Senate Reforestation Committee's Report

Recommends Vigorous Federal Cooperation With States; fncrease of Federal Aid Appropriations to $3,000,000, and Taxation Revision

Washington, lan. l0-Extensil,e additions to national and- other public forests, a large increase in Federal financial and administrative coope-tion with the States in the protection of all forests from fire, and a revision of State taxation laws relating to the forests, are eafnestly,advocat- ed in the report of the Senate Select Committle on Reforestation r,vhich was submitted to the Senate this afternoon by Senator McNary, chairman of the Committee. The Committee has been at work for the past nine months.

The report is signed by all the membeis of the commit- tee;-1"trr.Iy,. Sen_ators McNary, of Oregoh; .Moses, of New Hampshire; Couzens, of Michigan; Fletcher, of Fiori- da; and Harrison of Mississippi. Senators Moses and Couzens unite in advocating in addition that the Federal Government should make certain modifications in its methods of taxing income derived from forest land and from.forest-using industries, for the purpose of encourag- rtrS ttrt protection and growing of timbei on private landi. They favor the authorization of the deductioh-from taxable income of all expenditures incurred for the protection of existing timber or for reforestation. The present Federal income tax larvs limit such deductions to butlays for the conservation of timber, such as the protectiorr of forest lands against fire, but do not authoriie deduction of expenditures for forest hurseries and replanting.

The major part of the report is given up to a review of the present forest and timber supply situation in the United States.

Northeastern Region

The committee finds that the northeastern states, which originally contained over 108,000,000 acres of forest land and rvere the pri'ncipal sources of supply for the whole country up to 1870, now produces only 30 per cent of its own consumption of lumber and that its annual transportation bill on forest products is approximately $65,000,000. The original growth of pine timber has almost completely disappeared, only a small faction of the original growth of hemlock remains and the spruce'forests in the more accessible regions have been largely depleted. The manufacture of paper which is one of the principal forest industries of the northeastern states utilizes 60 per cent of all the pulprvood consumed in the country, and has to draw oh Canada for one-third of its pulpwood besides making extensive imports of pulp from Europe.

The Southern Pine Region

The Southern Pine Region is now'and has been since 1900 the dominant soft wood lumber region of the country. Production reached its maximum with 17,000,000,000 feet in 1909, and the L922 cut lvas approximately. 30 per ceht less. Southern pine generally clominates the eastern markets, and the region produces nearly 10,000,000,000 feet of pine lumber more than it consumes. It is probable that in 15 or 20 years Southern pine will cease to be a factor of substantial importance in the national lumber trade. The South originally contained 650,000,000,000 board feet of pine timber, covering 130,000,000 acres. There are still 114,000,000 acres of pine land, containing 139,000,000,000 board feet of virgin timber and 119,000,000,000 feet of second growth. Because of forest fires the Southern pine belt cont4ins 30,000,000 acres of denuded land.

Pacific Coast States

These contain the last great commercial body of soft wood timber remaining in America, including over 60 percent of the virgin timber yet uncut. This region probably still contains 1,100,000,000,000 board feet, <iver 90 per cent of which is virgin. The forests are just entering upon large scale utilization, with a present lumber cut in excess of 10,000,000,000 board feet or approximately 3l per cent of the ehtire output of the country. The original forest area was originally 77,W,W acres of which 59,000,000 acres remain as forest or potential forest land. Further extensions of agriculture will not importantly reduce this area. The,burned, logged off and young growth land not converted into farms aggregates about 1,0@,000 acres. The Federal Government owhs about 54 per cent of the forest area. The protection of the forests against fire is well developed. While, outside the redwood area of California. reforestation has received little attention, physical conditions are unusually favorable for timber production as a commercial enterprise.

National Summary

Out of 822,000,000 acres of forest land in the whole of the United States there remain 131,000,000 acres of virgin forests. About 250,000,000 acres which have beeh cut over contain culled or second growth stumpage, some of considerable commercial value but much of little or no present merchantable value; 81,000,000 acres of brtfnt and logged off land are practically barren. All told, the country contains 469,000,000 acres-nearly one fourth its land surface-w,hich may be classed as forest or potential forest land. The original forest stand of the United States was 5,200,000,000,000 board feet of merchantable timber. It has been reduced to about 1,600,000,000,000 feet of virgin forest and 600,000,000,000 of second growth timber.

A serious aspect of the situation is that, while three fourths of the forest of the forest land lies east of the Great Plains, it now contains only 40 per cent of all the timber of merchantable size. Two thirds of the lumber used annually by the American people is consumed in the central and eastern s.tates. The national lumber freight bill in 1920 was over $250,000,000. The average carload haul was over 485 miles. Largely because of increasing transportation costs, resulting from the increasing distance between sawmills and lumber consumers, the average price of construction lumber has more than doubled in the last 12 years. Sometimes the freight bill is more than the delivered price of lumber 30 years ago.

Forest fires have vastly reduced the supply of timber and have prevented adequate regrowth. Notwithstanding all repressive efforts 52,W forest fires occurred in 1922 burning over 8,000,000 acres and causing a damage of nearly $17,000,000. The imminent forest fire risk definitely deteri land owners from undertaking commercial refoiestation. It is possible however to give forest lands a degree of protection that would justify the risk of reforestation. Over 150,000,000 acres of privately owned forest land receive no protection whatever. Thirteen forest states do nothing in this direction. Forest insects and tree diseases are important factors in forest destruction.

The taxation of forest lands has an important bearing on reforestation and its revision requires cariful attention fiom the States, as a condition necessdiy to large scale privat€ enterprise in reforestation.