The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-09-21
U. S. GOVERNMENT
TO OVERSEE NUMBERING
Chief Forester Graves Goes to California
to See That a California Company
Does Not Cut Everything.

Chief Forester Graves is on his way
to San Francisco to make final arrange
ments under which California lumber
company will purchase S00,000,000 feet
OF timber on the Sierra national forest
The timber has already been awarded
after public advertisement, to the high.
est bidder, but under the terms Of the
advertisement the final signing of the
contract will not take place until the
company has been shown on the ground
what timber the government will reserve
from cutting in order to preserve good
forest conditions and provide for repre-
duction
The company will be allowed its full
So0,000,000 feet, but naturally it will
not be allowed TO cut clean As rule
the forest service reserves something
like one-third OF the forest stand in APP
plying forestry on government holdings
A marking board made up of one man
sent from Washington, one from the
district Office in San Francisco, and the
local forest supervisor, win carefully
mark a sample area, to show how the
restrictions on cutting will be applied.
Representatives of the company will
then go over this area, after which Chief
Forester Graves and his assistants will,
il is expected, make final arrangements
with the company in San Francisco, and
the contract of sale will be signed.
"The forest service" said Mr.. Graves,
in speaking Of this sale, "has received
number of inquiries whether in selling
so much timber to single purchaser the
government may not be opening the way
to monopolistic control OF local lumbef
markets. Other correspondents are dis
turbed lest the sale prove a bad bargain
for the government, through the rise in
value of the timber in the twenty-five
years during which the company will
cut
"Such large and long time sales of
national forest timber as that to the
California company are a new develop
ment in the forest service. Great bodies
of mature but inaccessible timber can
be put on the market only if sale CON
tracts are let on terms which will Justify
very heavy initial investment in trans
portation facilities. In entering into
such contracts, however, special safe
guards TO protect the public against
monopoly and to prevent an undue spec
ulatiye profit to the purchaser are en-
ployed.
1.-The national forests contain, in all,
the equivalent of nnar'. 100000, 100000
feet of timber now of merchantab
size, besides young growth Tor future
harvest. Because of its remoteness from
market and the wild, mountainous coun
try, without transportation facilities, in
which most of it lies, only a small per-
centage can now be sold on any terms.
Most OF il would cost more to get it
out than it would bring. The sale OF
less than one-tifth of one per cent. of
our total supply TO one company leaves
plenty of room for competition by other
"The timber which has been sold TO
the California company lies well back
IN the Sierra Nevada mountains and will
require the construction of 20 miles o.
standard gauge railroad to open up the
area. Since this road will also open mp i
other national forest timber and will /
be a common carrier, it creates another
safeguard against monopoly The com !
Dany is given a cutting period OF twenty |
Two wears to remove the timber, besides |
IN additional two years for the construc
ion of logging and manufacturing ia
,ilities. The sale was publicly adver- |
Used for six months, in order to give an
for all who wished to com |
pete for the contract to make bids, as
S done in all large national forest sales.
mo business organization would un-
lertake the heavy investment necessary
n such cases unless the handling Of u
arge body of timber and a sufficient
period in which to remove il under prac-
icabie logging conditions are assured
The great difficulty in making such long
ERIN sales is to establish price which
will be fair to both sides. No one can
oresee future conditions well enough
o know what stumpage will be worth
EN-. fifteen, or twenty years hence.
Consequently the terms of sale pro-
'ide for the readjustment OF stumpage
prices every FIVE years The basis for
king the prices will be, in each case,
he prices of manufactured lumber in
he markets where the timber is sold
Turing the preceding two years.
"For several years the forest service
las been selling in the neighborhood of
! million dollars worth of national for
st stumpage per year, but this COM
lined with what is cut for free use is
My about one-eighth of what might be
ut without reducing the permanent
took of the forests. The supply will
e kept up through growth BY making
ong- term sales, it will be possible great
v to increase the amount available for
resent needs of the timber consuming
ublie. without endangering future sup
lies through over-cntting. 1t VIII al
says remain true. however, that vastly
he greater part Of our timber sales will
Q to small purchasers, who are favored
fhereyer possible. Monopoly is impos-
ible as long as the door is kept open
Or such purchasers, Out of over $500
ales made in the fiscal year 1911, about
orty were for over 5000 worth of tim
err to single purchaser"