The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1941-07-10
Bog Limit On Trees
Mature Magazine)

Americans, fortunately, have seen
fit to establish closed seasons and
bag limits on game Such rules are
necessary if we are to preserve our
wildlife from indiScriminate slaugh-
ter and extinction.
Civilized man, in fact, has found
that to live in association with his
fellow men he must have rules
Thus we have established rules for
the protection of life and property,
sanitary laws, speed laws on the
highways. and other rules of con-
duct and practice designed to pro-
mote the public welfare and safe
guard the common interest of all
We recognize their rightness.
But the forests of the nation, ex-
cept for those in public ownership
are still subject to no rules that will
prevent their destructive exploita-
ton. Without restriction, a tim
berland owner may wholly liqul-
date or destroy the forest growth
on his land, regardless OF the fact
that what he does may increase the
flood danger to homes and towns a
hundred or more miles away, or
may undermine the economic sup
port of local communities.
1t is high time we had bag limit,
so to speak, on trees For century
and half, wasteful, destructive ex-
ploitation of the Nations forest re-
sources has gone on unchecked
And although some progressive
leaders in the forest industries are
now attempting to change their OPP
erations from the old cut-out- and
get-out system to a system Of sus-
tanned yield, BY and large destruc-
tive forest exploitation still goes
on today.
The timberland owners are not
entirely to blame. They operated
according to me rules, or lack Of
them, that obtained. They took the
risks of q business that grew up
in the traditions Of transient OPP
Grafton and quick liquidation, and
! they had to make returns on their
investment or 60 under. 1t is the
public r1ther that is largely to
blame for not having long ago es-
tablished more adequate rules to
protect basic resource.
Three-fourths of the nations for
est land is in private ownership
and these privately owned lands
include the most productive and
most accessible areas Regardless
OF ownership, the public has big
stake in all forest lands and it is es-
sential that they be protected and
properly managed to help reduce
flood disaster and erosion, to help
maintain the navigability of rivers
and harbors, and to insure con-
tinuing supply of raw materials
necessary for industry and employ
ment and for national defense.
In its last annual report, the
United States Forest Service rec
commended q program that should
60 long way toward preventing
misuse and abuse of forest lands
and insuring the perpetuation of
the nations forest resources. In
creased federal ard to private for
est land owners is called for, to
help them protect and manage their
forests for continuous production,
but as a contingency of such aid
and as guaranty that the expend-
itures will not be wasted, the re-
port recommends some system of
public regulation of timber cutting
that will assure forest lands being
left in reasonably productive con-
dition.
The regularity measures recon-
mended to maintain the permanent
productivity of our forest land are
not excessive. They include pre-
cautions against fire, insects, and
disease, and certain requirements
in cutting practice that will pro-
mote further timber growth on the
land. Beyond these requirements
in the public interest there need
be no restrictions on free private
enterprise.
Two bills, introduced by Con-
gresham Walter M. Pierce of Ore
gon, are now before Congress look
ing to nationwide regulation of cut
ting and certain other practices on
privately owned forest lands of the
United States. These bills Oh. r
3849 and H. r. 3850) propose al
ternate plans, one following the
recommendation of the Forest
Service and the Secretary of Agri-
culture for joint federal-state reg
ulatory set-up, and the other pro-
viding for direct federal regula-
ton. Either plan, we believe, would
be a long step forward in forest
conservation. The important thing
is that the Congress act promptly
and effectively to put stop to de-
structive liquidation Of the Nations
forest resources-that we have a
bag limit on trees.