FRONT LINES IN FORESTRY
Watts, Lyle F.
Front Lines In Forestry By LYLE F. WATTS TIMBER products have advanced close to top position on the list of critical war materials. Already, ton for ton, more wood than steel is being used by our...
...Chestnut acid tans his shoes, dogwood blocks weave cloth to clothe him, black walnut goes into his gun-stock, and hardwood-oak, beech, birch, maple—charcoals go into his gas-mask...
...There is involved a sacrifice of growing stock without which there can be no usable forest crops for decades after the war...
...The forest goes to war with the soldier...
...Last year, for example, more than 16 billion cubic feet of timber was cut or destroyed —thus exceeding the estimated 11 billion cubic feet of annual growth by almost 50 per cent...
...Two factors have inevitably joined: high prices and pressure to increase output...
...These lands should be acquired by the public...
...These companies did not undertake good forest practice as a response only to public concern about national timber scarcity...
...In our democratic country remedial measures dealing fundamentally with public interest in private property, must be supported by a broad public understanding...
...Forests are a basic national asset...
...For the ills of the body forestry, there is no paneea...
...and the Norris-Doxey program—involving direct help in woodland management and marketing for farmers...
...The nation cannot shun the necessity of cutting all the wood that is needed for-war...
...For note this: timber growth has dwindled far below the productive capacity throughout whole sections of the East, the South, and Lake States, although much of the land is still primarily suited for forest...
...they should provide for reasonable precautions against fire, insects, and disease, and for the reservation of a sufficient growing stock of desirable trees...
...Of the 462 million acres of commercial forest land, approximately 17 per cent is now virtually non-productive...
...Cause: destructive cutting and fire...
...The second part of the national forest conservation program should aim to encourage this private enterprise, by helping private owners to good forest practice through public aid...
...For the rest, all but about 100 million acres have been cut over...
...In turn, the Government should get cooperation—not opposition—in a program for the application of basic standards on a nation-wide scale...
...They have sponsored nation-wide magazine advertising, are circulating motion pictures, are sponsoring radio broadcasts, and have issued flashy and attractively illustrated pamphlets...
...the owners have not been required to institute those practices that have been proved essential to the maintenance of forests in productive condition...
...These controls should prohibit, for example, stripping the land of every usable tree, except under special circumstances, and the premature or wasteful cutting in young stands...
...Something over a quarter of this is of alpine or semi-desert character, chaparral, or other forest-land types unsuited or unavailable for growing timber of commercial quality or quantity...
...On those forest lands where "wrecks" are occurring— where the forests are suffering from malpractice—the blame may be brought to the same doorstep...
...and the way they are handled will affect the public welfare in many ways...
...Beside the fact that we must look to them for the bulk of our timber supplies, they include areas where watershed protection problems are most critical...
...With the growing list of wood's vital war uses fabulous by now, forests -—in a myriad of forms—are being moved off to the front lines...
...To me, the No...
...and bivouacs in housing units built from softwood lumber and veneer—also used for the endless variety of boxes, crates, and dunnage that carry a fighting-man's equipment to the fronts...
...That some national uniformity of standards under P'ederal leadership will be necessary, however, can hardly be questioned...
...Recently I read in Harper's an interesting article about railroad wrecks...
...These practices are available to the private owner of forest lands...
...The Number One Job Here is the general picture: We have about 630 million acres of forest land in the United States...
...Such practice defeats the ends of good forestry...
...Forests are almost as vital to the nation's welfare in time of peace as in time of war...
...Their conservation is necessary to promote and protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the nation...
...Obviously, then, we cannot stand by indefinitely and watch the forest capital upon which future growth of useful timber depends melt away...
...Combined with growing scarcity of accessible old-growth timber, these have stimulated premature clear-cutting of young second growth...
...Unfortunately, their number relatively small...
...The old "States Rights" question, too, is caught up in the situation...
...We are using forest capital as well as interest, and failing to make adequate provision for new growth...
...A Three-Point Program These, and other states which would eventually un« dertake sincerely to administer forest regulation themselves—that is adequate according to Federal standards—I believe should be entitled to financial aid from the Federal Government...
...For some of these lands, state or community ownership is probably the best answer...
...Furthermore, since "the greatest good to the greatest number in the long run" is the cornerstone of the Forest Service interest in a sound forestry program, it would seem well first to emphasize some of the elements of social conflict in the situation...
...Is it wise—or safe—to allow ourselves to be lulled into such a feeling of security...
...they did so because they were convinced it was good business in itself...
...Notably the state of Maryland, with its Forest Conservancy Districts Act of 1943...
...And these essential controls, let me say, can be established without abandoning private enterprise or sacrificing individual initiative...
...To make good forest practice attractive to private owners has long been one of the Forest Service's standing policies...
...Do not underestimate the significance to YOU of those precepts...
...Its sequel, however, is not so well known...
...Boiled down: To what extent does ownership of private property carry with it responsibility to the public...
...for others, acquisition by the Federal Government and administration as National Forests, seem desirable...
...It should be gravely concerned, however, if short-sighted, destructive cutting practices aggravate the situation...
...The analogy is plain...
...The majority of disastrous wrecks, it said, are caused by the too-frequent absence of long-available and long-approved safety devices and controls, which the railroads had not adopted because they had not been required to...
...In wartime, we cut for war needs at war tempo, inescapably...
...That aspect of the forest story you know...
...and certain other forest lands in which vital public interest—watershed protection, let us say—is dominant and will not be adequately safeguarded in private ownership...
...Much of it, however, is valuable for watershed protection, for example, and for grazing or wildlife...
...Many inducements have already been offered : the Clarke-McNary program of cooperation with the states and private owners in forest fire protection, for example...
...So far as the Forest Service is concerned, I believe that it is our duty to see that the public is kept correctly informed .of the facts of the forest situation, of its social and economic implications, and of what is necessary to assure continued forest nro-ductivity...
...Already, ton for ton, more wood than steel is being used by our armed forces...
...Healthy, nation-wide agitation of the regulation topic, however, has led to moves for specific legislation in many states...
...Of sawtimber, drain was nearly twice the yearly growth...
...To attain the over-all goal, the Forest Service has put its faith in a three-point program of essentials: First, the program must provide for public controls on timber cutting and allied practices sufficient to halt destructive cutting and deterioration and to keep forest land reasonably productive...
...We have enough forest land ultimately to produce timber for all foreseeable needs—plenty . . . providing that forest land is properly managed...
...The People Must Know There remain certain forest lands which, by reason of inaccessible location, low productivity, or other reason, the private owner cannot reasonably be expected to maintain profitably or restore to productive condition...
...and a large part of the cut-over land now produces but a fraction of what it might...
...1 job of the Forest Service is to provide that pattern of action and active leadership necessary to make our forests produce for the future...
...This is well-nigh axiomatic...
...Thus, the nation is primarily dependent upon them for its_timber supplies...
...The forests are feeling this war.-Let us make no bones about that...
...That thesis is being opposed by organized forest industries with robust vigor...
...Most of these media emphasize the highly commendable voluntary steps toward good forest practice being taken by progressive industrial operators...
...but unfortunately they give the entirely false impression that these are altogether adequate to provide for all the nation's forests for the future...
...In support of this tenet, I could cite the cases of many progressive operator's in the Lake States, in the Northwest, the South, in other sections of the country...
...In the 30-year period before the present war, onr total reserve of standing sawtimber was reduced 40 per cent...
...We Cannot Duck The Issue Bluntly put, this nation's forests are not being grown as fast as they are being depleted...
...Yet, today, after decades of research, demonstration, and educational effort—and I say this advisedly—most of our cutting on private forest lands is still done with little regard for the future productivity of the resource...
...But we will have to double the present rate of growth if we are to meet estimated future requirements...
...The needs for action are interdependent...
...Quite as obviously, if left alone as things stand, much more of it will melt away than we can possibly afford...
...Public acquisition of such areas would be the third and final aspect of a comprehensive forest conservation program...
...The industry is spending large sums in a publicity campaign which tends to create the impression that there is no cause for concern about timber supply...
...It is already a recognized critical problem in many localities in the West...
...Additional measures that might well be taken to help owners adopt good forest practice would be through expanding technical aid, through loans on terms suited to the forestry business, and through forest insurance...
...Increased public aid is needed for fire protection, for instance, and for insect and disease control, research in woods management and wood-utilization problems...
...Depletion of basic growing stocks has not yet been checked on more than a small fraction of the privately-owned forest area...
...On this whole far-reaching question, the people must be fully informed...
...Some owners have employed them, and know that good forest practices produce good results...
...The public has a vital interest in the proper management of these lands...
...and Oregon, Mississippi, and others, with recent new forestry laws on their books—have taken steps in the direction of right forestry...
...Often, you must be well aware, such ill— u.sed land is left entirely unproductive...
...The Forest Service is convinced that public regulation of cutting practices on all forest lands is needed to protect the public interest...
...Total demand in the years ahead is likely to be even higher than at present, if timber is available at prices which people can afford to pay...
...Only by maintenance of a high level of productivity from our natural resources can an economy of abundance result...
...Misleading Advertising Getting down to fundamentals, the nation's forestry situation is revealed as one more aspect of a conflict between the exponents of unrestricted individual initiative in business enterprise, and protection of the public interest by appropriate regulation of private enterprise...
...The effect of such publicity might be illustrated, for example, in a recent editorial appearing in the Washington Times Herald, which said: "It's a pleasure to turn from the subject of national finances and to note that American Forest Products Industries, an association of leading lumber companies, says that the nation's lumber supply problem has been solved...
...Organized labor, conversely, recognizing its stake in permanently productive forests, generally wants some assurance that the forests will be kept that way...
...These private lands include something like 90 per cent of the potential timber-growing capacity of the entire country, and furnish 90 to 95 per cent of the present cut of all forest products...
...Because of continued indiscriminate cutting, timber depletion is becoming more acute in these areas...
...He embarks on Douglas-fir-decked ships from yellow-pine wharves erected on pilings of the same wood...
...Many men feel that if public regulation of timber cutting is needed, the states should do it without Federal interference or supervision...
Vol. 8 • September 1944 • No. 39
