Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1908 — Inaccessible Forests. [ARTICLE]

Inaccessible Forests.

Nearly all of the northern and eastern part of Guatemala is covered with a dense tropical forest, consisting or mahogany, different kinds of cedar, chide and other hard -woods. Along streams down which logs can be floated much of the mahogany has been cut, but as yet very little of the other woods have been marketed. This is especially true of the departments oi Peten, Alta Verapaz and Izabal. Most of the forests still belong to the government, and the usual method of securing the timber is by concession, by which a certain number of trees are cut at a given price per tree, or a stipulated sum is paid, for the timber or given tract It is not an, easy matter to get titles to large tracts of .land in Guatemala, as it is discouraged by the government These concessions are not usually granted for a longer period than five years. Sometimes it is stipulated that if a certain number of trees are cut during that time Uey must be renewed. The pine forests are limited, being in the mountainous country principally and Inaccessible. Most pf the lumber used comes from the untied states principally from California. The for eats of this country are generally so inacessible that the railroad companies import coal, because it is difficult for them to get enough firewood.