| Show Sees Forest Forejt Conservation Need Vast Areas of Spent Timberland Attest Careless Practices to By LYLE F. F WATTS Chief U. U V-S V S. S Forest Service Recently in an address before a section of the Society ty of American American American Amer Amer- ican Forest Foresters rs at Milwaukee Wis I 1 discussed the nations nation's forest situation an and pr presented the need for fox reasonable ab e public c control of the treatment of pH- pH pHI private private vate forest lands In commenting comment comment- commenting ing on that that pa paper p a a friend of mint mine alleged that In uIn normal periods the he basic American m forestry forestry for for- estry problem is not one of scarcities but of surpluses not of timber famine but of o timber abundance t want to to explore that philosophy because if it is true tru there ther I is really no occasion for much conce concern concern n about f forest rest conservation In discussing this question of scarcity scarcity scarcity scar scar- city versus versus abundance I t want tomake to tomake tomake make it clear that forestry is something something something some some- thing more than boards ties cordwood cordwood cordwood cord- cord wood and other forest products Tome To Tome Tome me forestry has a human side It encompasses permanent communities ties with prosperous industries and anda a stable tax base It means good schools public health and attractive homes It means security for the worker to invest in a home and for forthe forthe forthe the butcher the baker and beauty shop keeper to invest in a business Seventy per cent of New England is forest land but 75 per cent of all the wood products consumed i in New England comes from outside the re re- gion The only evidence of surplus so far as I know is in small low- low grade material which cannot be marketed even under the intense demand demand demand de de- mand of the huge industrial lation The hurricane of 1938 followed by abnormal wartime requirements for box boards has left only scattered remnants of merchantable whitepine whitepine white whitepine pine in central New England Scarcity Scarcity Scarcity Scar Scar- city of stumpage forced several of the leading operators in Massachusetts Massachusetts Massachusetts to move moe out of that state re re- Even in the wild lands of Maine most of which have been gone over several times by logging operations since colonial times the average cut of pulpwood taking all that is considered merchantable from the ground is estimated at only four cords per acre Such an average certainly h implies no troublesome surplus of available timber Not so many generations ago I Pennsylvania Pennsylvania- was the leading source of the nations nation's lumber supply In lri 1941 it ranked among the states with an output of less than 1 per percent percent percent cent of the total The original pine forests have been largely replaced by scrub oak and other hardwoods as a result of fire following logging Th The forest survey for Virginia showed growth in 1940 some 25 per cent in excess of drain by cutting So perhaps we should find a timber surplus here here- But of wh what t significance is an excess of growth over drain when lumber output output output out out- put is only about half of what it was 30 years earlier The decline in Virginias Virginia's Virginias Virginia's Virginias Virginia's Vir Vir- ginia's lumber output is Is' a reflection of scarcity y Stands with withas as much as board feet per acre occupy less than 4 per cent of the total forest area More wood was consumed by non non-h. non lumber mer use than for far lumber In 1910 19 The coastal plain and Piedmont Pied Pled Piedmont mont regions regions' of the Deep South SouL contain over over million acres acres of f fland land wonderfully adapted d to tree growth but not well suited for other purposes All but a small fraction of the old-growth old timber has been cut so that any surplus must be in second growth Almost three-fourths three of this great acreage is in thrifty second growth yet the growing stock is rated atless at atless atless less than half of what it should be Some 10 million acres mostly in the longleaf pine belt of the coastal plain lie denuded Only one-fourth one of the total cubic volume of pine is material and almost three three- fourths of that is in trees less than 16 inches in diameter In spite of the ease of reproduction and the exceptionally rapid growth of themore the themore themore more valuable pines hardwoods now account for almost 60 CO per cent of the cubic volume of all trees The timber supply is vital to the great agricultural states of the Middle Middie Middle Mid Mid- dle die West The situation became so acute in 1942 that two large farm cooperatives bought sawmills in distant distant distant dis dis- tant forest regions in order to be sure of having the lumber they needed Had the forests of this region been given prop proper r care from the beginning beginning beginning begin begin- ning farmers might still be able to meet many of their needs from local timber Most of the older barns in southern Ohio and Indiana for example were built of yellow pop pop- lar Yellow poplar grows almost as fast as any of our softwoods and is just as easily worked But today itis it itis itis is far too precious to put into barns It is ro no longer a significant part of the stock of the local lumber yards All the big pine operations are arenow now gone from the Missouri Ozarks Output Output Out Out- Output put of softwood lumber in Missouri I in n 1942 was only 30 million board feet Yet in 1899 most of the three- three fourths billion board feet of lumber cut ut in that state t te was softwood Throughout the hill country from eastern Ohio q 9 Vest western rn Missouri millions of acres of once once magnificent hardwood forests have degenerated into mere brush cover cove cover M Many ny of the W w Y y Y A I a aN N 4 e rt y 7 Even in New England where this huge red oak towering feet up and mea measuring ur ing almost almo t 20 feet feel in circumference nce was wat cut there i ii is no real timber surplus hardwood industries of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys must now pay heavy transportation charges for raw material from other regions in order to continue operation Some of them face extinction The lake states affords on of the most host serious chapters rs of our forest history ry Here are are some 52 million acres of generally level forest land favorably located with reference to important In Industrial Industrial Industrial In- In and agricultural sec sec- Extensive clear cutting and uncontrolled forest fire have made a large part of this area an economic liability The white pine and red pine which contributed so flU bO bountifully to the de der development of the Middle West arenow arenow are arenow I now little more than memories Although Although Al At I though ome some come old growth growth chiefly chiefly hardwood still stUl the most significant aspect is b the large proportion proportion pro pro- portion of inferior species notably jack pine and aspen in the second growth Having looked In vain for timber Umber surpluses in other important forest regions we turn at last to the West coast The Tho timber of Idaho and Montana was almost untouched up to 1900 But the wave of depletion is rolling through this country with startling speed In Idaho the five northern counties were opened up first and were soon pretty th thoroughly roughly ex ex- Output reached a peak of million board feet in 1925 In 1937 it was only million Obviously payrolls in these northern no rn counties declined in ab about ut the same ra ration ion as lumber production Towns like Sandpoint Sandpoint Sandpoint Sand- Sand point and Coeur d' d dAlene Alene were hard hit and Spokane turned its eyes from the panhandle of Idaho to the Grand Coulee dam The Increased output now coming i from the five counties farther south rests on a precarious base Only one- one tenth of th the 10 million on acres of forest forest for for- I est st in North Noth q aho is in white pine yet yet this tenth is bearing the brunt of current cut White pine output is now 2 times what the forests forests for for- es ests can sustain But even within this region the apparent surplus is local in charac ter The only area still largely undeveloped undeveloped undeveloped un un- developed is a portion of southern Oregon In the older districts notably aro around nd Puget Sound the bulk of the readily accessible saw saw- timber has been removed Sawmills have shut down and pulp mills have assumed greater e. e The available stand is no longer as large as the growing stock needed to sustain sustain sus sus- tain a cut commensurate with the growth capacity c of 01 the land The lower Columbia r ver district with large mills and 40 billion feet of is already feeling the pinch of s scarcity About half of the private belongs to two large companies Most of theother the theother theother other mills face difficulty in getting the timber they need for time long-time operation I want to close by stating my conviction conviction conviction con con- that a comprehensive legislative legislative legislative legisla legisla- tive charter is needed to give effect to a well-rounded well national forest policy and to strengthen the foundation foundation tion for timely postwar action in the forestry field |
