The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-09-17
STATES BIG
PROBLEM
LOGGED LANDS AND THEIR
FUTURE USES DIS
CUSSED.
Government Soil Expert Says He
Finds Most Unique Condition
in Western Washington Some
Wrong Impressions Need Cor
recting.

The greatest economic problem con-
confronting the State of Washington
is what to do with it's logged-off lands
whether these lands are available
for agricultural purpose s, and, if not,
what must be done to them to make
them fertile. Here in Western Wash
ington I am faced with what is un-
doubtedly the most unique condition
that has ever confronted me; above I
find jungle; below, a desert"
w. T. MCGEE, saltwater expert of
the bureau of soils, department of ag-
riculture, with headquarters in Wash
ington, D. c., and secretary of the in
land waterways commits sion, made the
foregoing statement to a representa-
tive Of the Seattle Daily Times. He
arrived in Seattle last week, coming
hither to lend the ripened experience
of lifetime spent in the service of
ors of the government, who, working
in conjunction with agents of the state
in solving the loggel-off lands prob
lem, have met with difficulties deemed
serious enough by the powers that be
in Washington to warrant them in dis
patching their veteran expert post
haste to this state.
Corrects Wrong Impression.
Thirty thousand dollars was appro-
priated by the State Legislature last
winter for the purpose of conducting
scientific investigation into the ques-
ton of logged-off lands with the end
in view of determining what measures
must be taken to make such lands pro-
ductive to a maximum degree. A
similar sum was made available for
riculture, and agents of the state and
of the government began this work in
conjunction last July.
Because Washington is covered
with a dense forest growth an err
roneous impression has gained preya.
i lence that when this growth is reN
moved the land will be extremely fer
tile and productive" said MCGEE,
whose particular duty it is to look into
the question of water supply in rela-
tracts. ut has ordinarily been sup
posed that these lands, when logged
off, would be Immediately available
for agricultural purposes. This is not
| so.
"The soil here consists of glacial de-
posits, pervious or sieve-like, to an ex-
ceptional degree. In the course of
ages vegetation obtained foothold,
and the denser the forest growth be-
came the more capable was the land
the plants, with the result that these
lands became the veritable jungles
they now are.
Due to Three Factors.
"Now, the efficiency of the soil here
is due to three factors which make
possible the retention of water: First,
the cover of timber growth; second,
the mulch, or finely granulated earth
particles lying on the surface, and
third, the humus, or decayed organic
matter. Remove these by the pro-
cess of logging off the lands and the
efficiency of the soil is practically
made nil.
This raises the question:: What
methods of tilling must be followed to
make possible the retention of water?
That is what we are trying to deter
mine. A. w. Mangum and ]. C.
Westover, government soil surveyors,
are working in the vicinity of Eaton
vile, while the states end of the work
is being conducted by Prof. Henry
Landes, assisted by a corps of work
ers drawn from the faculty of the Uni
versity of Washington.
"The annual timber growth on an
acre of Washington land is estimated
to run between ten and fifteen tons;
elsewhere the average is about five
|
quires an annual supply of 1000 tons
of water.
Must Lower Valuations.
eve must determine how that much
water can be retained by the soil of
logged-off lands. When this work is
completed, which will be about the
time the rainy seas on starts in, the
agents of the government and those OF
the state will prepare reports and
maps and submit them to the proper
authorities. I believe that these re-
ports will result in the next Legisla-
ture of Washington enacting a meas.
ure tending to compel assessors to
make an enormous reduction in the
valuation placed on logged-off lands
for taxation purposes
] MCGEE for several weeks has been
doing field work in the Rainier Ma
tional Park. He is now suffering from
painful injuries sustained Tuesday af-
ternoon when, in company with AS
slStant Engineer Eugene Ricksecker