Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1911-02-03
The Use of the National Forests

The Use of the National Forests
TO PROTECT AND GROW WOOD FOR USE.
The National Forests occupy high
mountain lands, rough and rocky, aud
which will always be of value chiefly
for the production of timber and wood.
The first thing that is made sure is that
the timber is not burnt up; the next,
that it is used, though not used up. Be
fore there were any National Forests
enormous quantities of the people 5
timber on the public domain every year
went up in smoke. Forests which
covered districts as large as the State of
Rhode Island were completely wiped
out in the course of few days. 1t
meant losses to the people of millions
and millions of dollars. Fire destroys
qmickly; trees grow slowly. 1t often
takes hundred years to IN axe good the
damage down 10y a single days fire.
In National Forests there is a force
of men on the ground whose business is
to look out for fire. They have been
remarkably successful in keeping it
down. Since the fire patrol was started
less than one-third of per cent of the
total area of the Forests has been burned
over, and the money loss has been in
significant. This is wonderful i'm
provement over the old conditions on
the open public domain, where fires are
iucessant and enormously destructive.
Hundreds of millions of feet of limb
err are sold from the National Forests
each year. That is why the Forest is
protected. The timber is for use. The
cuttings do not damage the Forest, be-
cause the numbering operations are SO
carefully done that the stand is left in
first.class condition for a second crop,
and after that a third crop and any
number of future crops. Fire is kept
out of the cut-over lands to give the
young growth fair chance. BY wise
use the timber crop is made perpetual,
and its quality is improved by encour.
aging new and better growth of the
most useful kinds of trees.
The actual results on private lands
where the owners do not care what hap
pens after they have skinned them, are
quite different. These lands are usually
cut over with the sole object of gettir 6
everything possible out of them at one
stroke. They are stripped Of timber
while the slashings that are left on the
ground make good fire traps. Very soon
the whole area burs over and the
ground becomes productive waste
A glance from car window in Mich
| Sdts w ISCOuSiIi VI 4i iHIltNptd HtlONS TIT
now ruined lands which but a short time
ago produced magnificent stands Of
white pine. Think of the great wealth
which the people of these States nigh
have made permanent, simply by using
the Forests wisely.
! Then, again, wood is so very essentia
in everyday life that it seems unwise tt
let it be monopolized by individuals o
corporations. Actual results show tina
when public timber lands pass out o
the Governments hauds they eventually
and often very quickly, fall into tn
hands of big concerns, which rarel,
show the slightest tendency to handl
them for the greatest good of the peopl
in the long run.
On National Forest the present an,
future local demand is always consid
cred first. The Government tries TO Sc
that there shall always be enough tim
Der and wood on hand for use by tn
home builder, the prospector, the minel
the small mill man, the stockman, an
all kinds of local industries. II loca
needs promise to consume it all, nothin
! is allowed to be shipped out of tn
country If it we're in the hands of ii
dividual or corporate owners, it woul
, very likely be shipped out, regardless
local needs. 1t would seek the be:
market If it were sold locally, tn
, users would have to pay whatever priC
/ the owner might demand, and this pric
/ might be very unfair.
a This is especially important to III
, mining industry. All mining oper
tions require great deal of timber
must be accessible, of suitable qualit
fairly cheap, and always on hand. Whe
+ timber for mines has to be shipped
n from distance at great expense it ofte
! makes the operations so costly as to |
Improbable. If the local supply
burned up, the mines suffer. In mil
n ing districts one of the chief objects
e National Forests is to protect the tin
k Der and keep it on hand ready for use
the mines at all times.