Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-06-24
ALAsKA.s PULP POSSIBILITIES.

Every person who reads a newspaper or buys a
book or who receives from his merchant a package Of
goods done up in paper, is interested in the supply of
pulp wood on this continent. The abnormal price of pa
per reached in recent years is due to q number of causes,
one of which is the lessening of the supply Of wood suit
able for paper making. Because Of this it is a highly
important fact that the United States has, in the Alas
kan forests an immense supply Of material. as yet
scarcely touched.
The federal forest service estimates that there are
in Alaska 100, ooo,o 900 cords of wood suitable for the
manufacture Of paper, and of relatively small value tor
other purposes. This country consumes about 5000, 900
cords Of pulp wood a year, 50 that If the Alaskan supply
could be made Immediately available, 1t would provide
our entire supply Tor about sixteen years. That would
be something. but it would merely be a drop in the
bucket. When the supply Of a prime necessity becomes
so restricted that its total extinction within a generation
is among the possibilities, it is time to be up and doing.
The really important feature is the estimate of the
forest service that with proper treatment the Alaskan
forests can be made to yield 1000, 900 cords Of pulp
wood per year forever. This Is possible because, by care
full cutting, protection from fire and REPRESENTATION, new
growth can be made to take the place Of the old, and
the process can be repeated indefinitely. Alaska, there
fore, II the work is handled intelligently. can be made
to serve as a reservoir from which may be drawn the
equivalent of one-third of the country's present pulp
consumption for all time, the level being maintained at
a constant height.
Another important feature in the Alaskan situation
Is the TACT that nearly all of its timber lands are still the
property Of the government. Few tracts have been dis
posed of to private parties. That condition should be
maintained. The nation should never relinquish title to
the timber lands which it still controls. That property
is part of a vast estate of which this generation must
not deprive its successors. The only way In which 1t
can be preserved is for it to remain the property of the
nation. ".f
This does not mean that the government should 30
into the lumber business or the paper business. Nothing
of the sort. That work can be performed better by pri-
vate agencies than by the government. The government
should do all in its power to encourage the development
OF these industries by private individuals granting to
them timber rights on terms which will insure the safety
of their investments and exacting from them strict com
pliance with regulations which will insure the protection
of the property as a perpetual asset Of the nation. and
governing the distribution of the product in such a man
nr that the public Interest will be protected. -
In the development of the timber resources OF Alas
ka the methods which were followed in the settlement
of the great timbered districts Of the east will; not serve.
With a yoke of oxen and a few simple tools the old po-
neer could trek unto the wilderness of Ohio or Michigan
and make himself a home. That method will not serve
In Alaska. For the utilization of the resources of that
country there are needed railroads, water power, fac
tories, and all the paraphernalia OF a great business,
That means capital-immense quantities of 1t. We can
not enjoy the products OF Alaska until money Is avail
able for the purchase Of the necessary equipment, and
men will not invest their money in such enterprises ex-
cept on terms which will afford them a reasonable as
surance of profit.