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Show GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP JSJOSTIFIED U. S. Forester's Report Says National Forests Conserve Timber Resources and Water Power. Tho annual roport of tho Forester cf tho Department of Agriculture made public today comments on tho Government ownership of water powor pow-or sites and timber ns exemplified by tho National Forest system. Tho financial fi-nancial burdens resting on private owners of uncut timber nro held to havo forced tho manufacture of lumber lum-ber without regard to market domand and witli consequent demoralization of tho lumber Industry and wasteful use of timber resources; whllo facts and figures regarding tho water power pow-er situation aro given to prove that moro rapid development of water power In tho West is mainly prevented prevent-ed by tho lacck of consumers rather than by tho nbsenco of sultablo leg-Is'ation. leg-Is'ation. ' Water powor permits tnken out for National ForcBt projects Bays tho report, Involve a total of 1,201,500 horso power. Free permits cover 70.C2S horso power and tho plants nctnally constructed or operating on June .'!0, had an output capacity of 341, 27C horso power, tho rentals paying pay-ing 189,000 during tho year. Tho roport comments on tho water power pow-er situation as foliowB: "New legislation permitting tho Government to grant a mora sneuro tenure for tho lands, used, through the Issnanco of 50 year leases, would without doubt, make tho financing of power developments on tho public lands both easier and cheaper and is vory desirable; but tho main obstacle ob-stacle to moro rapid development than that which Is now taking placo Is not lack of a now law but luck of a broader market for power. It Is at least doubtful if either an amended law or private ownorshlp of tho public power sites would ro-suit ro-suit ln any gonoral or material Increase In-crease In power dovcTopmont ln tho WcBtorn States In tho Immediate future. fu-ture. Wfth raro and minor oxcep-tiops, oxcep-tiops, ousting power dovolopmonts In theso States are far In excess of mnrket demands. The Forest Service Ser-vice Is bolng constantly importuned to extend porlods of construction on power permits on the plen that there would bo no market avallablo for tho power If tho project were developed. devel-oped. Tho Per capita uso of water power In electrical development ln tho threo Pacific nnd tho eight Mountain States Is far ln excess of that tn any othor section of the United Uni-ted States and more than flvo times the averago for tho United States as n wholo, Tho dovolopment of tho Pacific States Is nbout 180 horso powor, per thousand of population, and In tho Mountain States 120 horse power, with a bnlancod average of 1C0 horso powor. Now England, which Is noxt In order, has less than 40 horso power per thousand of population pop-ulation and tho wholo Unltod State3 about 30 horso powor." "Tho drop of thirty per cent In tho demands for National Forest stumpnge," tho roport goes on to say, "as Indicated by tho falling off In now sales, Is n significant Index of tho unstablo market for lumber and tho sorlous conditions now obtaining ob-taining In tho forest using Indus-trlOB." Indus-trlOB." Thoso conditions which nro now tho subject of n special study conducted by tho Dopartmont of Agriculture Ag-riculture In cooperation with tho Federal Fed-eral Trado Commission nnd tho Hu-reau Hu-reau of Forolgn nnd Domestic Commerce, Com-merce, "nro related primarily to tho carrying of enormous quantities of raw material, exploitable only during a long period of time, ln private ownorshlp. This load of uncut timber tim-ber with its fnr reaching financial burdens, hampers or prevents the prlvato operator from adapting his business to the changed conditions of his market and to tho competitive factors of moro or less recent development. devel-opment. Hcnco a tendency toward a lumber output governed not by requirements of tho country but by tho financial necessities of tho owners own-ers of stumpago, with Its resultant market demoralization and wasteful use of timber resources. Had tho National Forests never been created tho conditions of trade depression nnd wasteful oxp'oltatlon, detrimental' detriment-al' allko to tho Interests of tho lumber lum-ber Industry nnd tho public, would havo been markedly accentuated. Tho valuo of public ownership of a consldornb'e part of tho timber resources re-sources of tho nation has nover been demonstrated moro strikingly than by tho results of prlvato ownership now manifest." Although largo commercial sales fell off, duo to tho depressed condition condi-tion of the lumber market, says tho report, tho number of sales to settlers, set-tlers, farmers and small dealers nt cost rates nearly doubled ln number whllo moro than 40,000 free timber permit were issued an Increase of 549. Tho steady Increase of this "uso the Forester adds, Indicates the Importance Im-portance of the National Forests to the communities In which they He and tho stability or the local demand for their products. Tho report discusses in detail the-work the-work of tho Forest Service during the fiscal year ended June 30 last, showing a gonoral Increase ln all Forest activities except commercial timber sales. It predicts, however, r. larger rovonue from all sources for tho fiscal year 19IC, tho general Improvement In business conditions throughout the country having "Been already felt in tho National Forests, as shown by an Increase during the first threo months of about $119,000 over tho earnings of tho same period last year. During the fiscal year, the total rovenues wore $2,481,469.35 an Increase of $43,759.14 ovor 1914. Or the $5,662,094.13 provided by tho regn'ar appropriation for tho Forest Sorvlce, says tho report $5,281,000 was expended for protection, utilization, utiliza-tion, and Improvements, tho cost of protection being Increased by an extraordinarily ex-traordinarily severe nro Benson which necessitated emergency expenditures ex-penditures that wcro partly provided for by a deficiency appropriation of $349,213. An additional sum of about $196,000 was spent under tho law which permits 10 per cent of tho Forest receipts to bo employed In road development for tho public ben-out. ben-out. Tho expenditures lnc'wlo, Bays tho report, tho protection of resources which ns yet can not bo mndo to bring in cash returns, such ns Inac-cesslblo Inac-cesslblo timbor ns well as thoso such as watershed covering and recreation al advantago, which yield great general gen-eral benefits not, however, mensurable mensur-able In money values. In this connection, con-nection, tho roport mentions that timbor given frco to settlors and othora wns worth moro than $200,000 whl'.o that sold under tho law at cost was worth $33,000 moro than tho Government got for It. Tho revenue rev-enue also foregono by allowing froo uso of certain grazing lands, adds tho roport, Is estimated to exceed $120,000, whllo n moderate chargo for privileges that aro frco would bring ln at least $100,000 moro. All this, says tho Forester, has novor (been cntored on tho credit sldo of tho Forest Servlco lcdgor. |
