Page:Looters of the Public Domain.djvu/465

 "There is no doubt, in my mind, as to the probability that this region. has retimbered itself within the past thousand years or so. Every evidence points in the direction of the fact that oak predominated here centuries ago. Fir timber is an interloper, and descended from the remote mountain peaks step by step. until it had supplanted the sturdy oak, which in the cycle of ages had probably gained the ascendency over some other variety of tree growth. It is an actual fact that this transformation has been occurring in my own lifetime, because I can remember, as a boy, when oak timber disputed with the invading hr the supremacy of the Willamette valley.

"I think the soil eventually becomes exhausted for a continuous kind of timber, just as it does with one sort of farm product. It is nature's way of encouraging a rotation of crops, and is not necessarily a question of the survival of the fittest, any more than barley is superior to other cereal products."

"lr. Puter, the author of this book, is probably as well-versed in forestry matters, from a practical standpoint, as any man in the West. He was born and reared amidst the redwoods of California, and has been engaged in handling timber lands nearly all his life, his judgment as to value of standing timber being recognized by buyers all over the country, as his recitals show. I have discussed frequently with him the subject of the Government's forestry policy as outlined by President Roosevelt, and he is firm of the opinion that the ideas embodied therein are strictly conformable to the demands of logic.

"It may be bad for the land sharks," declared Mr. Puter in the course of one of our conversations, "but nobody can safely deny that it is highly beneficial to the general public, on account of the adequate protection it affords to standing timber, thus operating as a permanent safeguard to the watersheds and insuring a uniform rainfall.

"The headwaters of nearly every stream in California, Oregon and Washington—which may properly be classed as the district embracing the more important lumber-producing forests of the West—are invariably heavily timbered, and it strikes me that it is nature's way of holding the floods in check. The ground is shaded by the dense foliage, so that the snow is not only stored by the operation, but on account of not coming in direct contact with the sun's rays, is permitted to melt away gradually; whereas, if there was too much exposure of this character, it would have a tendency to cause an immediate dissolution of the snow, which would therefore rush down the streams in the form of torrents, and floods and irreparable damage to the lower country would be the inevitable consequence.

"In addition to these benefits, the Government can derive a profitable and perpetual income from its holdings by marketing the 'ripened' or merchantable lumber in the reserves at a reasonable price, and I cannot see why such a plan should not prove acceptable to any fair-minded person.

"Another strong point that must be taken into consideration lies in the fact that the establishment of reserves will prevent, to a large degree, the disastrous forest fires that have swept over the best portions of the timbered regions at frequent intervals, and threatened to wipe out everything in their pathway. The staff of rangers, wardens and other guardians maintained b}- the Government and states will form the nucleus for a well-organized fire department, and with well-defined trails, telephones, signal stations and other modern appliances, they will be in a position to put out promptly any incipient blaze; and it has been my experience that great fires that have raged for days, destroying immense quantities of valuable timber, could have been suppressed in their first stages with a wet blanket. As soon as they obtain headway, however, no power on earth can stay them, and they must, of necessity, run their course.

"I find, also, that reserves are beneficial to owners of adjacent property inasmuch as they afford them excellent protection against fires, and I think, under the circumstances, that these outside owners should be taxed more in proporion on Page 459