The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1923-06-13
PERIOD OF SEVERE TIMBER
SHORTAGE is INEVITABLE.

department of agriculture, which in
its recent bulletin, Timber: Mine or
Crops?" discusses the evil effects of
having treated the forests of this
country as mines frorfs which to ex-
tract the timber without regard ror
| proper methods of growing new tim
Der crops.
american standards Of living and
much of our industry have been de-
veloped upon timber supplies so
abundant and cheap that the United
States is today the largest consumer
of wood in the world" states the for
est service service bulletin. I'VE now
use nearly half the lumber, more
than half the paper, and about two
fifths of the wood in all forms We
produce from two-thirds to three
fourths of the naval stores The TIM
Der to supply our demand has been
mined frorR the forest much as coal
has been mined from the ground"
Timber More Than Half Gone.
The original forest lands of the
country, according to the bulletin,
1 totaled 1872, 900 900 acres, and the
/ stand of timber on that original
Z area is conserVatively estimated az
!; 5000 billion board feet, probably hav-
ing been far more. Today the forest
land area is but 470 100000 acres
land the timber stand is reckoned at
i, 900 billion feet of virgin timber
hand 600 billion. feet additional OF
,cuIled and second-growth stands.
The rate of timber consumption In
the United States, including loss by
fire and other destructive agencies,
is nearly four times as great as the
rate of timber growth; it is also stat
ed, the cour1ry's requirements
amount to about % billion cubic feet
each year while but approximately
six billion cubic feet is being grown.
Although timber is growing on per-
haps 25O,OO0,0O0 acres of our forest
land, the crop is SO poor and so sub
iect to damage that the land is pro-
ducrng but a small part of what It
could produce under forest manage
ment.
However, according 10 the data con-
tained in the bulletin, if the entire
forest area of the cOuntry-47O,OOO,
600 acres-were placed under intens-
i've forestry, about 27 billion cubic
feet could ultimately be produced
each year. This amount would ex-
coed the present drain on our for
ests by a relatively small margin.
Increased Production Would Be Slow.
"This production, however, can not
be brought about in a short time"
continues the buIlatIn- "To make
the practice of intensive forestry uni
versal or ever the rule throughout
the United States will be possible
only through gradual progress. 1t
will require the development Of sci
entif1c knowledge and technical meth
DDS af timber growing comparable
with what has slowly and at large
cost been obtained for agricultural
crops
at will require effeetual protection
against fires. 1t wiz require meth
DDS of cutting the mature timber that
assure prompt ana complete reforest-
atom 1t will require the selection
andz concentration of growth on the
best species in each region. 1t will
require cultural operations, such as
trimmings, which in European counr
tries yield, and! in this country may
be expected to yield, a revenue from
forest land before the main crop
reaches maturity. It viii require a
cut so regulated that only the ma
ture timber will be taken, and, nc
more than the total growth OF the
whole forest.
"Even if intensive forest manage
ment could be applied instantly x
the entire area of forest land In the
United Status, it would take q, gener
alton or two to bring about fores'
conditions as favorable to high pro
lduction as those, now to be foun'
on small areas in this country or owe
. large areas under forest Management
lin Europe.
, Further, since the timber crop re
- Qu4LCS several uCCdOCc W SIOW w rs
turity, though a full stand of tn
r right kinds of trees could be starte
on all our forest land by some magi
!, overnight, it would be 80 years q
e least before new growth would, unde
e average conditions, attain sufficier
p size-.to furnish even lOw-grade ms
d rteriak
e 'Tn- short, with the utmost that ca
be dones many years must pass b
= fore we can make forests PR
duce through growth as much timb'
as is now yearly taken from then
7. and a period of shortage is ~inescal
:. able.S
Re Copies OF the bulletin may be 8
y cured free upon application to Il
q division of publications. u. S. D
i. partrnent Of. A~grleuatUre, WashinI
ton, ID. c., as long a. the supply last
sr Ash for 'Tinber: Mlna o CsOpg'