The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1940-06-06
Discuss Benefits
Of Sustained Yield
Continued from page u


DR.. Clapp, | think most of us know
that third of the country is forest
land That means about $50 million
acres of forest land. How much OF
this $50 million acres is classed as
commercial forest land =. that is
land that will grow commercial crops
of timber?
Clapp: Nearly three-fourths of il
To get right down to figures, 462 mil
lion acres. And that means, our lob
of developing technical knowledge OF
better ways to manage this land for
longtime production, is large and
complex.
Kadderly: No doubt about that.
imagine just the question of tree
species in country as big as ours is
quite involved
Clapp: That's good example.
There are some 862 tree species in
this country. At least $50 of them
are important commercially They
appear in an endless number OF
types.
Kadderly: Now, planning the man.
agement of lands on which our for
est industries depend is an extreme
ly important matter. What do you
consider the governing factor in lay
ing out such program, DR. Ciapp?
Clapp: The final crop of any land
is people. Therefore, the object of
our forest program is to manage for
est lands SO they will give their full
share in meeting, our social and eco
nomic needs. If skillfully handled,
forests will produce wood continu-
ously for our people and for our in
dustries s. and help provide jobs
for our people. | think Mr.. Granger
will agree with me on that. Wouldn't
you state our objective about that
way. Chris?
Granger. | think | would. No
matter how it's put, it adds up to
this: As nation, we can no longer
afford to mine our timber. That's
what we've been doing for centu-
ries and the time has come to stop.
When we had great stands of virgin
timber. the general practice for the
saWmills was to cut out everything
and move on, leaving vast stretches
of blackened, unproductive land.
Pitt: And the public has a stake in
all this which it's sometimes easy to
overlook :. timber mining leaves
wake of jobless men, worried Wom-
en-, deserted mills. empty houses.
closed schools, vacant stores 60. of
ten whole families on the road in a
dreary search for work.
Clapp. And in the long run, the
public pays the bill in such ways as
restoring the forest, and in relief
rolls. The really progressive timber
man, who is gradually coming into
the picture, is as anxious to improve
things as we are But we still have
lot of destructive cutting. We've
been giving real thought to forestry
in the United States only during the
last four or five decades. There is
still lot to learn, but during the
last 80 years, through research and
experience, we have laid the founda-
ton of technical knowledge needed
for timber-growing in the United
States.
Kadderly: In the light of the tech
nical knowledge that we already
have, what are some of the practical
things that an operator needs to
know to crop his timber instead of
mining it7 How would you answer
that, Mr.. Granger?
Granger: He needs practical guides
to tell him what to do with his trees
. which ones to cut and which to
leave SO he will secure another
early cut of high quality. He needs
to know good practices to follow in
putting lands back in production
that have been made unproductive
by cutting and by fire.
Clapp. 1t comes around to one
central idea I. sustained yield. BY
the term, sustained yield, | mean
the management of forests SO that
the growth Of timber will equal
or exceed the drain. This is the only
way we'll have permanent forests
and stabilized communities.
Pitt: The sustained-yield opera
ton on the Malheur National For
est is good illustration of the prin-
ciples of sustained yield, DR.. Clapp.
Clapp: The operation at Burns,
Ore. Yes, that's good one
Kadderly: As an Oregonian, I'm
familiar with the town of Burns,
and remember when that sustained
yield operation was started. How
are things going out there, Mr..
Granger?
Granger: All right. We feel that
Burns is good example of a
permanent community built on
sound forest economy. As you know,
Burns is town of about
8 900 people. A great deal of the
business activity there is dependent
on the lumber industry. If the saw
mill went out, there would be a
shrinkage in business.
Kadderly: Then it boils down to
this as long as there's a con-
tinuous harvest of timber, the town
Of Burns is in pretty good shape as
far as the permanence of its econ
omy is concerned.
Granger: Yes. As we said, the
Company gets its supply of timber
from the Malheur National Forest
i. takes it out regularly under the
selective cutting plan. The Forest
Service men mark the trees to 20
and supervise the logging SO that
new growth will not be injured.
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