The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1938-02-03
TIMBER IS A CROP
sissippi Valley Lumberman. Minneapolis. Mimi

/ The above is the title of an adj
dress delivered at the recent Pa
cific Logging Congress by Roderic
lOlzendam. public relations couHe5l~
lor of the Weyerhaeuser Timber Co.,
which has been printed, by request,
in pamphlet FORM The address was
prepared for the purpose of answer
ing the frequently criticisms
of the lumber and timber industries
relative TO the manner in which the
| the timber resources of the country
have been handled. MIR. Olzendam
goes to some length in stating the
argument of these critics. and Their
replies to them with a clear analysis
of the operations of the timber own
ers, and the causes which have gov
erned them.
The chief criticisms, as hea out
lined them, he has condensed into.
first, the manner in which the tim
Der came into private ownership,
and, second, the manner in which the
timber has been handled.
Assuming that these criticisms are
the voice of Public Opinion. he goes
back to the time when this same
voice said: This great continent
must be subdued, developed, brought
under control. Mines must be work
ed. rivers and streams must be
damned, railroads must span the
continent, and forests must be cut
to make way for farms and to pro-
duce cheap lumber for the monu-
mental drive of bridging the con-
tinent;;" and he goes on to say that
from the beginning of our national
development down to few short
years ago, it was an almost uni
versal belief that the boundless for
ests of our nation constituted an in
exhaustible supply of timber.
Of how, and why SO much of the
timber passed into private owner
ship he says: The country was load
ed with debt. Money was needed.
and so land passed from public to
private hands, and those private
hands paid taxes-the very lifeblood
of the growing nation
The change in public opinion has
been a development. Having more
time for vacations, and easier trans
portation, the public has been visit
ing the forests by millions, and get
ting different view of forest uses,
and they have become preservation
lists, and conservationists. The for
mer are the nature lovers the sports
men, the tourists-all those who
honestly feel that the forests should
be locked UP and left as God made
i them. Then, there are the true con-
servationists-those who would like
to see forests used SO that they
will benefit the Largest number of
people for the longest possible time
There are the politicians and the
local government officials who al
ways think of forests in terms of as
sessed valuation, and there are the
people whose income is directly or
indirectly dependent upon the for
est products industries They are
very numerous and make up big
section of public opinion.
OF the reasons why timber has
been cut more rapidly than 1t might
otherwise have been, Mr.. Olzen-
dam says: Year by year, the taxes
began to accrue against the standing
timber. The annual loss from fire
and insect damage assumed serious
proportions. Much of the timber
past the prime of life, was slowly
decaying and dying, and each year
the volume of merchantable stands
grew less instead of greater Ok
teams and horses gave way to ma
chinery, and machinery was speed
led up. Loggers raced against time,
taxes and decay and this brought
the inevitable realization that the
timber supply was not inexhaustible
Forests became a subject of ma
tion-wide Importance. National
thought turned from timber feast to
; timber famine. Public forests were
! set aside. A department of forestry
was established at Washington to
! administer the national forests, and
, to study forest management and
timber utilization. = Gradually
| the idea of permanence and stabil-
! ity in forest harvesting practice
gained ground"
; How have the timber industries
reacted to this change in public
opinion? Their attitude developed
slowly at first because the customs
Q thoughts and practices of our en-
r tire industry had to be altered, eco
y nomic and physical obstacles had
2 to be overcome. During the past
five years, some of the obstacles
t which have prevented permanence
!, of forest usuage have been removed
y and our progress has been more
rapid. Today it is impossible
: for anyone to pass through a nation
| al forest, which is being logged I'm.
, der government supervision, into {
private forest, also being logged, ano
: know when he has passed from one
into the other"
Further, of the attitude of the
! timber Industries toward true con
! servation, he says Not man in the
: forest industry has grudge agains
: tree. He doesn't vent his spleer
= by cutting down trees. He ism
: vicious in his work. He doesn't &C
into a dance of delight when {
tree comes crashing to the earth
That is his work, and he does it tht
very best he knows how. To con
denim the hundreds of thousands O.
people whose life paths are in tht
forest industry is unthinking ant
unjust. To 60 ahead gladly anc
freely use the thousand and one
products of the forest on top of thi!
II denuncIatiOn is really not SQUARE