| Show TIMBER conservation AND perpetuation ill fit ft a letter dated january 20 1928 tile tho director oi of the department of 0 commerce wrote the united states ro forester rester win U B greeley Gro elsy regarding problems pro bloma confronting tile tho public relative to tile the conservation and perpetuation ot of tho the nations timber mr air letter in fit part said that alint during the past few years you have on oil various occasions published illuminating statements giving the facts regarding most of tile tho points on oil which confusion still exists but it Is too evident that tile public has not kept those these facts in III mind clearly enough to them together for nil all understanding or of tile situation ris aa a aholo I 1 believe it would bo be helpful if wo we could now havo have from you coli concentrated centra t oil in III one letter or memorandum your views under each of the follow following lt 9 headings in III which I 1 have briefly stated the facts as I 1 understand them pour of tho the points ott on which tile tho Foro views were desired were as aa follows fol lowa 1 in timar growing not timber hoarding lies tho file solution of our forestry problem pio blem 2 As crops are harvested the lands should bo be loft left in III reproductive condition 3 continued development or forest tiro fire prevention Is essential 4 1 I conservation as aa applied to our forest resources means utilizing our one renewable natural resource to tile tho maximum extent that thiet it can be made to serve tho the nation under methods which will insure it a perpetual supply in the reply ot of january 25 lic he mado the following comments 1 1 I agree fully with you that national interests In teresta will benefit tar far more by encouragement of timber owing cpr iv 1 hoarding the timber wo we now have Vm tsAL jjoe lip only because a liberal use of 0 wood 1 essential to our industrial and construction require requirement maids 0 s and to high standards is ot of living but also because vast areas of land in III the united states can profitably fitall ho he employed only in ill timber ua culture talc t without timber growth one fourth ot of our soil will be largely without means to pay taxes support communities or maintain III destries dus tries and commerce tho the disastrous econ onila and social effects of tho the idleness of potential fores land are already felt in several beveral regions hence every reasonable incentive for farm and ana industrial du forestry should ie be providen provided 2 this solution of course depends upon general reforestation as an integral part 0 of f timberland ownership and logging operations without that we wa will be burning the candle all dle at both ends the danger of i timber shortage arises from tile large arge areas of cut over land which have tiago been left unproductive by destructive tive logging and fires while the cutting of virgin stumpage has gone oil in apace I 1 bellove that the united states Is making real slow fi in curing this situation partly through public effort in such directions as systematic protection rom forest fires and partly through and farm forestry on an expanding scale 3 to work out our timber and tor for ost land problems along these lines requires a great deal more than is now being donet done should be no delusion that the problem either aaa boen been solved or that it will bo be solved in any adequate way if things are simply left to take their own course protection of forest areas from croni fire is not yet one halt half adequate the taxation of forest lands is still largely to tile the time requirements requirement ot 0 timber culture and in many instances ns is a positive deterrent to the practice of forestry responsibility tor for meeting these requirements of the situation rests largely with th tb public 4 unlike many of 0 our natural resources timber cm renew itself its right tise does not exhaust the supply jut but perpetuates it in the long run indeed use increases the supply for or it saeeda up growth the lumber and other forest industries can and should bo be perpetual la in the past they havo have largely followed the wild forests as these hive have receded before the he plow and tho the ax and have thus often been shifting oil or i temporary dut but they aro are in no sense dying industries and with aggressive ro foresta lm tian and closer use of raft ra material they hey can call not only be made permanent but will yield a greater output than at present |
