The Cordova daily times., 1920-11-27
PERMIT BIRCH CUTTINCFR0M
 PUBLICLANDS

FAIRBANKS, Nov. 27.-In an of ficial notification from the general land office, timber cruiser and spe- cial agent, H. K. Carlisle, whose headquarters are in the local land office, received information to the effect that the timber regulations have been modified to permit of the cutting of birch from the public lands of Alaska, for export and sale.
 There is great scarcity of hard woods in the United States at the present time, for the manufacture of furniture, and dealers are looking to Alaska, for a supply of birch wood.
 Already three big lumber concerns in the United States have made ap- plications for the cutting of birch, in the Cooks inlet country, and pre- parations are in progress, in that re- zion, for numbering on large scale. It is believed that several more ap- plications for birch for export pur- poses will be filed in the near future and the development of this new in- dustry in the Panama valley, where birch in quantity can be found, may be counted among the possibilities.
 The act of congress approved June 5th (Public No. 246, 66th congress) making appropriation for sundry civil expenses of the government, con- tained a provision that hereafter birch timber may be exported from Alaska.
 Reports made from time to time to the department of the interior indi- cate that there is considerable white birch, which is a hardwood suitable for the manufacture of furniture, flooring and finishings, on some of the public lands along and near the government railroad in the Susitna valley and also in the Matanuska and Panama valleys, and small valleys along the coast.
 The market in Alaska for this class of timber for manufacturing purposes has been extremely limited and such use as it has been put to has chiefly been for fuel.
 The provision authorizing it's ex- portation was enacted with view to encouraging for a more appro- priate and beneficial purpose.
 Sales of birch timber suitable for manufacturing purposes are author ized by the general land office in quantity that it will be capable of producing during the period covered by the contract of sale.
 When a ten years supply is sold the period within which the same must be cut (10 years) will begin to run from the time the contract of sale is executed if the manufacturing plant has been built, or from the time the mill has been constructed and ready to begin operations, if it is to be built, but in no case will more than two years deduction be allowed for construction, and each contract shall contain a provision that all rights acquired hereunder shall be forfeited if operations have not been commenced within three years from the date of execution of the contract unless upon satisfactory showing, the secretary of the in- terior shall, in his discretion, excuse the delay.
 Intending applicants should file their applications in duplicate with the receiver of the U. S. land office for the district wherein the lands to be cut over are situated.
 The rules for the enforcement of the new provision are not applicable to national forests, Indian and Eski- mo claims, prior homesteads or min ing claims and lands embraced in reservations and withdrawals by executive order.
 Kodak finishing. Scarborough.