The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-11-05

4
measure which is designed to put
all of the forest lands in the United
States, whether owned by the state
by the nation or by private individ-
| uals, in a condition of maximum
productivity, is to be strongly urged
upon the present congress by the in
dustries in this country which are
dependent upon forest products.
Their Itrst effort is to bring home
to the american citizen the fact
! that. although he lives in one of the
finest timber-growing countries in
the world, his domestic timber sup
ply is being rapidly exhausted. He
is paying higher prices every year
for paper, lumber and all other
wood products. More and more of
them are being imported every year.
Our forest lands are producing only
a fraction of what they might pro-
duce, and the amount of employ
ment they afford is corresponding
ly limited. A national forest pol
icy is to the interest of every
one in the country.
The various great wood-using in
dustries are supporting the Smell
bill, which embodieS exactly what
they want in the way of timber
conservation. Strangely enough
the experts of the forest service, the
American Forestry association, and
many others interested in conserv-
alton, seem to be equally satisfied
with the measure. In a word, the
business men and the scientists for
once seem to agree upon what is
n hn
for once seem to have perceived that
their interests will best be sery-
ed in the long run by a policy of
conservation. not one of unplanned
exploitation.
The trouble is to arouse public
interest in the measure. Roose-
Veit years ago aroused public in
terest in forest conservation to Il
high pitch when he succeeded in
having the national forests Great
ed. The creation and use of the
national forests has been one of the
Few indIsputable triumphs of Amer
lean legislation and administration. .
The average man thinks il solved ;
the forestry problem for all time. /!
AS a matter of fact, while it helped |
greatly. it could not in the nature !
OF the case solve it. The national !.
forests are, all but a few small
areas, in the west The act came
too late to enable the government
to get large timber areas in the
east
Hence the forests protect only
lew varieties of trees, and not the
most important. By far the great
er part of the national forests are
.imbered only with pine, spruce and
hr-soft woods of relatively low
Talue. The oak, maple, walnut and
,theF valuable hardwoods are
,carcely protected by them at ali.
furthermore. the government is
United by the act. in its acquisi-
ion of forest lands, to those that
protect watersheds. This has kept
he forest service protection away
rom important areas.
Timber Wasted. !,
1t is the vast timber areas, and :
reas that might be covered with I
imber, in private ownership, that {
re being wasted. Fire. for one :
hing, is destroying millions of dol {
ars worth of timber. Nearly all s
Il II Sculd pS VI cfciIeO. III the
econd place, many pieces of laud $
which are admirably fitted for grow ,
ng timber, and are not useful for {
nything else, have long lain waste, {
nd must be reforested. In the i
bird place, owners of timber lands, I
nd especially small owners, have {
o conce ptiOn of using q forest as a 7
ornament source of wealth, to bel
Popped at intervals American G
andownerS as a whole, have not 6
earned even the rudiments of sill f
iculture. To cut timber in this 2
still means to wipe a valu-i $
BILE natural resource out of exist /
nee. ,
The Smell bill is designed to rem t
dy all Of these evils. II provides, I
federal appropriation to be used +
cooperating with the states in T
Totecting and renewing their fo--i a
SITS. The states are required 70 a
Ut up as much money in each in r