Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-30
TIMBER WASTE
GOES ON APACE
FORESTS ARE STILL BEING
DESTROYED
LESS THAN THIRD OF FELLED
TREES ARE USED
Movement for Conservation of Wood
Supply Shows Imperative Neces-
slty for Prompt Action to
Save Wooded Areas

"a very few years ago forest con-
servation' was little more than a
phrase; today it is vital issue in our
national development" says Tread
well Cleveland, jr., in a circular on the
status of forestry in this country,
which has just been issued by the
United States forest service. "In con-
nection with the general plan to con-
serve all natural resources. it is the
most important and far-reaching eco
nomic policy ever adopted and pursued
by any nation.
1.-THE forest Is one of the chief sup
ports Of the whole material fabric of
our civilization. The forest means not
only permanent supply of wood and
the life of all the industries which de-
pend on it, but also the control of the
waters for human use. There is only
barrenhess in the future of the nation
which has lost the use Of wood and
the control of water.
1.-THE sort Of use that was made of
natural resources during the pioneering
stage, while right enough at the time,
is far too wasteful to be carried on
into the new industrial era. In order
to know how to use a thing, however,
it is necessary first to find out how
much of it there is to use, and taking
stock of our forest resources has led
to startling results.
Waste Continues
"It has shown that we are still de-
stroying the forest as we use it; that
we are taking from it every year three
and half times as much wood as is
added by the new growth. 1t has
shown that less than one-third Of the
growing trees felled by the lumberman
is ever used at all, so that two-thirds
of all the timber cut is simply de-
stroyed. 1t has shown that one-elev-
enth of all the forests are swept by
fires every year, and that on the av-
erage since 1870 forest fires have yearly
cost $50, 100000 in timber and fifty lives.
1t has shown that over 80 per cent of
the forests in private hands-which
comprise three-fourths of all the forest
land and four-fifth OF all the wood
is thus devastated by destructive use
and the seourge of unchecked fires,
while less than 1 per cent is properly
| handled for successive crops or effec-
lively protected from FIRE. The forest
as a resource is rapidly being oblit-
Grated.
But the inventory Of the forests
has had yet other ugly facts to reveal
With the disappearance and deteriora-
| tion of the mountain forests the nation
is losing control of the streams, which
are useful in our civilization in ways
and degrees unparalleled by any other
resource. Pure water for domestic
purposes is, OF course, Indispensable;
disable water at the right seasons is the
sole reliance of the great projects by
which the arid lands are vivified by
irrigation; cheap water transportation
is a matter of dollars and cents to
every citizen; trustworthy power
streams are the key to the age of cleo
| tricity, at the gates Of which modern
industry is standing. Yet the guar
dian of the waters is steadily COM
PEELED to retreat before the AK and fire
Waste Unnecessary
I'm waste alone we reject more than
two thirds of the lumber that might
be taken from the standing trees. Al
least half of this waste is unnecessary
In the first place, we waste the forest
by refusing to take advantage of its
full capacity for growth. Protected
and properly managed, our forests will
produce far more wood than they dc
at present. But while 1t is wasteful to
cripple the forest by a violent lumber
ing which destroys young growth-the
promise of the future forest--it is
doubly wasteful to lock up the forest
and let the ripe timber die and decay.
for in the former case the forest at
least contributes a temporary supply OF
wood, whereas in the latter case 1t
contributes no wood at all.
at is not use which destroys the for
ests. but waste. Not use as such, but
destructive use, combined with mex
cusable neglect, is causing the forests
to dwindle under our progressive de-
mands upon them. The problem, there
fore, is not to be solved by disuse, but
by wise use and protection. These
together will so stimulate forest growth
that the needed wood may be harvest
ed without depicting the stock on hand,
and will keep intact the protective
cover at the stream sources"