come
from a fund of $50, 900 voted by the
last session of the legislature for a
geological survey of the state. work
will begin within the next two weeks,
and it is expected that the country be-
tween Pierce county and the British
Columbia line, bounded on the east
and west by the Cascade mountains and
Puget sound, will be surveyed this
summer. The work will be continued
until the whole state has been survey
ed. An additional appropriation will
be asked from the next legislature.
In addition to the appropriation OF
S., 900, another appropriation of 3d.
600 was made for the purpose of in
vestigating the cement of the
state. Prof. Henry Landes, state geo.
logist, who was present at the meeting,
suggested that a comprehensive report
on this subject would be of material
advantage to the state. He reminded
the board that this is the dawn of the
cement and concrete era, and stated
that he was in receipt of many inquir-
les from men who desired to establish
cement works in Washington. That
limestone and clay, the material Of
which Portland cement is made, exist
ed in large quantities in the state was
pointed out by Prof. Landes. Half of
the money appropriated will be divert
ed from the fund set aside for a survey
of coal lands. The remaining 81, 900
will be taken from the amount intend
ed for a metalurgical survey. This
survey will be made under the direc-
tion of Prof. Sion Shedd, of the Wash
ington state college.
Statement By Professor Landes
The state geologist, Henry Landes,
addressed the board and urged the i'm
mediate necessity of the economic sur
vey. He suggested that it be made
the duty of the surveyors to get the to-
biography of the country they cover
and to find the liability of the ground
to wash away; to STUDY the physical
conditions of the soil; to determine
the chemical aspect of the soil, and
to make a study of the natural vegeta-
tion with a view to finding what the
soil is best able to produce.
A proposed by Mr.. Landes and
adopted by the board, the plan is to
reforest all logged state lands, to Sc
cure logged lands that have reverted to
the countries on account Of delinquent
taxes and to obtain and ~reforest as
much logged land valueless for grazing
and agricultural purposes as possible.
If necessary laws are to be asked
which will permit the state to hold
these forested lands in perpettuity.
"The plan suggested by Mr.. Landes
is a worthy one and of the greatest i'm
portance to the state, I" said Gov. Hay.
every winter we are losing tons of
soil which is washed from the noun
tain sides by the torrential rains.
There are places in the state where
good valuable lands have been ruined
on account of a lack of trees to protect
them, and unless action is taken at
once it will be too late to do anything
at all.
"We must remember that Washing
ton boasts of it's vast supply of water
power. Mountain streams will dwin-
die to rivulets without trees and the
state may lose a large part of it's IA
tural wealth. The average citizen has
no idea of the way the forests are dis
appearing. In Snohomish county, for
instance, 60 per cent of the forests
have been logged. Of these lands As
per cent are worth clearing. Fifteen
per cent should be reforested. And the
hillside lands which are now allowed
to go to waste may be used to preserve
the wealth Of the state and turned to
good account by a sale of lumber from
the trees which have been set by the
state.
This is a matter of the utmost i'm
portance. The country generally is
awakening to a realization Of the tre-
mendous waste which has been going
on for years. In New York they are
trying to reclaim lands that should
have been saved from destruction years
ago. In Washington we may use pre-
v%entives and with a small outlay pre-
serve the states wealth for posterity.
But in a few more years, if nothing is
done, the people of Washington, like
those OF New York, may have to spend
millions to reclaim that which a little
forethought might have saved"
Wages of Steel Plant Men Restored
Pittshuro Do Jnro coz...1