The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-12-29
WOOD USED FASTER
THAN GROWTH

Washington, Dec. 1S--Forests east
OF the Rocky Mountains are being
devastated 50 rapidly by cutting and
| burning that the nation soon will be
dependent for the bulk of its con-
struction lumber upon the forests Of
the Pacific coast, William l.. Greeley.
United States forester, declares in
his annual report made. public today
The situation, Mr.. Greeley says, is one
that affects the public welfare of the
entire country and he urges "A federal
law to stop the devastation OF the re-
maintaining forests and TO put the idle
forest lands at work.
''Two-thirds Of the original forests
of the United States have been culled,
cut-over or burnt, three -fifths of the
merchantable timber is gone" said
Mr.. Greeley. The country is TAX
ing about 26,000,00O,OOO cubic feet
of wood annually from its forests and
is growing about 100000 cubic
1cet We are cutting timber of every
class, even trees too small for the saw
mill. much faster than they are be-
ing replaced in our forests. There are
lStill large quantities of timber in the
United States, bur they are not in the
right place. SiNty-one per cent Of
what is !eft lies west of the Great
! Plains, far from the bulk of our pop-
uiation, agriculture and manufacture
! inS. The exhaustion of one forested
section after another in the Eastern
states has been reflected in rising
| transportation costs. The distance
between the average sawmill and the
average home builder is steadily in
creasing; and we shall soon be de-
pendent for the bulk of our con-
struction lumber upon the forests of
! the Pacific coast These conditions
have had a vital hearing upon the
high cost of lumber, which, during
the year, reached a prohibitive figure
for many uses and checked the build
ing Of homes which is so urgently
needed.
| I'VE have used up our forests with
oct growing new ones. AT the bottom
of the whole problem is idle forest
land. The United States contains
326,OOO,OO0 acres of cut-over and de-
nuGed forests containing no saw tim
bcr; 81, 100000 acres of this have
have been completely devssted byi
forest fires and methods Of cutting
Whlch destroy or prevent new TIM
Der growth. The area of idle or
largely idle land is being increased by
from 100000 TO 100000 acres an
nually as the cutting and burn.-ig of
forests continue.
TO stop the devastation and put
idle lands to work the first step must
be tire enactment of g federal law
! whose two chief provisions are (1)
a comprehensive plan of federal CO.
operation with the states in fire pre-
vention and the development CT for
estry practice, and (2) extension oi
the national forests through pu1rhas.
os, through the inclusion of other
Itmberlands now in federal ownership
and through exchange"
Speaking of national forestry
policy, Mr.. Greeley said the program
loid down by CCl. Graves had beer
further aevelopeG.
This program he said, lis basef
on the conviction that the problem o.
halting forest devastation is funda.
mentally "A national, not local, pro
gram, and must be faced and handl.
ed as such. At the same time it is fell
that the specdicst, surest, and most
equitable action can he secured
through dependence on the police
powers of the states for the enforce.
ment of such reasonable require
ments as should be made of private
owners and on the state governments
for providing org lnized protection OF
private lands against fire.
because the problem itself is es-
sentially national-that is, on af-
fccting the public welfare of the en-.
tire country and requiring to be at
tackled as Il whole, not piecemeal-
beth federal lead rship and large
measure of federal aid arc obligatory
1t should be obligatory upon private
owners to apply the safeguards neces-
sary 10 prevent devastation. There
is practical rnanimity of agree
ment that the first and most essential
step Is nation-w wide protection from
forest fires, applicable 10 all classes
OF forest land and borne jointly by
the landowner and the public