Reforestation in California

By S. R. BLACK, F'OREST ENGINEER, CALIFORNIA WHITE AND SUGAR PINE MANUFACTURERS ASSN.

Tho usc, rcplaccmcnt and protection of t]re timber of this state have a-vital bcaring upon the well bcing of every man wornai and child in Superior California. iruly the lorcsts concern us all. Thc appeal of sentiment c'rists for evcry man wtid has a dioo of the old savagc blood in his vcins: th-e appeal of ttre material is thcre for the coldcet of business mcr|. firc man of advcnturc and ro,rnance, ttte out-door mar\ the man of industry, of hard factc. of dollars and cents. thc rarrchcr btrsilyengagcd in pnoducin! crops- ot llvcstock, fruit or grains-all arc Dourd to the forcsts.

Of all thc natural riches wittr which Amcr- icans have bccn cndowed, nonc have sur- passcd in uscfulness those of the forcst. Without thcm development of the continent would have been sct back for many decades. The forests supplicd the early caih of thc pronGc-rE, thc- housing, the bridgeq thc wag_ ons, thc trains, the tools, tho roadbcds of the railroads, fcnces, and thc thousands of other cssential needs of our fathcts. The forests arc_ cqrlally itnpo-rtant today. Just onc examptg becausc of paper the wholc ph-ysical basis of thc printera' lrt, thc universal -use of thc printed word, the mcans of busincss transactions on colossal scale. arc founded on thc forests. Can you visrialize Amsica as wc know ig forginC ahead with- out thc printing press? It could not run. Public cducation would collapsc, the ncwspapcrs would ccase to exisg books would be gcarcg, advertising would be practically eliminatcd, and all business wouid rcvert to thc primeval days of bartering goods in open markets.

Forests also have a profound cfrect uoon water flow, the life of thc West. Consider the importanco o{ water in Supcrior Cl ifornia o,n navigation, on hydro-eltctric power, on sanitation, on agriculture. particrilarlv irrigation- The forestJare the agencies thai slore gp the-winter rains and snows, issuing them forth during thc sunmer as they mai be necded and preventing rushinc [orrei_ ti4 floods from swceping away tFe fertile soil, and carrying devastation from the mountains to the sea.

-Fortunately for all mankind, the forests of all natural rcsoufccs, can be reproduced. Mineralr once mined and used are -gone foreyer. Trees can always be grown for all Unre to come provided our people become forest-conscious and give trees the minimum care which thcy so richly deserve.

In California greatcr progress has been made- in forest replaccment and protcction than in any other section of the nition. In thc last few years a change of attitude has taken place in the mind of the lumbermcn who are most closely in contact with the forests. Whereas in the past the lumber industry was migratory in character, moving on from onc tract of timber to another. from onc rogion to another. it has settled'down to stay on thc Pacific Coast. With no other available resctvoir of chcap nature-grown timbct available, it has become necessary to consider futurc nceds from a new ansle. For the first timc in the nation's histort it has comc to the point whcre wood for- futurc usc must bc raised in man-cared-for forests"

Scvciral ycars back a few far siglrtcd rcdrood lumbcrmcn realizcd that to makc thcir industry pcrrnanent they would havc to grow thcir own trccs. A careful study of cxisting conditions was madc to dctcrminc what could bc rcasonably expcctcd in thc way of raising sccond growth rcdwood trecs. Compotcnt technical assistancc was employ- cd. Over a hundred natural sccond growttt rcdwood plots were accuratcly measured and thcir agca determined. Thcy put through thc sawmills sarnples of the second grorth trces that had sprung up following thc pionccr ox tcam logging of rcdwood for building materiale in th- days of '49. Results of the study showed that redurood could be raised as a crop; a crop that would mature in 60 or 70 ycars, but ncvcrthele--a crop. Furthemorc, a crop producing as much wood to the acre as evcr existcd in many of thc virgin stands of timbcr.

With this information in hand, thc oroblem bccamc onc of ways and means of gct- tin$ tlle young trccs started after harvesting the old ones. About twenty-five pcrccnt of thc cutovcr land is naturally replanted by naturc through sprouts that spring up fro'nr around the stumps of otrd trces. To incrcase this amount, lfic hunbenncn havc devoloped rcdwood nurserics wherc planting stock'can bc raised from eccd. Last wintcr ovcr thrcc million scedlings werc growing in the nurseries located at Scotia, Fort Bragg and Caspar. Of this nurhbcr some trpo million eix hundred thousand werc sturdv cnough tn ocrmit traneolanting. This made it possible for the redwood lumbermen to actuallv 8et out on their cutover lands ovcr two and one-half million young trees, coVering about gix thousand acres. Inasmuch as there is sfanding over a hundrcd ycrs' supDly of virgin redwood, amplc timc rill be afford.d for the socond crop to rcach mcrchantable sizc beforc the old supply is used uo.

Reforestation in the pine rcgion is morc dlfficul+ bccausc the pines do not take kindly to artificial planting in the Sierras. Ncithcr do they grow as fast as rcdwoods, thus postponing thc time when the crop will mature and returns will be reccivcd on thc invcetment. As a result the Forcst Service and private lumbermen havc adooted the policy of rcmoving the old trces with as little damage to the natural second growth as is practicahlo. Thc curover lands are then oatrollcd to keep fires from burninc uD rhc young rimber. Here again California leads the wav in forcstry. for in no othcr region do privatc lumberme.n pay just as much to orotcet cut ovcr lands from fire as they do timberlands, as is their policy in this state.

Six of thc largc oinc companies are on a pcrmancnt yield basis, That is. they cut cach year uo to the amount that qrows coch ycar on tho halance of their holdincs. For instancc the Fruit Growers Supply Comoan. in on a seventv year curting cycle, which mcans a crooping of each acre once efery scvcnty years for all timc to come. The other oinc enmpanics on a pcrmanent hasis ari thc Midrigan-California Lumber Comnany of Camino, thc l)iamond Match Compqny of Chico. the Clovcr Valley Lumber Comoany of Loyaltort Pickcring Lumber Comoany of Tuolurnnc. and the Pickerinc r.umbcr Company of Sandard City. Combincd holdings of these corno:rnics is wcll ovcr a hdf million acrcg. Thc total acrc- age of thc pine and redwood companics that arc on a pcrmanent operating basis is about onc quartcr of the total privatcly owrred timberland in the state.

Thc problems of reforestation arc many. Very little inforrnation is available on wayg and means of economically raising second growth timbcr on a largc scalc. To spccd up reforcstation work thc California Whitc and Sugar Pinc Manrt'acturers Association, to which most of thc pinc lumbcr comoanics of California and Southern Oregon- belong, have inauguratcd a Department of Rcsearch' and placcd a Forest Engineer in charge. His work is to discover methods whereby more trcc:s can bc produced per acrc of cutover land, at a cost within rcason undcr prcsent economic conditions. Aftcr all, as President Coolidge has said, "Our forest problcm ia a land problcm of the first ncagnitude".

The busincss of raising trccs is the busincss of using what would otheawise bc idlc land. Idle land pays no wages, pays no taxes, Bup- ports no industries. is a burden on all other business. The forcstry problem is thc probIem of determining how much can be invested in growing trcc6 today in rclation to the probable rcturns in scvcnty or onc hrmdred years from now. To tax annually a growing forest for scvcnty or onc hundred ycars, is likc taxing a potato crop scventy to one hundred times betwcen geed timc and harvcst tirne. The tax must bc srnall or the accumulated tax will exceed the value of thc crop.

California's lcgislaturo rcalizcd this featurc of raising timber as a crop and passed a constitutiond amendmcnt which will be on the ballot next Novembcr,'that does in effect providc for the taxation of scco'nd gtowth timber on a crop basis. That is, thc land will annually pay its tax but the growing trees will be exempt until maturc.

By far ttre greatest enemy of reforestation is fire. Firc can dcstroy in rninutee what has takcn man and nature years to produce. Fire may low the young scedlings, that will be the sourcc of our grandchildren's wood sup- ply. Fire may wipc out the young trces that havo been protected during logging opcra- tions, and the seed trecs that have been lcft on the ground to start thc next crop. Fire may destroy watersheds. Fire may dcstroy timber. homes and resources wc canno't afford to lose. Thc fire problem is your prob- lem. Thc majority of all fires aro mancaused. Carclessncss and ignorancc are the lifc blood of thc rcd enemy of the forests. Ovcr half of the man-caused fircs in California forests arc started by smokcrs and camlrcrs; pure carelessness. The lumber industry was rcsponsible for only four pcr cent of the fircs in 1924, and yet spends thousands of dollars in working out methods of reducing this number. Logging equipment has becn fire proofed to an extent ncver dreamcd of a fcw ycars ago.

It is possible for every rcsident of California to help in the advanccmcnt of prac- tical forcstry in the statc. Thc greatcst aid to thc forest is prevcntion of fire. Appoint yourself a committee of one to sce that yeu do not start a fire in the woods this summcr, trhcn you are out on that fishing or hrmtinc trip. By hclping to prevcnt fircs you will bc hclping in the movc to savc our growing trees for our groring childrcn.