The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1947-12-26
Forest Service Defends Land Management Proposition

/ lands are almost entirely national
forest, State of Montana, ]. Neils Lum.
Der company and Northern Pacific
railroad company. The state owns
only or 6 percent of the productive
capacity of the area included in the
proposed unit
Community Sterilization a Most
Important Problem
The most important problem in the
way of sterilization of the communi-
ties affected is how to regulate the
rate of cutting and how to assure per-
manent high order forestry on these
private lands. The Neils company
owns the principal body of ponderosa
pine. Continued availability of a
large enough volume of this CONNER
cially most valuable timber appears
essential if the Kootenai forest COM
munities are to have long term secur-
ity. Thus, an important objective of
the Forest Service in it's Kootenai
planning is to control the rate of cut
ting and to develop a satisfactory
means to assure forest practices on
these private lands which will protect
the community and public interests
inherent in them Whether or not
this objective can be gained in way
to both the landowner
and the public remains to be seen.
Another important problem is de-
veloping satisfactory means of max
ing available pole timber to the sew
eral interests engaged in the produc-
ton of utility poles. Whether a pole
iTYah nrs fllo tsr,Fo -
stability and meet the gen.
eral public interest can be developed
IS not at all certain.
6. You have in the past editorially
suggested to the Forest Service you
elt it better to require local process
ng or manufacturing of the wood |
PRODUCTS in order thereby to gain the |
and other benefits of in
lustry. I think practically all for
'sters also believe in local process
ng within the dependent forest COM
nunities 1t is the long established
'olicy of the Forest Service to en-
ourage it. However, the congress in
assing the Sustained Yield law of
944 for the first time provided the
'orest Service with a firm legal
economically sound and where forest
are primarily dependent
n national forest timber or a COM
ination of federal and private timber
and that might be signed up under
he act.
1t is unfortunate, I think, that your
eaders might become prejudiceG
gainst the initial application of the
ustained Yield law within this region
efore the Forest Service has had OPP
ortunlty to make even a tentative
roposal aimed toward a sound and
forest economy. There
re very few possible areas in Mon
ina where the cooperative features
the law can be even considered.
owever, in the Lincoln county area
le cooperation of the large timber :
nd owner appears to be indispen- !
lble to secure forest economy.
Must Accept a Degree of Monopoly f
Montana timber available for new 2
plants is generally of low I
lality, and rather inaccessible. To |
)tain local processing of finished I
rest products requires large invest
ents in plants and machinery. An
.onomic pulp and paper MILL for ex-
nple, costs twelve to fifteen million !.
,llars. Large investments in wood /
plants are not made >
lthout assurance of long term v
pod supply. If encouragement is to Il
given local processing of wood, we I
'parently must be prepared to &C Y
pit degree of monopoly over tim u
II supply by the investors. In Lin G
In county there is already and will
ng continue to be a degree of mo- v
poly over large part of the saw u
. timber supply. Any proposal pre- I
nted by the Forest Service will in
Ide considerable control over the y
ercise of that monopoly.
In fact, contamination of any agree
ent would mean that the co-operator