Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-03-02
STATES FORESTS
EARNING MONEY
Result of the Forestry Depart
ment Program Is Favorable
to the Schools

The Department of Forestry is
sued to-day a summary of work ac-
complished on the State Forests to
date, tabulated from reports made by
its foresters. The summary gives an
outline of the huge amount of i'm
provement work actually done on the
land, but also points out the need for
increased effort If the forests are to be
brought up to standard in a reason
able length of time.
The total amount of land purchased
for the creation of State forests to
date is 100000 acres. costing about
S2.27 per acre. The total expenditure
for all purposes to date, not including
purchase. is about 1925 per acre The
appropriations for the years 1918 to
1917 amount to only thirty cents per
acre per year.
With these sums, almost 4. 900 miles
of roads, trails. fire lanes. and bound
airy lines have been opened; 2.700
miles of boundary line have been sur
veyed; 100 observation towers have
been built for the purpose of locating
forest fires, and $50 miles of tele-
phone line constructed to connect the
towers with foresters' headquarters.
over a hundred barns, houses, and
other buildings have been erected for
the departments field force; 1900
springs have been cleaned, walled and
made accessible for camp sites; 500
forest land; $4,000 fish have been
State land, and thousands on private
forest lond; $4,000 fish have been
planted in streams which originate in
the forests; chestnut blight has been
removed from 10000 acres: $500
handboards have been posted to guide
campers, hunters. and the general
in 1r
acres have been surveyed for topo-
graphic and stock maps, which, when
completed, will show all details of to-
biography and give an inventory of all
tree growth the State owns.
The departments work in refores-
tation constitutes one of the biggest
attempts ever made by any State to
are not yet available, but from 16-
100000 to 20,O0O,000 Seeding trees
have been planted on an area of not
less than 5000 acres. This branch of
the work is growing rapidly as i'm
provements are introduced in the
nurseries and the efficiency of the
working force increases. A produc-
ton of 100000 to 20,000, 900 seed
lings a year is expected within the
next few years, which will make pos
sible the reforesting of 5000 to 10,00O
acres each year. 1t is estimated that
100000 acres of the million now in
the State forests will have to be re-
forested artihcially. At the rate OF
! planting possible now, it would take
over a century to complete the work
In that time the action of the ele-
ments would reduce the bare soil to
such condition that it is doubtful II
! 1t would be able to support tree
growth. Examples of erosion which
has completely removed the soil in
less than half that time can be found
in almost any county of the State
The only solution is a large expan-
sion of the planting program II
funds are made available for install
ing an adequate system of protection
from forest fires. the departments
field force can handle 10000, 900 trees
year without difficulty. This would
reduce to thirty-five years the length
of time Necessary to completely refor-
est the States present holdings.
The total income from the State
forests to date is over s125 900, all of
which has been turned over to the
State school fund. Most of the reve-
nue. comes from the sale of fire.
SCARED or otherwise damaged mate
rial which was rapidly decreasing in
value, or was retarding the growth
of other timber, and from the sale
| of stone.