credit to those individual owners and groups who are endeavoring to handle their timberlands constructively. Great credit, too, is due to the State foresters and their supporters for what they have achieved in the face of public indifference and even hostility. But when we consider our forests as a whole we have hardly begun to stem the tide of forest destruction. Even in the matter of organized fire protection the effort on private lands is confined chiefly to the protection of the merchantable timber. Cut-over lands and young tree growth are usually not protected except as may be necessary to safeguard the mature timber; and over a great part of the country there is practically no effort whatever to keep out fires.

"Timberland owners feel that they can not change their present methods. They have purchased the land to exploit the timber and not to grow a new crop of trees. For an owner who intends to hold his lands, forestry is just as essential as is agriculture to a farmer. But most timberland owners do not intend to hold their lands after cutting the timber; and they see no reason why they should expend money or effort on the land to secure public benefits or to avoid injury to the community. It is the speculative character of ownership that explains the lack of incentive to timberland owners to handle their lands constructively. And we may not expect that such owners will take any different view or action on their own initiative. The profits of forestry, though very real, do not furnish in themselves a sufficient incentive to cause the change.

"In seeking a solution for the forestry problem on private lands, it should be recognized that its very character is such as to require public participation, assistance, and direction. There are certain things that the public should do, and in a liberal spirit, to make forestry by private timberland owners possible and effective. At the same time the public should insist by adequate legislation that the destructive processes be stopped, and that methods be adopted which will leave the forests in a productive condition. To secure these ends there is necessary a broad program that is practicable and equitable, based on consideration of existing economic conditions. Its formation calls for the most careful constructive thought, with no point of view neglected. "The limits of this paper do not permit the discussion of all the problems that must be considered in an effective program of forestry on private lands. Some principles may, however, be briefly indicated. A program of forestry should

include, first of all, compulsory fire protection; and this should apply to second growth and cutover lands as well as to old timber. State laws should be unequivocal, with adequate penalties, in their requirements upon timberland owners for protective measures, including the prevention. of dangerous accumulations of slashings. Fire protection should be organized and under State supervision. The States should provide an effective organization to enforce the fire laws and to administer the organized protective work. Liberal funds should be made available for patrol, improvements, supervision, and inspection. In most of the States the laws are not drastic enough; there is not sufficient direct responsibility on the owner, and there are not provided adequate means to execute the laws and administer the protective work. The damage by forest fires can be stopped. Its continuance is due to a combined failure on the part of the public and the owners.

"The methods of cutting determine whether for one or perhaps several tree generations the lands will be productive or not. The public, in its own protection, should prohibit destructive methods of cutting that injure the community and the public at large. With the co-operation. of the public, constructive measures of forestry are feasible. They should be mandatory.

"The States should adopt a policy of taxation of forests that would encourage rather than hinder the practice of forestry. Present tax policies tend to force early cutting and add to the burden of holding young forests.

"Other factors also cause premature and wasteful cutting in most timberland regions. The speculative character of ownership, the burdens of carrying stumpage, the necessity to meet the interest on borrowed capital and other fixed charges, and the uncertainties regarding markets, labor, and other conditions are among the causes of the haste to cut. The result is frequent overproduction, demoralization of the market, and industrial instability. Lumbermen are already appealing to the public to aid them to bring about a more stable condition of the industry. They have requested tax reforms, the naming by the Government of 'fair prices,' based on cost of production, and the modification of the Sherman act to permit agreements, in restraint of trade, for the curtailment of production.

"The industrial situation is one that demands the consideration of the public, because of the many public interests involved, including the danger to our remaining forests. I do not concur in the proposals that have been made for

Federal legislation relative to agreements in restraint of trade, but I believe that public participation is necessary to meet the difficulties. The solution of this problem involves many features that can be taken care of by improvements within the industry itself; others require public co-operation to bring about a sounder basis of ownership and financing of timberlands. In any case, aid extended by the public should carry with it an insistence that the forest lands be handled constructively, from the standpoint both of protection and of forest growth. In fact, the very measures that would be necessary to secure a right handling of forest lands would go far in solving the problem of instability that constantly menaces the lumber industry and all the interests dependent upon it.

"A program of forestry should include, further, co-operation in problems of labor, in land classification looking to the development of agricultural portions of cut-over lands, co-operation in colonization, public activities in technical and economic research, co-operation in the methods of forestry, and so on.

"The farm woodlot offers a special problem. The public should lend liberal assistance to the farmers and the small owners, not only in demonstrating the best methods of forestry and in reforestation but also in matters which pertain to marketing the products of the woodlot.

"Finally, a program of private forestry is intimately related to that of public forests. We should greatly extend our public forests. Forests on critical watersheds should be owned by the public for their protective value. Public forests serve also as centers of co-operation with private owners and as demonstration areas for the practice of forestry as well as furnishing direct benefits in producing wood materials, as recreation grounds, etc.

"We have been discussing these problems for many years, but we have made little progress in securing the right handling of private lands. The need of the general public to have the forest lands of the country productive and the need of woodconsuming industries alike call for the initiation of a broad program of forestry that includes private as well as public forests. I have presented some of the issues as I see them. I urge that those interested in the forest problem join in bringing about some definite and conclusive action."

France is said to have lost in the war nearly 10 per cent. of its lumber and 61⁄2 per cent. of its firewood.

"A feature of the big effort made by the foresters was a contest between the units operating at the cities of Dax, Pontenx and Mimizam. The records of the three districts for October, in board feet, follow: Dax, 6,300,000; Pontenx, 5,700,000; Mimizam, 4,400,000.

"The grand total of the lumber turned out in Base Section No. 2, in October, was 16,400,000 board feet, or 3,400,000 board feet better than in September."

A. E. F. Woodsmen Could Fence In Third of Globe.

"Forestry Division Works 107 Sawmills at 76 Points in France.

"Fuel for Rhine Army Now.

66

"Raw Material for Railroad Ties, Bread Cases, Artificial Limbs, all in Day's Grind.

"Imagine a barracks 600 miles long and 20 feet wide, big enough to house the whole American E. F. at the time of the Armistice, and to spare; imagine a flag pole 435 miles high, or enough fuel wood to make a rick three feet wide, three feet high and 600 miles long. That is one way of showing what the Forestry Division of the A. E. F. has accomplished from the time it got under way in 1917. And the 17,000 members of its personnel were still whirlwinding along at a merry old clip when the Kaiser sneaked out of the ring. Working Day and Night.

"The men made their own camps, set up their own mills, built their own logging railroads and sidings, and their own roads and wagons."

Is any job too big for the American Forester ?

1,200,000 acres of forest land in France are estimated to have been destroyed by the war. More than half of this belongs to the government or to the communes.

What the Forests Mean to the Water User.

T

HE United States Forest Service has just issued a brochure, by Samuel T. Dana, Assistant Chief, Forest Investigations, entitled "What the National Forests Mean to the Water User," which sets forth the immense value of the forests in conserving water for irrigating farms which produce annually crops worth $247,000,000. The following abstracts are taken from the monograph, and readers are advised to send for a copy:

"Few people need to be reminded that the prosperity of the West depends largely upon an adequate supply of water for irrigation. Water, rather than land, is the open sesame to the agricultural development of the semiarid regions. If the precipitation were as evenly distributed in the West as it is in the East, there would not be the need for irrigation that now exists, and the main purpose of the National Forests would be simply timber production. Except for a narrow strip along the Pacific coast, from San Francisco north to the Canadian line, the great bulk of the precipitation occurs in the mountains. Throughout the Coast Ranges, the Cascades and Sierra Nevadas, and the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau, the rain and snow fall is far greater than in the intermediate valleys and plateaus.

"As a natural consequence of the difference in amount of precipitation in the mountains and at the lower elevations, the former are generally forested and the latter treeless. The National Forests, of course, are located in the mountains, where the trees are. At least 85 per cent., and very likely more, of the water used to irrigate these 13,200,000 acres, whether it comes from surface streams and lakes or from underground sources, has its origin in the mountains where the National Forests are located. Obviously, not all of this mountain area is forested, nor is all of the forested area under Federal ownership.

"No figures are available as to the exact value added to these lands by the application of water, but it unquestionably runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Irrigation represents one of the vital needs for water in the West, but there are others. Water is the 'white coal' which furnishes, or will furnish, thé motive power for lighting systems, trolley lines, and manufacturing plants everywhere in the Western States. As such it constitutes an immensely valuable resource. The western mountains contain more than 72 per cent. of the potential water power of the United States.

"No less than 42 per cent. of the water power

resources of the 11 Western States, or approximately 31 per cent. of the water-power resources of the entire country, is actually within the National Forests. Moreover, a large part of the remaining power, although developed outside of the Forests, is derived from streams rising in them. Some 732 western towns and cities, with an aggregate population of 2,265,000, depend on the National Forests for their domestic water supply. This does not include, of course, ranches and small settlements equally dependent on the Forests, nor the towns and cities securing their domestic water from streams and underground supplies which are at some distance from the Forests, but which rise from sources within them.

"Perhaps the most obvious relation that exists between forests and water is the tendency of the tree cover to check erosion. The leaves and branches of the trees prevent the rain from beating upon the soil as it does in the open; the cover which they afford delays the melting of snow in the spring; the upper layers of the forest soil act as an enormous sponge that absorbs large quantities of water which in turn are passed on to the great reservoir of mineral soil beneath; and finally, the surface cover of stumps, fallen twigs, branches, and even whole trees, acts as a mechanical obstruction to prevent rapid runoff. The surface run-off from forest areas is less, both in total amount and in velocity, than that from similarly situated unforested areas. The steeper and more rugged the topography, the more marked is this contrast.

"From the standpoint of the water user, the tendency of the mountain forests to prevent erosion is of the utmost importance. The action of the forest in reducing surface run-off tends also to regulate the flow of streams. Instead of rushing away in uncontrollable torrents, the water is absorbed into the great reservoir of mineral soil, from which it is gradually paid out to the springs and streams. This tends to decrease the high water run-off and to increase the low water runoff.

"A typical example of the ways in which the National Forests benefit the water user is furnished by the Pike National Forest in Colorado. Irrigation by means of water coming from the mountains included in the Pike National Forest had its modest beginnings in 1860 along the South Platte River in South Park and also near Denver. Since then the area on which irrigation is practiced has grown steadily, until now it is estimated at some 400,000 acres, valued at about $40,000,000 and with an annual crop production of over $10,000,000.

"No less important is the use of the water for

domestic and municipal purposes. Altogether, some 35 cities and towns with an aggregate population of 275,000, and an investment in waterworks of over $17,600,000, obtain their domestic supply from this forest. The value of water as a scenic, or esthetic, asset, and its contribution to recreation in the region, should also not be overlooked. To the Pikes Peak region come thousands of visitors every year, attracted by the scenery and climate.

"The following letter from a rancher in northern Wyoming throws light on what the protection afforded by the Bighorn National Forest means to the water user in that part of the country: 'I have resided on Rock Creek for 28 years. During all this time I was owner of a ranch and was dependent on a good supply of water for all my crops; the welfare of my stock and my own financial standing depended, therefore, more or less, on a good flow of water in Rock Creek. We all know that if a forest fire runs through the biggest portion of the watershed of a stream the water supply of such a stream is greatly diminished, if not entirely cut off, during the latter part of July and August, and untold damage is done to all ranchmen who are dependent on such a burned-off area for their irrigation water.

"As proof of the foregoing, I mention the great fire on the headwaters of Rock Creek in 1890, when four-fifths of the Rock Creek watershed was burned off. There was good reason to think that it was incendiarism. Immediately after the fire and for eight years afterwards there was very little water at the right time. There were some destructive floods too early in the season to do the irrigator much good. But as the hills became covered with young reproduction the flow of Rock Creek kept increasing and the floods became less destructive, and today, 20 years after the fire, Rock Creek is nearly normal again, but not quite, for the reason that in the head of the main fork the fire was so destructive that there were no seed trees left for a distance of nearly 5 miles on the south side of the creek, and consequently the reproduction is very scattering.

66 In conclusion I wish to state that anyone who successfully farms a ranch in this part of Wyoming understands the great importance of keeping the forest fires out of the mountains and of maintaining a good stand of timber on the watersheds of all streams to hold the snow and help prevent the rapid run-off of the water too early in the season to be of much use to the irrigator.'

"An outstanding feature of National Forest

administration is the emphasis placed on fire protection. Fire is the worst thing that can happen in a forest, both as regards destruction of property and interference with the water supply. Every fire, no matter how small, destroys some of the organic material in the surface layers of the soil, and to that extent reduces its absorptive capacity. Repeated fires on the same area, even if they do not destroy the forest outright, may practically nullify its effects in preventing erosion and regulating stream flow.

"The system has now reached a stage of efficiency where the majority of fires are brought under control before they do any serious damage. In 1916, for example, 73 per cent. of the 5,655 fires on the National Forests were extinguished before they had burned over 10 acres, and only 4.4 per cent. caused a damage of more than $100. The chief opportunities for further progress lie in reducing the number of fires that occur, and in this work every citizen can help. Necessary precautions are likewise taken to keep in check insects and diseases which would endanger the forest cover on watersheds in the National Forests.

"Grazing in the National Forests has been regulated in such a way as to repair damage due to over-grazing to the fullest possible extent and to prevent similar damage on areas not already affected. In cutting timber on the National Forests, similar precautions are taken to see that the interests of the water user are properly protected. At the higher elevations, where because of thin soil, steep slopes, and heavy precipitation the preservation of a fairly dense forest cover is particularly important, 'protection forests' may be set aside in which little or no cutting is allowed. At lower elevations the amount of cutting that may safely be allowed naturally varies more or less with local conditions. In each case a careful study of the situation is made, and the timber is never thinned below the point of safety. Lumbering is carried on with the primary object of improving the forest and keeping it continuously productive. So far as possible, new growth is secured by natural reproduction from the old trees left standing.

"Areas burned over before the creation of the National Forests need to be planted to trees. Planting is done principally on areas from which towns and cities or irrigation projects get their water supply. The various activities on the National Forests are handled in such a way as to insure the fullest possible protection and utilization of the water supply as well as of the timber, forage, and other resources."