The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1930-01-02
REPORT MADE ON DANGER
OF FOREST DEVASTATION
Forests of America in Greater
Danger Today Than Ever Be-
fore in Our History

and its cure is told in a report of Ma
jor George P. Ahern and Gov. Gift
ford Pinchot of Pennsylvania, made
before the Society of American For
esters at Des Moines, Iowa, on De-
cember 80.
Major Ahern is distinguished au-
thor on the present condition of
American forests and the report not
only gives facts as to forest devasta-
ton but points out the essential
remedy.
The article follows:
The forests of America are in
greater danger today than ever be-
fore in our history. Not one acre out
of eight of our original forests re-
mains, and the percentage of this
remnant devastated each year is
greater than ever before.
Forest devastation on privately
owned timberlands, where most OF
the destruction goes on, is among the
most serious of all dangers to our
future prosperity. We cannot get on
without wood.
Forest devastation wastes not only
wood, but water too. 1t ravages our
watersheds, and in the Northwest
squanders the great original forest
trees that can never be replaced.
Forest growth is falling steadily
farther behind in the race with forest
destruction. Ten years ago destruc-
ton was four times greater than new
growth. Today it is at least six times
greater.
Two out of every three of our
States already consume more lumbr
than they produce, and cannot sup
ply the needs of their own people.
Because of forest devastation many
States must bring their lumber (and
pay freight on it) from distances OF
from one to three thousand miles.
Many States import nine-tenths OF
the lumber they use. Yet our lumber
men are sending out of the country
nearly one-tenth of all the lumber
they cut.
The South, which can still furnish
lumber for other States, apparently
will have none left for export within
seven years. The Pacific Northwest
will last much longer, provided forest
fires do not continue to burn up vast
quantities of standing timber, as they
did in 1910, in 1919, and again last
summer.
AS reported by the us. Forest Ser
vice, the number of forest fires has
more than trebled in the last six
years, and doubled in the last three.
in 1928 there were $4,000 forest fires.
According to the same official
figures, 34,OOO,O00 acres of forest land
were burned over in 1928. In 1920
the acreage burned was only one
tenth as much, in 1922 only one
quarter, and only one-half as recent
ly as 1925.
Every twelve months, what with
unregulated cutting and uncontrolled
fires, an amount of forest land half
as big again as the State of Connecti-
cut is devastated and put completely
out of production. More than lOO,-
100000 acres have been ruined al
ready, and the running goes on I'M
checked.
Outside of the National and State
forests and parks, our forests situa-
ton is highly dangerous. 1t is get
ting worse, and rapidly worse, year
by year.
Our National and State forests,
containing about one-ffth of our for
est lands, and much the less valuable
half of our virgin timber, are safe
from forest devastation but not yet
safe from fire. But most of the best
timber had passed into private hands
before they were created, and at pres
ent they furnish but three percent
of our lumber.
If to this three percent we add
one additional percent to cover all
lumber cut on private lands under
any plan of conservative forestry,
which is ample, we are forced to the
appalling conclusion that SO per cent
of all lumber sawed in the United
States is cut with no attempt to in
sure another forest crop.
1t is roughly true that where one
acre of saw logs is cut conservatively,
twenty-four are devastated, or cut
without regard to future growth.
The increasing distances over which
lumber must be hauled because nearer
forests have been destroyed have
raised the actual present money cost
of forest devastation certainly to hun
dreds of millions of dollars every year
and probably to billions. All of
which the consumer pays.
When our own supplies are ex-
hausted there is no region on earth
IL