The Alamogordo news. (Alamogordo, N.M.) 1899-1912, 1909-10-28
PRACTICE Of FORESTRY IMPOR-
ILMT ISSUE OF THE DAY
Interesting Information Concern
ing the Annual Losses.

4
"A veFy>few years ago forest
eouservstipn wss little more than
. phrase; to-day IL is Q vital issI
sue in our national develop
ment," ssrs Treadwell oleve-
land, Jr., in . circular on the
status Of forestry in this country,
which has just beeA Issued by
the United States Forest Service.
I'm connection with the general
plan to conserve ell natural re-
sources, it is the most important
and far reaching economic policy
lever adopted aud pursdtd BY any
taation.
''The forest is one II the chief
tsuppOrts of the Whole material
ifabric Of our civilization. The
forest means not only . permah-
ent supply Of wood and the life
,IofS al the industries which depend
upon il. butalsO the control Of
the waters for humsn use. There
lis Only barrerness in the future
u ths nation which has lost che
Iuss Of wood and the control Of
wateP.
"The sort Of use that was made
of natural resources during the
pioneering stage, while right
enough at the time, is fer too
! wasteful to be carried on into the
; new industrial err. In order to
know how to use thing, how
ever, it is necessary FIRST to find
) out how much fit there is to use,
: and taking stock Of our forest re-
sources has led to startling re-
suits.
ut has shown that we are
still destroying the forest ss we
use it; that we are taking from
it every year three and . hsli
. times as much wood as is added
. by the new growth. Il has shown
tlat less than one-third Of the
growing tree felled by the lumb'
0 erman is ever used atall, 80 thai
/, two-thirds Of all the. timber
a cut is simply destroyed. It ha
= shown that One-eleventh Of al
the forests are swept by Ere
every year, and that ON the aver
age since 1870 forest fires hav'
!. $50, ,0OO, 600 in timber and fift!
i. lives. It has shown that owe
ninety-nine uer cent Of the for
= ests in private hands-which com
g prise three-fourths of all the for
e est land and four-fifths Of all the
woods thus devastated by de
structive use and the scourge o
unchecked fires, while less tina
one per cent is properly handle'
}. for successivecrops or effectivel
70 protected from fire. The forest a
resource is rapidly being oblit
terated.
's But the inventory of tn
forests has had yet other ugl
% facts to reveal. With the disap
pearance and deterioration of tn
. mountain forests the Nation j
it losing control of the streams
10 which are useful in our civiliza
y tion in ways and degrees unpal
alleled by any other resources
: Pure water for domestic purpose
'r is, Of course, indispensable uss
K BILE water at the right seasons
\ the sole reliance nf the gres
projects by which the arid land
are vivified by irrigation; chea
II water transportation is matte
n. of dollars and cents to ever
citizen; trustworthy pOwt
streams are the key Of the ag
of electricity, at the gates Q
which modern industry is stant
st ing. Yet the guardian of tn
+ waters is steadily compelled
- retreat before the axand fire.
I'm waste alone We reject moi
than two-thirds of the lumbc
. that might be taken from th
OF standing trees. At least half
A. this waste is unnec essary. In I'll
e. first place, we waste the foreI
by refusing to take advantage