Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1907 — Rate of Forest Destruction. [ARTICLE]

Rate of Forest Destruction.

According to a bulletin issued by the forest service of the Agricultural Department, every person in this country is using over six times as much wood as the individual consumption in Europe, and the country as a whole consumes over three times what the forests of the United States grow during the year. The consequence of this policy is an inevitable timber famine. It is pointed out that the increased population since 1880 is barely more than half the increase in lumber cut, so that the increase of forest destruction cannot be explained entirely on the theory of increased population. The Northeastern States have passed their maximum production, and the Southern States are near their maximum, while the State of Washington now ranks first in the volume of timber cut. At present one-fifth of the total forest area is owned by the government. The average age of trees felled for lumber this year is not less than 150 years.