Evening star., 1926-10-31

In 1876 Congress authorized Frank.
lin B. Hough to investigate the for
estry situation in the United States
be taken in the country, and it dates
the beginning of the movement for
conservation of timber resources. For
estry is thus celebrating its sem-cen-
tennial this year.
one feature of the celebration is
the Inauguration OF an educational
drive to awaken the American people
to the need of putting millions of
acres of idle land to work growing
trees. This was done at a meeting
in the Pennsylvania Bnilding at the
Sesquicentennial, which was addressed
| by Gov. Clifford Pinchot, Charles
Lathrop Pack, president, American
Tree Association; Mrs. Jane ID. Rip
pin of the Girl Scouts. Charles w.
Folds, president. Izaal Walton
League; DR.. +. II. Newell of the Fed
eral Water and Power Resource
Board; Mrs w. W. Milar of the Cen
eral Federation of Women's Clubs:
Dan C. Beard of the Boy Scouts, Col.
Greeley, chief Of the United States
Forest Service: stephan Mather of
the National Park Service. Maj. Il. Y.
l,
vania State Forest Commission, and
| others.
Mr.. Pack announced that the For
estry Primer, published by the Amer
| can Tree Association to commemorate
| the semi-centennial. has gone into its
! fifth printing of 100, 900 copies, MAX
| ing q total of 500 600 copies that are
| being distributed free to schools,
| libraries, colleges and forestry com
mttees of Women's clubs and Of com
mercal organizations.
The forestry situation may be said
| to be epitomized in comment by VIII
| Rogers, the We'll known humoriSt.
| who is also a shreWd observer. While
| in Germany he was impressed,
| Rogers said, with the idea that every
! time the Germans cut down Il tree
| they plant two trees in it's place,
whereas every time we cut one down
! the fellow who does the cutting de-
| cideS to have a smoke to celebrate the
event, with the result that he throws
| away his cigarette and burns up the
| rest of the forest. This has some OF
| the earmalkS of slight eXaggeratiOn,
as Rogers would admit readily, but it
| seems difficult to arouse the American n
public bv plain statement of facts.
Present Year RecOrdBreaker.
1t was reported to the Philadelphia
meeting that the year 1926 bids fair
| to be a record year in the matter OF
| fire losses in the Nations forests.
! Just what this means may be shown
! by citing the figures for 1924, the
| latest year for which complete status
| tics are available
In that year forest fires swept ~
900 900 acres of public and private
hands, doing damage to the amount OF
| &3X 900 900. There were $1,000 forest
| fires, an average of 250 a day. 1t is
| estimated that it would cost 100000
! to reforest the burnedoVer land, and
! that at the rate we are now carrying
! on the work nf refOrestatiOn it would
! take almost 800 years to accomplish
! it. If in 1926, two years later, the Tor
est fire toll is even larger, as lndI-
| Gated by preliminary computations,
| it can he understood why the con
servationists are excited over the out
| look. 1t is we'll known that a large
| percentage of forest fires are caused
! by the carelessnesS of tourists and
| campers, and hence might he pre-
vented. and it is amazing that, in
view of the educational propaganda
! of recent wears, this menace has not
been materially reduced.
! What the Primer Contains.
! The Forestry Primer; contains a
great array Of data which the con
| seryation authorities believe should
] he impressed upon every boy and girl,
man and woman in the United
States For instance, by reason OF
| the fact that timber supplies are al
; most exhausted in the sections where
! most timber Is used III manutac-
lures of various kinds, the annual
/ freight bill on lumber is approNi-
mately $3.50, 100000. This. of course,
! is pa aSSed on To the consumer, and the
consumer, in many cases, is the care
less individual who goes touring or
camping and leaves a smOldering
campfire, or cigar or cigarette butt
that starts a cOnflagratiOn that not
only adds to the freight bill on lum-
ber but makes lumber scarcer and in
c"eaSeS it's cost.
There are 81 100000 acres of idle
land in the United States that are fit
for nothing save to grow timber.
We use about $4,000, 000.000 cubit
| feet of wood year, while forest fires
and insects destroy an additional p
| 0o0 .00O 900 cubic feet.
In the United States news print con-
i sumption has reached almost 5000. 600
! tons a year. In one sheet this would
cover 10000 square miles. PractI-
cally all of the raw materials must
come from the forests.
Industry uses 200. .000.000 cubic feet
| of timber every year in mining and
excavation operations. Approximate
! 1y 5000 900 trees must he cut each
year 10 supply the demand for tele-
graph and telephone poles. Estimates
| show that we use about 500 900 900
fence posts in this country every II
| months.
In the neighborllood of 45, 1000. 900
pounds of maple sugar products are
marketed in this cpuntry annually,
and the value of thaMturpentine rosin