The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1921-04-13
IDLE LANDS
Of AMERICA
INCREASING

Timber depletion has no~ reached
u point In this country whore three
fifths OF tho primoval forests are
gono and where 0i por cent OF tho
timber that In loft In west OF tho
Great Plains, Col W. u. Greeley.
Chief Forester. Forest Service, Unit
cd States Department OF Agriculture,
recently told tho mombora OF tho
Chicago Association OF Commerce.
Liberal uso OF American forests
was n necessary part OF tho common.
ciai growth OF this Nation, Col. Gree
10y believes. hut roforostatlon should
have been practlcod II not from tho
start. at least In late years. Thorc In
nm, abundant area OF forest land In
this country TO support all Indus
tries. and y liberal supply OF wood Ia
most necessary TO the people Of this
country. II was thought that. like tho
European countries, wo would use.
when our civilization was older. but
one-third or one-half ns much wood
por capita as wo did In the early
days. But this rulo does not affect tho
American people. Tho older tho
stntes and communities In this coun-
try grow tho more timber they seem
to require In one form or another.
Demands for Timber Continue
to Grow
Many substitutes have been devils.
cd for wood. and yet tho great do
mand OF tho country for timber con
tinues to grow. More wood IL used
In construction today than before
tho discovery OF concrete. and more
wood is used In building railway
cars than before tho steel or part
steel car was developed. This In ap-
parontiy true In nearly every indus
try.
Abundant and widely distributed
forests have meant TO the United
States homes for the masses OF the
people beyond tho standards OF any
other nation. They have placed news
papers and magazines on the aver
age family table. They have contrib
uted largely to social and industrial
conditions which promote democracy
and constructive energy rather than
discontcnt and destructive social for
ces bred by hard and comfortlcss con
ditions OF life.
Tho idlonoss OF Sl,0O0,0oo acres
OF forest land. an area Increased by
s,OO0,O0O to 10000. 200 acres annu'
ally. destructive logging, and still
moro destructive forest fires are the
factors at work TO increase the tim
bcr shortage.
Forest land Enough n Kept Growing
Trees
The exhaustion OF American timber
has not come about because the for
ests have been used 80 freely but be-
cause OF the failure TO use forest
growing land In nutshell. the prob
lem ia that the United States Is cut
ting wood out OF It's forests three oi
four times as fast as II Ia beins
grown. Much OF the land on whicf
timber stands or has been cut OF
will always be forest land. II In am
p,e TO grow all tho wood needed to'
the use OF the people OF this country
and for export trade In lumber an'
products manufactured n ON lumber
~ the land can be kept at work grow
INK. trees. Timber for the future i
simply a matter OF pulling idle lanC
TO work.
A surprising amount OF reforesta
tion ha scomo about by chance bu
A. ia manifestiy impossible 10 dnpen'
on chance for adequate roforcstatio'
of much OF our cut-oyer lands A
lumber is Il public UTILITY. II seem
wise for tho Federal Government u
acquire as many acres OF forest q
possible and administer 1, nationally
yet for the Government to acquire n'
tho forest land In the United state
ia impossible. over threa 'fourths Q
Il Is now In private hands' ana
large proportion necessarily must re
main under private ownership
Every reasonable encouragement
should be given to the landowner I
grow timber on his own account u
the ways best suited to his own pnI
noses, but by some means or othe
the public must see to Il that fofeS
lands not needed for agriculture q
not lie idle. The regulations impose
must be reasonable and equitable
Obviously the owner OF tho land ca
not do II all. The public must aid hii
in overcoming the hazard OF fore'
fires and must recognize that IN
present methods OF taxing forests !
many regions are equivalent TO tai
,ru N farm crop twice a week durin