Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-05-20
FOREST PROBLEM In u. S.
PRESSING FOR SOLUTION
Eighty Million Acres of Land i'm Eastern
States Ought Today to Be
Growing Timber.

timber lands along the watersheds
or the rivers. Furthermore, since the
world war sucked in the United States
five years ago with its tremendous
try, the appropriations for the pur-
chase of forests lands. under the
Weeks act, have been CUT down. Con-
gress II Is pointed out, could per
form valuable service by liberaiiz-
ing the act so as to permit the pur-
chase of other lands suitable for ma
tional forests than those located on
the watersheds of navigable streams.
and it could. if it would, provide ad-
ditional money for the purchase OF
these lands
The original plan, under the Weeks
act,~cal1ed for an annual expenditure
OF $2,000,000 for the purchase OF the
forest lands. But this has been re-
duced. Only about s450,000 has been
the rule since the war. This is not
sufficient to go ahead with the &c
veloprent of the national forests in
the eastern part of the country.
Purchases I'm Eleven States.
Nevertheless, the government, act
ing under Weeks law. in the last
decade has acquired some 2,142,476
acres of land for national forests.
located in eleven states-Ala bama,
S0,7oG.09 acres: Arkansas, 60.704.92:
Georgia. 159,177.67; Maine, 32.25I45;
New Hampshire. 40S,243.82; North
Carolina. 349.s70.20: Pennsylvania.
74.025; South Carolina. 19.179.41; Ten
nessee. 25S.615.92: Virginia, 491,949.27.
and West Virginia, 207. 702.4S.
These lands are located within nine
teen different purchase units, so
called. Four other units have been
selected, but no land acquired as yet
within them The land was bought
at an average price of $500 an acre.
During the fiscal year ending June
so, 1922, the purchased lands yielded
a gross revenue Of s93.423.02, of
which sS0.125.56 was from the sale OF
forest products, including saw tim
Der, pulp wood, tanbark, telephone
poles, posts, ties and fuel wood. The
! balance was realized from grazing.
| special uses and fire trespass.
One of the principal values of the
eastern national forests toward Sc
curing a future timber supply is their
value as demonstration forests in di
recting the efforts of private owners
of forest land. They need above all
forestry; to make their forest lands
yield their crops without destroying
| the forests; to protect their forests
against destruction by fire.
Peak OF Timber Production.
| United States reached its maximum in
| 1907. The output was over forty bill
! lion feet of saw timber. This date
also marked the maximum cut of tim
Der in the northeastern states, and
| two years later the cut of the south
eastern states reached its maximum.
| After that date the Atlantic states
were no longer able to supply the
needs of the northeast - the region
| using the greatest amount of timber
! and it has had to rely more and
more upon the Pacific coast for the
| last great virgin timber lands are
I located. The freight rates on timber
i across the country necessarily help
| to keep the price up, to the consumer,
| 1t is uneconomical. The east should
as far as possible produce the timber
! which it requires, and the same is
/, true, Of course, of the west 1t is the
| job of the government to stimulate as
| far as possible production in the
eastern states After the old forests
of the northwest have been exhausted
the needs of the entire country must
| be met from second growth and
largely by timber that is locally
| grown.
The seat OF maximum production OF
timber in this country has moved by
steps from Maine to Oregon-the in
teryening steps being New York
Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota
Michigan, Mississippi, Louisiana and
Washington. Perhaps the work of de-
veloptng the forests will work in re
] verse order