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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1914)
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION 11 Philippine Forest Consessions MIHILE thero are 200,000,000,000 Vaf board feet or merchantable lum ber standing on the 60,000 square mile of Philippine public forests, in 1913 thero were milled the small tot.il of 80,000,000 feet, of which less than one-eighth was exported. Major A hern the insular director of forestry, believes there is an export market awaiting the establishment of milling enterprises, . which would take 300,000,000 feet year It, mainly of four woods lauan, api tong, guipo and yacal. These trees grow to a very large size, a large number are found on- a limited area and their ex traction affords an attractive enterprise for a modern logging and milling opera tion. Theso public forest lands in the Philip pines are not sold, but aro developed under a licenso system. Yearly licenses re ordinarily given small operators for . limited areas. The larger tracts aro of fered in the form of 20-ycar exclusive licenses, which provide for tho removal of timber and minor forest products without affecting the titlo to the land. At present 11 such exclusive licenses, popularly called concessions, aro in operation, representing American, Brit ish, Chinese, German, Spanish and Fili pino capital. A recent timber conces sion was granted to a Chinese company that will find no difficulty in disposing of its products through its connections in China, wilile the British and German interests find their markets for Philip pine woods in India and Europe, as well as in China. . Tho United States Forest Bureau now has available a number of tracts, rang . rag in size from 35 to 300 squares miles, with ono or two of much larger size, waiting applications. ; Aid to Investigators. A. person considering such an invest ment is affordod wery opportunity for investigation: The Bureau of Forestry desires each applicant or his authorized representative to visit the tract person ally in company with one of the fores ters, or that he have an experienced lumberman do so, in order that he may see the stand of timber, the facilities for haulage and transportation, the loca tion of mill Bites, and ascertain for him self the local labor SMpply. The concessions themselves cost noth ing; the charges being in tho form of stumpage fees, payable upon removal of the product, and running from $1 to $5 per thousand feet. Whoa an appli cation, complying at least with the minimum requirements as to the size of the mill and tho annual output, lias been received, the tract is advertised for a period of four months. In awarding the concession preference is given to the bidder offering to install the most com plete and effective plant and giving the best security for performance. Capacity of Mills. The concessions aro given for tracts large in proportion to tho capacity of the mills installed, in order that the futuro condition of tho forost will not suffer. The amount of the annual pro duction stipulated takes into considera tion both the present amount of over mature timber and tho amount annually maturing, and in other ways the regu lations seek to conserve the forest wealth while rendering availablo the mature timber with the fewest possible restrictions. One of the important elements is suf ficient capital to install machinery capa ble of handling tho large hardwood logs, for which some of the earlier plants proved hardly . adequate, and to permit a proper seasoning of tho product, The Philippine Government requires that the concessionaire give a very modest security in proportion to the amount of raw material placed at his disposition. Certified Check Required. When a bid is submitted, a deposit of a certified check, usually for $5,000, is required, and then after the award is made, the equipment on the ground and the concessionaire about to begin opera tions, the certified check may be re placed by satisfactory form of bond. One of the important functions of the insular Bureau of Forestry is that of making available to investors the fullest information, and lumber men visiting the islands will not only secure general data from its headquarters at Manila, but will supplement this in the various localities by the co-operation of the for estry men in the field. The Bureau of Insular Affairs at Washington has general descriptions and maps showing tho location of a num ber of tho tracts availablo, which will furnish preliminary data to tnoso who may be in a position to be interested in developing this most promising field for hardwood lumber. Protecting the Forests WHILE community interest in pro venting loss of lives and resources through forest fires has been pretty well taught in recent years, and most people also know that fires in the Pacific Northwest have been greatly reduced by organized patrol systems, few realize the extent of the machinery maintained every Summer by the va rious protective agencies. An army of fully 2000 trained forest firemen is omployed in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana throughout the most dan gerous months, besides many men serv ing voluntarily in connection with other duties and emergency labor hired on large fires. Of this regular patrol force, the ma jority is employed by timber owners' patrol associations and by the Govern ment on the national forests. The Gov ernment also contributes about $30,000 a year to the states mentioned to assist in protecting the headwaters of navi gable streams outside the national for eels, which, with the state appropria tions, provides nearly 200 men under state control. In the beginning of this movement a few years ago, patrol and fire fighting were the only considerations. It soon became apparent that here, as in any business, proper equipment and system add to both economy and efficiency. Rapid development is being made of facilities for finding and handling fires. Thousands of miles of trail and tele phone lines have b5en constructed, spe cial tools invented, and men trained as specialists in different lines of fire pre venting and control. For example the burning of logging slashings, to remove hazard later, is largely entrusted to men with particular experience in this line. Among the most interesting develop ments is that of lookout stations on high peaks, where men have no other duty than to locate the first signs of fire by means of special instruments and telephone the exact bearing to headquarters from which instructions arc sent for its control. Cross-bearings reported from different lookouts are in tersected on the map so the fire can be located with great exactness, how ever distant. This year experiments aro being made with forecasts of dan gerous dry winds, telegraphed forest of ficials by the Weather Bureau, so every precaution may be taken before their arrival. These perfections in the modern sci ence of forest fire prevention are sav ing the people of the Northwestern states millions of dollars annually in resources, property and lives, 'and; their cost is insignificant when regarded as insurance. 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