The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1925-05-08
OUR TIMBER.

The United States has been built
with the natural which
Nature placed at man. disposal
here. Important among them are
the forests. The extent of our orig
inal stands of timber have enabled
US to buy forest products at a very
low cost. During the early years of
our national development, all thesel
forest products were taken from al
great surplus and it was the pur
pose of pioneers in every new Sec
ton to reduce this surplus because
of its conflict with agriculture. How
ever, with the surplus exhausted,
and our necessary capital invest
ment drawn upon annually four
times as fast as it is being replaced
through growth, our forest problem
has become the utilization of what
has come to US as a free gift of
Nature, but with the production of
a source of supply which will insure
the perpetuation of this natural gift.
A change in the attitude of in
dustries, our landowners and all our
citizens which will lead sthem ito
treat our forests as crops to be used
but also to be renewed" is neces-
sary. We are urged to 'tapply to
this creative task the boundless en-
ergy and skill we have so long
spent in harvesting the free gifts of
Nature" Although the presidents
proclamation also called upon the
nation to preserve our forests in
recognition of the obligation we owe
to future generations, the time has
passed when we can claim any such
exalted ideal as the motive force be-
hind conservation for today, many
portions of the United States are
actually feeling the pinch of a tim
much as 25 per cent of the annual
humber bill goes to pay freight
charges on material shipped 1000
or $500 miles, the material which,
to a large extent, should be grow
ing within a radius of not over 500
miles of the consuming point. 1t
is estimated that approximately So
per cent of the standing timber in
the United States is growing on an
area in the extreme Northwest and
along the Pacific Coast which COM
prises only Is per cent of u a
tional area.
The American forest builds your
home, it underlays with ties the
rails that carry transportation across
the continent, it furnishes the paper
that bears the daily news, it sup
ports the wires of the telephone and
telegraph, it produces the modern
carrier of the sacred fire, the match,
it shelters the wild game and guards
the streams that harbor our fish and
eventually irrigate our valleys, it re-
stores health and vigor to worn bod
les and minds. Without further
enumeration of its uses, let US say
that this same American Forest is
a factor in our daily modern life
second to none in Importance.
What is it? 1t is an aggregate
of about 463 600, 900 acres of tim
Der land in varying degrees of
productiveness. OF this only 80 per
cent or 1877, 000, 900 acres are vir-
gin forest. The rest is second
growth saw timber, 10000, 900;
second growth below saw timber
size 1873, 100000 acres; and 81 ,000,-
900 acres barren and not restock-
ing. This the remnant of the 822,-
oO0, 900 acres in the original virgin
American forest. 1t is owned, %
per cent by the u. S. Government,
less than 8 per cent by States and
cities, Is per cent by private own
ers, of which nearly one-half is held
in the form of farm woodlots.
It is a poor relic of the original
endowment of nature. New Eng
land, the middle Atlantic, Central
and Lake States in turn the pro-
ducing centers of lumber for the
nation, contain 35 per cent of the
total area of the American forest,
but only 16 per cent of the timber.
The Pacific Coast States contain
-. - ~axocf of tho araa nf our