The United States forest policy

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Preface

The history of the United States is fundamentally a history of rapid exploitation of immensely valuable natural resources. The possession and exploitation of these resources have given most of the distinctive traits to American character, economic development, and even political and social institutions. Whatever preeminence the United States may have among the nations of the world, in industrial activity, efficiency and enterprise, in standards of comfort in living, in wealth, and even in such social and educational institutions as are dependent upon great wealth, must be attributed to the possession of these great natural resources ; and the maintenance of our preeminence in these respects is dependent upon a wise and economical use of remaining resources. Thus the question of conservation is one o£the most important questions before the American people, and if the present study throws even a weak and flickering light upon that question, its publication will be abundantly justified.

The writer acknowledges a heavy obligation to some of his teachers, friends and colleagues for helpful criticism and suggestions. The work was begun under the direction of Professor Charles J. Bullock of Harvard University, and thanks are due him for searching criticism and suggestions, and for kindly help and encouragement. The writer owes much also to Professor Frederick J. Turner, Professor John M. Gries, and Dean E. F. Gay, of Harvard University, and to colleagues at the Iowa State College — Professor L. B. Schmidt, Professor John E. Brindley, Professor G. B. McDonald, and Professor J. J. Reighard. Professor F. H. Hodder of the University of Kansas offered valuable suggestions regarding some points in American history, and Doctor R. M. Woodbury read several chapters and submitted many able criticisms.

The writer wishes also to acknowledge valuable suggestions from Mr. R. S. Kellogg, regarding points touching the lumber industry, and from Gifford Pinchot, William L. Hall, and Herbert A. Smith, regarding the work of the Forest Service. Thanks are due particularly to Editor Herbert A. Smith of the Forest Service for a careful reading of the manuscript, and for many suggestions and criticisms of the greatest value. Others to whom acknowledgment is due for advice and help, are Doctor Charles Walcott of the Smithsonian Institute, Doctor B. E. Fernow of Toronto University, and Senator Pettigrew of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In making acknowledgment to those who have assisted in the preparation of this book, the writer ventures the hope that these friends will not have to share in the responsibility for any faults that may appear in the work.

Chapter I: Our Forests Prior To 1878: The Period Of Beginnings \ . . .19

The Early Settlers and the Forests: The United States Naval Reserves: General Indifference in the Early National Period: Early Conservation Sentiment: Interest Shown by Government Officials: State Action: Action of the Association for the Advancement of Science: Early Interest in Timber Culture: State Timber Culture Laws: Tree Planting by the Railroads: Congressional Action; Factors at Work: Conservation Activity in Congress: The Timber Culture Act: The First Forest Reserve Bill: Unfavorable Legislation not Applying Specifically to Timber: Swamp Land Grants: Other State Grants: The Preemption, Commutation Homestead, and Desert Land Laws: Public Sale: Railroad Land Grants: Unfavorable Legislation Applying Specifically to Timber: The Free Timber and Timber and Stone Acts: Conclusion.

CHAPTER II: THE PERIOD FROM 1878 TO 1891: FROM THE PASSAGE OF THE TWO TIMBER ACTS TO THE FOREST RESERVE ACT: WHOLESALE TIMBER STEAL- ING 62

The Free Timber Act, Provisions and Interpretation: Evil Effects: Extension of Free Timber Privileges: The Timber and Stone Act; Provisions: Frauds under the Timber and Stone Act: Extension of the Provisions of the Act: Extensive Timber Stealing: Trespass by Railroads: Efforts to Protect the Public Timber: The "Bill to License Timber Thieves": Difficulties in the Way of Timber Protection: Growth of Conservation Sentiment: Forestry Associations: State Action: Other Indications of Conservation Interest: Congressional Action not Specifically Relating to Timber Lands; the Public Lands Commission and the Genera] Revision Act of 1891: Failure of the Timber Culture Act: Appropriations to Prevent Fraudulent Entries: Abolition of Private Sale in the South: Indirect Encouragement to Timber Stealing: The Failure to Forfeit the Railroad Grants: The Railroad Attorney Bill: Timber on Indian Reservations: Appropriations for Timber Protection: Efforts to Secure Land Grants for Forestry Schools: Appropriations for Forestry Investigations: The Forest Reserve Act: Early Advocates of Forest Reserves: Congress and the Question of Forest Reserves: The Passage of the Forest Reserve Act.

Chapter Iii: The Forest Reserves From 1891 To 1897: Need Of Protection And Administration 119

The Situation in 1891: The Creation of New Reserves: The Need for Protection of the Reserved Lands: Efforts in Congress to Secure Better Protection: The McRae Bill: The Commission of the National Academy of Sciences; and Cleveland's Proclamations of February 22, 1897: Previous Hostility toward the Reserves: The Attack of 1897: The Forest Lieu Section: The Act of 1897.

Chapter Iv: The Forest Reserves Since 1897: The Period Of Conservation Activity . . .143

The "Golden Era" of Forest Conservation Activity: Public Opinion and Conservation: State Conservation Activity: Education in Forestry: Forestry Journals and Forestry Societies: Other Indications of Conservation Sentiment: Broadening Scope of the Conservation Movement: The Public Lands Commission: The Waterways Commission and the Conference of Governors: The National Conservation Commission: Increase in Appropriations for Forestry Purposes: Transfer of the Reserves to the Department of Agriculture: Opposition to Increased Appropriations: Creation of New Reserves: Improvement of the Forest Fire Law: Authority to Arrest Trespassers without Process.

CHAPTER V: THE FOREST RESERVES SINCE 1897 (continued) : ANTI-CONSERVATION ACTIVITY . . .164 Anti-conservation Activity: Factors Tending to Arouse Western Hostility; Agricultural Lands in the Forest Reserves: The Lacey Bill: Grazing in the Forest Reserves: Efforts to Open the Reserves to Grazing: The Public Lands Convention at Denver: Aggressive Policy of Roosevelt and Pinchot: The Forest Lieu Act: Efforts to Repeal the Forest Lieu Act: Lieu Selection in the San Francisco Mountains Forest Reserve: Lieu Selection and the Mount Ranier National Park: The Oregon Timber Land Frauds: Inefficiency of the Early Forest Administration: Other Causes of Western Hostility: An Expression of the Western Attitude: Efforts to Overturn the Reservation Policy: Senator Heyburn and the Reserves: The Anti-conservation Attack of 1907: The Act of 1907: Anti-conservation Attacks since 1907: The Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy: The Alaska Forests.

Chapter Vi: Forest Reserves In The Appala- Chian And White Mountains 207

Early Agitation for Appalachian Reserves: The Demand for Forests in the White Mountains: Increasing Scope of the Movement: The Weeks Bill: Arguments in Favor of the Bill: Arguments against the Bill: Influences Favoring its Passage: Opposition to the Bill: Analysis of the Final Vote: Provisions of the Weeks Law: Later Changes: Results of the Law.

CHAPTER VII: THE UNRESERVED TIMBER LAND SINCE THE PASSAGE OF THE FOREST RESERVE ACT 224 The Timber and Stone Act Once More: Further Extension of Its Provisions: Unsuccessful Efforts to Repeal or Amend the Timber and Stone Act: The Suspension of Timber and Stone Entries in 1906: Sale of Burned Timber: Timber Sales Without Legislative Authorization: The Free Timber Acts Again: Further Extension of Free Timber Privileges: Unsuccessful Efforts to Curtail

CONTENTS 15

Free Timber Privileges: Conservation Activity in Congress; Increasing Appropriations for Timber Protection: Other Helpful Legislation: Railway Land Grants Once More: The Act of 1916: The Northern Pacific Lands.

CHAPTER VIII: HOSTILITY TO THE NATIONAL FOR- ESTS IN RECENT YEARS: OPPOSITION TO THE GEN- ERAL POLICY OF RESERVATION 254

Opposition to the General Policy of Reservation; Interference with the Development of the West: Inclusion of Agricultural Lands: Efforts to Eliminate Agricultural Lands; The Nelson Amendment: Justice of the Complaints Regarding the Inclusion of Agricultural Lands: The Question of Ranger Stations: Grazing in the National Forests: Mining in the National Forests: Water Power Development in the National Forests: Withdrawal of Other Resources: Opposition to Saving for Posterity: Discrimination against the West: Opposition to Game Preservation: Loss of Taxing Power: Justice of Complaints Regarding Loss of Taxing Power: Inclusion of State Lands in the National Forests: Robbing the Western Forests for the Eastern Forests: Objection to an "Alien Government."

CHAPTER IX: HOSTILITY TO THE NATIONAL FORESTS IN RECENT YEARS (continued): CRITICISM OF THE FOREST SERVICE 284

The "Insolvency" of the National Forests and Alleged Extravagance of the Forest Service: Justice of These Complaints: The Timber Sale Policy of the Forest Service: The Forest Lieu Act Again: Heyburn's Criticisms: The Real Attitude of the West: Safety of the National Forests.

CHAPTER X: THE WORK OF THE FOREST SERVICE . 299

Advice and Assistance to Private Owners: Cooperation with States: Protection of Fish and Game: Recreational Uses of the Forests: Assistance to Grazing Interests: Investigative Work: Silvicultural Investigations: Forestation: Investigation of Forest Influences: Other Silvicultural Investigations: Investigations in Forest Products: Forest Products Research and the War.

CHAPTER XI: RESULTS OF OUR FOREST POLICY: CON- CENTRATION IN THE OWNERSHIP OF STANDING TIMBER 315

Concentration of Ownership in Terms of Board Feet: Acreage Figures: Concentration of Ownership in the Northwest: The Three Big Holdings of the Northwest: Ownership in the Southern Pine Region: Ownership in the Lake States: Comparison of Ownership in the Different Regions: Timber Ownership outside the Investigation Area: Factors Augmenting the Power of Large Holders; Large Holdings Proportionately More Valuable: Large Holders Have the Most Valuable Lands: Large Holdings Include the Most Valuable Species: Causes of Concentration of Ownership; Railroad Land Grants: Swamp Land Grants: Other State Grants: The Cash Sale Law: Lieu Selections and Large Holdings: Large Holdings Normal in Timber Ownership: Speculation.

CHAPTER XII: RESULTS OF OUR FOREST POLICY (continued) : CONDITIONS IN THE LUMBER INDUSTRY . 334

The So-called Lumber Monopoly: Lumbermen's Associations: The National Lumber Manufacturers' Association: Scope and Influence of Organizations: Efforts to Fix Prices: Pools in the Lumber Industry: Open Price Associations: Other Efforts to Fix Prices: Price Activities Among Retailers: Effectiveness of Efforts to Fix Prices: Effectiveness of Curtailment Campaigns: Possibility of Future Trouble: Instability of the Lumber Market: The Lumber Industry and Timber Speculation: Cost of Timber Ownership: Waste of Timber: Failure to Reforest Lands: The Question of Remedies: Government Regulation of Lumber Prices: Increased Government Ownership of Standing Timber.

CHAPTER XIII: CONCLUSION . . . . . .369

European Influences in the Conservation Movement: The Attitude of Congress: The Ethics of Timber Stealing: Waste and Theft of Other Resources: A Rational Policy for the Future.

INDEX 387

THE UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY

Chapter I Our Forests Previous To 1878; The Period Of

BEGINNINGS

THE EARLY SETTLERS AND THE FORESTS

The attitude of the early settlers toward the timber resources of the country was generally one of indifference. This was only natural and inevitable, since in most regions the land was covered with forests, which had to be cleared before agriculture was possible, which presented only an obstacle to the spread of settlement. Toward a resource which at first seemed inexhaustible and only a bar to progress, there could at least be no general attitude of conservation.

The British policy of reserving the timber lands was regarded with considerable hostility. The British government early adopted the policy of reserving timber for her future supply of naval stores, particularly the large pine trees available for ship masts. Thus the charter granted the province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691 reserved to the Crown all trees two feet in diameter, and forbade anyone to cut such trees without a royal license. In 1704, the British parliament passed an act imposing a fine of five pounds upon anyone who should cut a pitch pine tree or a tar tree under twelve inches in diameter three feet from the ground. This act applied to several of the colonies ; and similar enactments were made at various subsequent times. Very naturally the colonists strongly resented this policy. 1

The British regulations showed some of the elements of a conservation policy on the part of the ruling country, and the attitude of some

i In order to secure enforcement of the law of 1704, John Bridger was commissioned surveyor general of the woods, one of his duties being to mark with the broad arrow of the British navy all trees that were to be reserved for the Crown and keep a register of them. Edward Randolph had been surveyor of woods and timber in Maine in 1656, and Adolphus Benzel was appointed inspector of his Majesty's woods and forests in the vicinity of Lake Champlain in 1770. Fox, "History of the Lumber Industry in New York," 16: Bui. 370, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Station: Ford, "Colonial Precedents of our National Land System," 145.

of the officials showed that there was a real concern for the future supply, at least of ship timber. Thus, in 1701, the Governor of New York expressed his fear that the sawmills would destroy all the timber in that colony, and recommended that each person who removed a tree should pay for planting four or five young trees. Still earlier than this, in 1696, the attention of the French governors of Canada had been directed to the wasteful destruction of the forests. 2

There appeared in a few instances, even on the part of the early settlers themselves, indications of some regard for the future timber supply. 3 In 1626, an ordinance was passed in Plymouth Colony reciting the inconveniences that are likely to arise in any community from a lack of timber, and declaring that no man should sell or transport any timber whatsoever out of the colony without the approval of the governor and council. Perhaps this was the first conservation statute passed in America. The ordinances of the Plymouth Colony, as revised and published in 1636, forbade any person to sell out of the colony any boards, planks, or timber cut from the lands reserved for public use, without leave from the public authorities. A Plymouth order of 1670 stated that several towns of the colony were already much straitened for building timber, and granted such towns the privilege of obtaining it from towns having plenty. In 1632, the Court of Boston ordered that no one should fell any wood on public grounds for paling, except such as had been viewed and allowed by the proper public official. An order of the Providence Plantations in 1638 required that two men should view the timber on the Common and determine what was best suited for the use of each person. Various statutes were early enacted in Rhode Island and in other colonies, regulating the export of lumber. In 1639, the General Court of the New Haven Colony forbade anyone to cut timber from common

2 Fox, "History of the Lumber Industry in New York," 16: Phipps, R. W., "Report on the Necessity of Preserving and Replanting Forests," Toronto, 1883.

s Proceedings, Am. Forestry Congress, 1885: Bui. 370, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Station: Fernow, "Economics of Forestry," 369: Kinney, "Forest Law in America," Ch. I. It is recorded of the Pennsylvania Germans that they were economical in the use of wood, even where it was abundant. They did not wantonly cut down forests or burn them, and, when using wood as fuel, they built stoves, in which there was less waste than in open fireplaces. The German of the nineteenth century likewise proved himself a friend of the trees. Through his early training at home, he understood the value of forests. Faust, "The German Element in the U. S.," II, 56-58.

ground except where assigned by the magistrate, and during the next decade this General Court, as well as the Court of Connecticut at Hartford, passed several laws regulating the cutting of timber.

In 1640, the inhabitants of Exeter, New Hampshire, adopted a general order for the regulation of the cutting of oak timber. In 1660, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a fine of five shillings was imposed for every tree cut by the inhabitants, except for their own buildings, fences and firewood; and in the towns of Kittery and Dover, strict limitations were put on the number of trees that a person could have at any one time, the limit at Dover being ten.

The General Assembly at Elizabethtown, East New Jersey, imposed a penalty of five pounds in 1678 for every tree cut from unpatented lands. In a council held at Elizabethtown in 1683, a resolution was adopted, reciting that much timber trespass and waste was being committed, and authorizing the Governor to issue a proclamation and enforce the law against timber trespass. In 1681, William Penn stipulated in his ordinances regarding the disposal of lands, that for every five acres cleared of forest growth, one acre should be left to forest. Strict laws against forest fires were passed by many of the colonies soon after they were established — by several of the New'England colonies previous to 1650. A Massachusetts act of 1743 specifically recognized the damage caused by fire to young tree growth and to the soil, and a North Carolina act of 1777, imposing penalties for the unlawful firing of the woods, declared forest fires "extremely prejudicial to the soil."

The first legislative recognition in America of the principle of timber conservation through the imposition of a diameter limit for cutting, except the parliamentary acts directed at the maintenance of a supply of mast timber, was the statute passed at Albany, New York, in 1772. This act forbade any person to bring into Albany any wood below certain specified diameters — six inches for pine. In 1783, the General Court of Massachusetts passed an act forbidding the cutting or destroying of white pine trees above a certain size, from any lands of the state, without license from the Legislature. This law was strikingly similar to the one that had aroused such opposition on the part of the colonists of New Hampshire, when imposed by England during the colonial period.

In 1795, the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts and Manufactures published a report on the best method of preserving and increasing the growth of timbers, recommending that lands least valuable for agriculture be devoted to forests. This society evinced considerable interest m timber in various ways. In 1818, a Massachusetts act authorized agricultural societies of the state to offer premiums to encourage the growth of oaks and other trees necessary to the maintenance of a supply of ship-building material. 4

This early interest in forestry does not of course represent a very common sentiment among the people. It is probable that some of this colonial legislation was inspired, or in some cases even imposed, by the royal governors. Also, some of the colonial laws which are sometimes referred to as illustrations of an early conservation sentiment, have probably very little to do with conservation. Thus, there were many statutes forbidding the cutting of timber on the lands of other persons, but these statutes seem to have meant merely that timber had come to have a value, rather than that the colonies were in general particularly apprehensive of a future scarcity of timber. 5

Nevertheless, the illustrations given doubtless have some significance. There was some interest in forest conservation even in this early period, an interest due to the fact that the settlers had come from Europe where scarcity of timber was already felt, to the fact that the extent of the forest domain was entirely unknown, the population confined mainly to the Atlantic coast, and to the fact that, in the absence of railroad communication, only supplies of timber adjacent to rivers and sea were available. Furthermore, as in Europe, the fuel question was becoming acute in some places, since coal had not yet been brought into use, and location of timber supplies close to centers of civilization was of great importance.

THE UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVES

The first action of the United States government regarding timber lands had no connection with these early signs of conservation interest, but was concerned rather with the matter of national defense.

4 Fernow, "Economics of Forestry," 369 et seq. : Proceedings, Am. Forestry Congress, 1885, 58.

s Bui. 370, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Station.

The repeated depredations of Algerian pirates upon American merchant vessels during the first years of our national life, led to a demand for a navy, and in 1794 Congress authorized the President to provide for several vessels. Aggressions of the French navy upon American merchantmen led to further legislation in 1798, authorizing the President to provide for twelve more war ships.

The building of the vessels authorized by these early acts served to impress upon government officials the necessity of making provision for a future supply of timber for defense, and, by an act of 1799, Congress appropriated $200,000 for the purchase and reservation of timber or timber lands suitable for the navy. c Florida and Louisiana contained most of the oak timber then known to exist, oak being recognized as the most valuable timber, and, as that region was in foreign hands, little was done for some time, only two small purchases being made on the Georgia coast. These were Grover's Island, comprising about 350 acres, purchased for a consideration of $7,500, and Blackbeard's Island, with an area of 1600 acres, bought for $15,000. 7

In 1816, after the second war with Great Britain, the United States entered upon a policy of naval expansion, and this again brought up the question of material for construction. The result "was the act of 1817, authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to explore and select tracts of land producing oak and red cedar, and imposing a penalty for cutting such timber from these lands or any other public lands of the United States. 8

In 1819, Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain, and, it presently appearing that the valuable stands of live oak in the new territory were being wasted and destroyed by trespassers, an act was secured in 1822, empowering the President to use the land and naval forces of the United States to prevent these depredations. Three years later, however, an agent of the government, appointed to investigate the timber resources of Florida, reported that live oak was being exported in considerable quantities from the eastern coast of the peninsula, and recommended the purchase and reservation of timber

7 Hough, Franklin B., "Report on Forestry," made in pursuance of the act of Congress of August 15, 1876. Three volumes, published in 1877, 1878 and 1882 respectively. Vol. I, pp. 9-11: Kinney, "Forest Law in America," Ch. VII.

land, and the planting of trees on land already owned by the government. 9

In connection with a naval appropriation act of 1827, the President was authorized to take proper measures to preserve the oak timber on the public lands, and to reserve such lands anywhere on the public domain. Not only was provision made for the reservation of these lands, but in Florida a system of cultivation was undertaken, with various experiments in transplanting — the first efforts at experimental forestry on the part of the United States government. An act passed in 1828 authorized the use of $10,000 of the naval appropriation of 1827 for the purchase of lands bearing live oak or other timber. 10

The need of protection for the reserved timber was apparent, and in 1831, a law was passed forbidding the removal of oak, red cedar, or any other timber from these reserved lands, or from 1 any other lands of the United States. The act of 1817 had prohibited the cutting of oak or red cedar from all the public lands of the United States, but the act of 1831 was the first general act applying to the entire domain and to all kinds of timber. 11

One of the sections of an appropriation bill in 1833 required "all collectors of customs within the territory of Florida, and the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, before allowing clearance to any vessel laden in whole or in part with live oak timber, to ascertain satisfactorily that such timber was cut from private lands, or if from public ones, by consent of the Navy Department." 12 Such vigilance as this indicates considerable interest in the preservation of a certain kind of the public timber.

Under authority of these various acts, a small amount of timber land was reserved in separate parcels in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana ; but the government experienced great difficulty in preventing trespass by timber thieves and encroachments by settlers, and it presently appeared that there was no navy timber of

s Kinney, "Forest Law in America," 236-239.

io Hough, "Report on Forestry," III, 330: Stat. 4, 242, 256.

ii Stat. 4, 472. In U. S. vs. Briggs (9 Howard, 351), the Supreme Court of the United States held that this statute applied to all of the public lands of the United States, whether reserved for naval purposes or not.

value on some of the tracts. The result was that in 1843 Congress opened some of the lands to settlement, and in 1853 the cedar lands which had been reserved in Clarke County, Alabama, were opened to sale. 13

The development of iron ships subsequent to the Civil War rendered wood almost obsolete for shipbuilding, and in 1879 Congress authorized the restoration of all reserves in Florida which were no longer needed for naval purposes. A similar act affecting all tracts in Alabama and Mississippi was passed in 1895. Certain small tracts in Louisiana are still held by the national government in the status of naval reserves. 14

While these were thus naval reservations, related to the king's forest policy of colonial times rather than to the forest reserve policy of later years, yet they are of sufficient importance to merit brief treatment for several reasons. In the first place, they showed a disposition to conserve a natural resource of which future scarcity was apprehended. If naval construction had not, in the sixties, turned to iron ships, these early reservations might now be recognized as marking out a policy of the greatest importance. In the second place, it was in connection with these reserves that the first laws were passed for the protection of timber on the public domain, the law of 1831 being the ruling statute on the subject of timber depredations down to the present time. Furthermore, the first appropriations for protecting timber lands were closely connected with these naval reserves, for in 1872 the first appropriation, of $5000, for the protection of timber lands, was made in the naval appropriation act. 15

GENERAL INDIFFERENCE IN THE EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD

These early forest reserves are thus seen to have been of little importance and of little significance as to the attitude of the country toward

is Stat. 5, 611; 10, 259. Mr. Hough, in his report, states that a total of 244,452 acres of timber land was reserved under these acts, but Mr. Kinney puts the figure at approximately 25,000 acres. The writer is unable to account for so great a discrepancy, and is unable, from any sources at his disposal, to ascertain whether Mr. Hough was correct in his figures or not. (Hough, "Report on Forestry," I, 11: Kinney, "Forest Law in America," 240.)

forest conservation. It is even true that the period during which they were being created, 1817 to 1858, was a period when destruction of timber was going on with least opposition from conservation forces. There had been, as already seen, some interest in timber preservation in the colonial period, and later, but with the rapid growth of the country, the development of new means of transportation, and with the use of coal as fuel, the apprehensions regarding timber supplies seem almost to have vanished.

Between 1820 and 1870, the population more than quadrupled; a vast number of farms were carved out of the forest, the timber, in the absence of a ready market, being largely burned. "Pines and oaks were remorselessly felled, and every settlement showed what Flint called a 'Kentucky outline of dead trees and huge logs lying on all sides in the fields.' Underbrush was fired with wanton carelessness, and thousands of acres of valuable timber went up in smoke." Hunters sometimes fired the woods to drive the game into the open. Lumbering became more of a commercial business, with larger mills operating. In 1870, there were in the United States 26,945 lumber manufacturing establishments, employing 163,637 hands, who, using capital aggregating $161,500,273, produced a total product valued at $252,339,029 — a greater product than any other manufacturing industry except flouring and grist mills. All this indicates a very effective exploitation of the country's timber resources. 16

EARLY CONSERVATION SENTIMENT

A few warning voices protested against forest destruction, even during this period. As early as 1819, the French naturalist, the younger Michaux, in his work on "The North American Sylva," spoke warningly of the rapid destruction of trees. "In America," he said, "neither the Federal Government nor the several states have reserved forests. An alarming destruction of the trees proper for building has been the consequence, an evil which is increasing and which will continue to increase with the increase of population. The effect is already

16 Coman, "Economic Beginnings of the Far West," II, 50: Fernow, "Economics of Forestry," 371: Flint, "Recollections of the Last Ten Years," 232: Levering, "Historic Indiana," 480: Trollope, "Domestic Manners of the Americans," 23: Proceedings, Am. Forestry Assoc, 1894-95-96, 81: Thwaites, "Early Western Travels," III, 327.

very sensibly felt in the large cities, where the complaint is every year becoming more serious, not only of excessive dearness of fuel, but of the scarcity of timber. Even now inferior wood is frequently substituted for the White Oak ; and the Live Oak so highly esteemed in ship building, will soon become extinct upon the islands of Georgia." 17

In 1839, a very interesting paper was issued by Romero, minister of the interior at Mexico, on the subject of forestry. He said that the republic had for some years suffered from droughts, that harvests failed and cattle died; and that reason, tradition and experience pointed to the devastation of the forests and denudation of the hills and mountains as influential causes of such calamities. In 1845, a series of regulations were adopted for California to prevent the indiscriminate destruction of wood and timber, and restricting cutting to the owners of the land. 18

A book published in Boston in 1830 contains the following: "The indiscriminate clearings of the agricultural settlers and the conflagrations which occasionally take place, are the causes which in a few centuries may render North America no longer an exporting country for timber." 19 In 1832, J. D. Brown, in his "Sylva Americana," wrote : "Though vast tracts of our soil are still veiled from the eye of day by primeval forests, the best materials for building are nearly exhausted. And this devastation is now become so universal to supply furnaces, glass houses, factories, steam engines, etc., with fuel, that unless some auspicious expedient offer itself and means speedily resolved upon for a future store, one of the most glorious and considerable bulwarks of this nation will within a few centuries be nearly extinct. With all the projected improvements in our internal navigation, whence shall we procure supplies of timber fift} 7 years hence for the continuance of our navy? The most urgent motives call imperiously upon our Government to provide a seasonable remedy for such an alarming evil." 20