Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-07-20

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evergreen forests in Olympic Ma
tional Park in the State of Wash
ington annually form scenic and
recreational paradise for thousands
of citizens. If logging of these
lands were permitted, while q mo-
mentary profit would be made from
the wood, the primitive beauty
which forms the parks chief attrac-
tiveness would have been destroyed.
Also, similar wood may be obtained
elsewhere without destroying q
unique area.
Types of Resources
In applying the conservation
principles to Federal lands and re-
sources, two general types of re-
sources are recognized-the renew
able, such as the forest, game and
the range, and the nonrenewable or
exhaustible, such as minerals or
scenic spectacles. Each necessitates
different treatment.
Renewable natural resources, UNI
der the departments policy, are to
be maintained at predetermined
level. In forests, that means utiliz-
ing the sustained yield" principle
SO that, over a period of years, the
average annual cut does not exceed
the average annual growth. On
range lands, grazing must be limited
to the level of stock which can be
supported without permanent injury
to the forage, soil, water and other
resources and the lands must never
be grazed SO heavily that progressive
deterioration will result. Wildlife
killed and fish taken should not ex-
coed the annual increase.
Exhaustible resources, which must
be so used that they will be pre-
served, form another class, as for
example, the scenic spectacles and
the soils of the range and the
forest. In minerals, where any use
depletes the resources, conservation
means preventing waste in extrac-
ton and use to make the supply
last as long as possible.
1t would be an oversimplification
to indicate that there is anything
automatic in the application of
these basic principles underlying
the departments handling of the
diversified Federal lands for which
it is responsible. Constant thought
and an intelligent and trained per-
sonnet are required to make them
work Changing conditions must be
taken into account-neW uses and
improved techniqueS. Frequently,
the laws themselves are cumbersome
or do not meet new conditions.
Until Congress acts to change the
statutes, the department must carry
them out.
Mining Laws
A pertinent illustration are the
laws covering mining on public
lands. For the nonmetallic min
erals, Congress, after years of UNI
controlled development Of those
minerals, enacted the Mineral LEAFS
ing Act which, with supplementary
legislation, now covers potassium,
OIL gas, phosphate, sodium, oil shale,
coal and, in Louisiana and New
Mexico, sulfur. Provision was made
for an annual rental of the land
and payment Of royalty on minerals
produced under the acts. Receipts
from these leases have largely bene-
flied the Federal Treasury, the
States where the minerals were
mined and the Federal reclama-
ton fund. Moreover, under Fed
eral supervision, health of workers
in these mines, methods used and
developmental processes have all
been improved. In petroleum leases,
these regulations have resulted in
the introduction Of conservation
practices to obtain q maximum re-
covery at minimum cost.
But for metallic minerals, no such