Evening star., 1923-02-11
UNCLE SAM is WAKING UP
TO TIMBER WASTE PERIL
President and Congress Thoroughly
Aroused to Necessity of Forest
Conservation.


make the trip abroad at their own
expense, it is said.
Has European Example.
The United States is not in the posi-
tion of pioneer. when 1t comes to
the subject of reforestation and con-
servation of timber lands, it is point
ed Sut. 1t has the example before it
of fGermany, France, Switzerland and
o1her countries which for scores. and
hundreds of years have been facing
the problem Of maintaining forest
lands to meet the needs of their ever
growing populations. These coun-
tries, when they woke to the fact that
they were being denuded Of timber,
took stringent steps to halt this. and
to renew as far as possible their for
est lands.
Germany arrived at a period in the
excessive use of timber-as compared
to what was being produced-in the
eighteenth century. upward Of $50
years ago. Then the German states
began to pass laws relating to the use
of timber and the cutting of it. Coal
was little used for fuel and the Ger
mans saw themselves in danger of
losing their great fuel supply, with
long, hard winters rolling around
each year. Furthermore, there was
need of protecting the flow Of tho
streams, which is intimately bound
up with the forests. The policy
adopted by the Germans has been to
make the forests grow each year as
much timber as is cut out and USED
and little more. So successful have
they been that in Prussia, for IN
stance. there is ten times as much
wood as there was sixty years ago.
forests suffered comparatively little,
because Germany was not invaded.
But in France and Belgium, overrun
by the enemy armies in certain parts,
the forest devastation was enormous.
And France today Is insisting upon
the payment Of much Of the repara-
tions in forest products.
Frances Great Achievement.
The problem of forestation in
France was tackled with energy
many years ago. too. Her great
achievement along this line has been
the development of protective for
ests forests that give protection
against the floods and the winds. The
government and private owners have
reforested more than 100000 acres.
Along the coasts Of France are vast
sand dunes, and the wind has driven
these dunes farther and farther In
land, so that the sand finally covered
much valuable land, including vine
yards and farm land. The French have
planted 275,000 acres of these sand
dunes in forest-pines principally.
These lands, instead Of continuing to
be a menace, are now producing val
liable timber crops and resin. In the
interior Of the country some 100000
acres of marshy and sandy lands have
been changed into d forest valued at
approximately s100,000,o00. In the
province of Champagne the French
planted 100000 acres in forests, and
the land gained fourfold in value.
These are a few of the achieve
ments Of the older countries which
may well be studied by the United
States authorities. With America
producing practically one-third of the
pulp wood needed for print paper,
with FIVE millions Of acres Of timber
land being cut annually and ten mil
lion more being ruined by forest flres
each year; with the long hauls Of
lumber and high freight rates adding
constantly to the cost Of building
homes. it appears that 1t is time this
country made use of the experience
of European nations in regard to for
est conservation.
Cut Section by Section.
In Germany the general method Of
forest utilization is to divide a given
forest into as many sections as there
are years in the period required for
the tree to reach maturity. Then each
year, one of these sections, contain
ing mature trees, is cut over, and
each year one of these sections Is re-
planted. Notwithstanding all the care
given to the conservation of the for
ests in Germany, however, that coun-
try has been compelNd in recent
years to import wood, largely from
Russia and Finland.
1t is hoped that the work now un-
dertaken by the congressional COM
mittees, stimulated by the recon-
mendations OF tho President, will re-
suit in bringing about the adoption
of a policy of Cooperation SO far as
the forests are concerned. The lumber
| kings Of the past in this country
have taken their toll and passed on to
| new and virgin forests. Sawmills in
| New England long since found 1t
| necessary to shift their operations to
! the southern states, and now they are
going to the forests Of tho west.