Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1923-01-06
WORLDS WOOD SUPPLY
IS BEING EXHAUSTED
Must Conserve Our Forests and
Plant Now Ones, Says For
ester Greeley.

Washington, Jan. CAS- never be-
fore the world is taking stock " what II
needs, Chief Forester William Is. Greeley
says in his annual report. Not the least
indispensable of these things IL wood.
he says, end 20 take stock oil how much
wood we have and what we shnll need Is
an important step in determining our
future attitude toward our forests.
"Ar n background to this broad in
quiry," Colonel Greeley continues, Tor
eat service investigators have recently
completed unique aud exhaustive COM
pilation ~ the forest resources 81 tho
world. One startling revelation IL that
AZ lar M our great structural and oil
purpose woods the. softwoOds are
concerned, we must become self-sbh-
Gent or 20 without. Siberia has great
forcsted nrens. vet IL all the Siberian
timber wero nj the undisputcd call Of the
/ United States the quantity available
for annual export would hardly amUint
/ tn one-fourth of our demands. Further,
great part ~ the forests ~ Siberia lic
within the interior ~ the continent ana
never will ho available There IL an
immense reservoir ~ hRrdwOods m the
tropics. which can lie used for limited
and special purposes and secured nj
mahogany prices But the struggle for
the worlds supply 81 softwoods will be-
come more and more intense, and those
nations will fare best tha, prudently use
their suitable waste lands for growing
confferous woods. This study skaters
the dream of thcse who rely on import
ing the timber we need when our own
~ gone,
The situation is not hopeful whor
we turn ,o our own forests There has
been marked and fairly steady decline
in our national output ~ lumber iron
about i5.OO0,OoOV0 board feet n
|, 1905 to less than 1900 900 600, bOerC
feet IN 1920 This downward trend
which seems unlikely to turn perma
ncn,lv upward again nj any tino tina
can now hc forescen. has taken place
in spite ~ n large increase IN population
with its increasing demand for housing
furniture and wood IN many other forms
Tho derlinc IN the production ~ lumhe
and tho increase IN population hav
resulted ~ striking drop m Tho pc
capita consumption ol lumber from
81 over 900 board feet per person IN 100
p 20 about 800 board feet In 1920. Thu
I decline in tho consumption of Woo
= una,iestionahly means n decline In IN
b. standards 81 living OF this docilnin
4 standard the shortage Of housing is q
impressive example.
4 "The shortage of lumber. with its CO
. rollary Of high prices, has followed III
. westward sweep Of numbering. while n
y bulk Of our population and the create
/, demands for lumber remain m the Tel
trail and Eastern states. The nation
lumber shipment In 1920, recent Fore
y. Scrvico study shows, was no lese tho
: 2.OZO coo carloads. and tho average ha
for each carload was AS miles. Accor'
. ing 10 the bes, 80, innate Forest Servi'
= IL able ,o make. the freight bill on lumb
for that year was s275,OO0 600. In
u sum merely gives ono measure ~ u
81 cost ~ treating our forests a. mines u
~ stead of timber farms \ fraction
m this sum wisely invested each year
y forest protection and rehahlltati'
would grow timber where II " needle
|: reduce the nation. freight bill cheap
% lumhcr, and release vast amounts
/ railroad equipment and labor for unavo
o. able transport. Coal and iron can n
N bc grown, but timber can he.