The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1912-09-19
Of a Great Amount Of Gov
ernment TIMBER Made 10
California Concern
IN oRDER To MARKEI
Chief Forester Says Safe
guards Are Made against
Possible Monopoly

Forester Graves IS on his way % San
E,,-,ness.o to make fnaf arrangements
n15l5r whicia California lumber
c,omr.anv NIL purchase 500 million
xees Of TIMBER Oh She Sierra National
forest The timber has already been
awarded, after public advertisement
to the highest bid1er. but under the
terms o fthe advertisement the hnal
signing CT tue contract VII not take
place until paes company has been
eboun o nthe ground what timber
he govern Rent will reserve from
cutting in order to preserve good for
est conditions and provide for repro
duction.
The company win be allowed its fun
500 million feet, but naturally 1t VIII
not he allowed to cut clean IS a
rule the forest service reserves some
thing ike cne-thint of the forest
stand in applying forestry on govern
mont holdings. A marking board
made up of enc m.an sent from Wash
ington. enc from Che district Office IN
San Francisco, and the local forest
supervisor wilg carefully ma a
san pIe area, to chow hcsw the re-
fztrictfons on outtiug win be applied
representatives OF the company will
then 20 over this area, after which
Chief Forester Graves and his as
sistants will, it is expected. make
final arrangements with the com
pany<fn San Francisco, and the con-
tract CT sale will be signed.
.-The Forest Service" said Nj
Graves in speaking OF this sale
:eiras received a number OF inquiries
whether in selling so much timber to
a single purchaser the government
may net be opening me way to
control OF local lumber
other correspondents are
disturbed lest the sale prove bad
bargain for the government through
the rise in value OF the timber IN the
years during which the
company will cut.
such large and longtime sales OF
National Forest timber as that TO the
company are a new de-
veropment in the Forest Service.
Great bodies of mature but inaccess-
ibIe timber can be put on the market
only If sale contracts are let on terms
which will justify very heavy initial
iuvcsfment ir transportation fac-li-s
4:ss In entering into such contracts,
however. special safeguards to pro-
tect the pubic against monopoly and
10 prevent an undue speculative pro
ct to the purchaser arc employed.
..The National Forest contains, in
all. the equivalent OF nearly 500 bill
lion feet CT timber now of merchant
a:Sle size. besides young growth for
future harvest. Because of its re-
moteness from market and the wild,
mountainous country. without trans
portation facilities, in which most of
j. lies. only a small percentage can
now be sold on any terms. Most OF it
would cost more to get II out than 1t
would bring. The sale of Tess than
one-ffth of one percent OF our total
supply to one company leaves plenty
Of room for competition by other
~Tbe timber which has been sold
to the California conpaag lies we'll
back in the Sierra Nevada mountains
and will require the Construction OF
,seventy m1esc Of standard gauge
railroad to open up the area. Since
this road will also open up other. ma
s;onal forest timber and will be a
common carrier. it creates another
safeguard against monopoly. The
is given cutting period OF
twenty-five years remove he tim
,a.r. besides an additional two years
For the construction Of logging and
h. manufacturing facilities. The sale
was p.FB9sciy advertised for six
months in order to give an opportun-
sly for am who wished to compete fos
the contract to make bids, as is done
in all large national forest sales.
NO business organization would
undertake the heavy investment nee
essary IN such cases unless the
handling Of large body CT timber
and a sufacient period in which to
remove i undar practicable logging
conditions are assured. THE great
difculty IN making such long-terlh
sales - to e-cabIish price which
will be fair to both sides. no one can
eoresee future conditions we'll enough
to know what stumpage wiz be worth
zen, Afteen. or twenty years hence.