Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-04-19
STACY APPEALS
FOR PROTECTION
TIMBER SUPPLY

"The disastrous experiences of China
and other lands which have been vir-
tually denuded of forests should warn
America to protect and perpetuate it's
timber resources
A&This statement was made yesterday
by Albert Stacy Of the Basset Lumber
company, local vice regent Shark of
the Concentrated order of Hoo-Hoo,
in appealing for an enthusiastic local
observance of Forest Week. April "a
to 30. Hoo-Hoo is the international
fraternal order of lumbermen, which
is sponsoring the Friends of the For
est educational movement
eve read every year of disastrous
floods in China that take thousands
of lives,' Stacy said. "Why do they
occur? Because the trees have gone
and tnere is nothing on the hillsides
along the waterways to hold back the
rains. That is a normal function of
trees--to form spongy turf which
holds the moisture back and regulates
its flow into the streams.
News dispatches tell us Of Chinese
rivers that become muddy torrents.
This mud is the fertile topsoil which
is essential to the growing of, farm
crops-thd without the protection of
trees it is washed into the streams.
When this constant washing goes
on for years, once fertile lands be-
come deserts barren wastes from
which even the wild things shy. 1t is
authoritatively said that the Sahara
once was a forest of magnificent
trees, and in some sections of this
countrywe have seen sand dunes and
stretches of waste land replace tim
bered areas
''Forestry isn't just q problem of
growing trees so that we will always
have an adequate supply of lumber
and wood although it is vitality es-
sentiai that we have abundant wood
for the thousands of ways in which
we use it every day. 1t is just as
much az pro b | e m of keeping our
streams pure, our farm lands fertile,
our outdoors beautiful, and of pre-
venting the extinction of wild life.
"The motor trip into the country
wouldn't be much to look forward to
if there We're no trees There would
be no pleasure in fishing in a polluted
streanih. You would hardly enjoy
blistering. sun. And the absence of
the songbird's melody would soon be
apparent to you.
america is not in immediate dam
ger of becoming treeless country,
yet our forests are dwindling rapidly
and the generations which are to fol-
IowE us will be confronted with the
conditions 1 have pictured-unless we
of the present generation take an in
terest in protecting the forests.
"That is the reason the government
has set aside this week as Forest
Week-so that the people may be-
come acquainted with the truth about
the forests. That is the reason Hoo
Hoo, throughout. the United Safes and
Canada,s urges every ciizen to be a
Friend of the Forests.
"The principal obstacle to placing
our forests on a perpetual basis is
forest fire. Every year there is a
tremendous loss from forest fires, both
| in mature and p o e t a timber.
Eighty-five per cent of the forest
fires are man -made--the result either
of human carelessness or human GUS
Iisedness.
Therefore, the principal work OF
the Friends of the Forests is to enlist
public cooperation in forest fire pre-
vention. A true friend of the forests
will always remember to thoroughly
extinguish his campfire; he will never
discard lighted match nor burn
|, ing cigaret or cigar butt; he will be
alert when in the woods to stamp out
any fire which others have left burn
ing"
There are 65 Hoo-Hoo clubs, more
than 700 Officers and 10000 members
of the order in the United States and
Canada. The. Friends of the Forests
is an educational offspring of Hoo
Hoo, devoted to arousing the interest
of boy and girl scouts, civic clubs,
schools, churches and other public
spirited organizations in forest pro-
lection and perpetuation. To be
Friend Of the Forests, oneneed but
interest himself in the subject There
are no dues or other requirements
and no fixed membership.