New Britain herald., 1923-01-09
TAKING STOCK Of
 NATIONS FORESTS
World Is Finding Out What It
 Needs, Says Greeley

Washington, Jan, s,-As never he'
 fore the world is taking stock of what
 it needs, Chief Forester William B.
 Greeley says in his annual report, Nel
 the least indispensable et these things
 is wood. he says, and to lake steek of
 how much wood We have and what
 We shall need is an important step in
 determining our future attitude toe
 ward our forests,
 "As a background 10 this hoard in,
 auiry," Colonel Greeley continues,
 ''farest service investigators have re-
 gently completed a unique and ek-
 haustiNe compilation Of the forest re-
 sources of the world, One startling
 revelation is that so far as our great structural and all purpose weeds-the soft woods-are concerned, We must
 become self-suffieient or go without, Siberia has great forested areas, yet if all the Siberian timber were at the undisputed call of The United states the quantity available for an- nual export would hardly amount 10 0ne.fourth of our demands. Further, q great part of the forests Of Siberia lie within the interior of the eonti- nent nnd never will be available There is an immediate reservoir of hardwonds in The tropics. which can be used for limited and special pur- poses and secured at mahogany prices, Bnt the struggle for the worlds sup ply Of soft woods will become more and more intense. and those nations will fare hest that prudently use their suitable waste lands for growing | confferous woods. This study shatters tho dream Of those who rely on im- | porting the timber we need when our own is gone.
 situation Not Hopeful.
 'Thc situation is not hopeful when we turn 10 our own forests. There has been a marked and fairly steady decline in our national output Of lum- iAr from about 46.0O0. .00O. .000 board feet in i906 to less than 3i.000. GOO. 900 board feet in 1920. This downward trend. which seems unlikely 10 turn permanently upward again at any time that can now be foreseen. has taken place in spite of large increase in population. with its increasing de- fnand for housing, furniture, and wood in many other forms. The de- cline in the production of lumber and the increase in population have re- suited in a striking drop in the per capita consumption of umber-from over 500 board feet per person in l e06 to about 320 board feet in 1920. This decline in the consumption of ] wood unquestionably means decline In the standards of living. Of this declining standard the shortage of housing is an impressive example.
 Shortage of Lumber.
 The shortage of lumber with it's ,orollary of high prices, has followed the westward sweep of numbering, while the bulk of our population and he greatest demands for lumber re- main in the central and eastern states. The nations lumber shipment in 1920, | recent forest service study shows, / vas no less than 2,O70,000 carloads; lnd the averaged haul for each car oad was 4S5 miles, According to he best estimate the forest service $ S able to make, the freight bill on T umber for that year was S275, 900. I This sum merely gives one measure c if the most of treating our forests as ' hines instead of timber farms. A raction of this sum wisely invested a ach year in forest protection and re- labilitation would grow timber where | { is needed, reduce the nations n reight bill cheapen lumber. and re- o ease vast amounts of railroad equip c nent and labor for unavoidable trans K ort. Coal and iron can not be grown, ut timber can be- d