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The Forests Of Michigan--how The Pine Is Going

The Forests Of Michigan--how The Pine Is Going image
Parent Issue
Day
25
Month
November
Year
1880
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Alpena is one of lbo iuany Michigan towns that are springing up alnng the lake shore at the mouth of rivera whose tributarios flow through the gicat pine foresta of the stute. Every river throughout the constantly rcceding timber belt of Michigan, now reaching from the Saginaw 'ailey to the Straits of Mackinaw, suffieiently laree to float a raft of log?, becomes a highway betweeu the lumber cainp.s, whcrein uiotley crews of men, gathcred for a few winter months from all nations of the world, rob tho i'orokt-j of thoir prooioiw pina, Thn timo is near when the pine hoarded by nature for ages within the bouom of her foresta, will be exhausted ; when the rough woodsiuan will have departed to other lands; when the saw milis now bustlinp with life will stand silent and deserted. VVhat is to be the nature of tlii.s región when that time shall arrive? Ia it to remain in usele.s.s waste, awaiting the slow restoration of tho foresta? It is certain the ngricultural value of the land stripped of its pine is proving to be mueh greater than was was ibrinerly su)posed. ('learings are being made, and good crops of wheat, oats, hay and potatoes raised. A tide of emigration in tbis way is following the wood choppers, and converting the mutilated foresta into prMperour farms. When the terrible forest fires of Michigan swept the 10,000 acres of pine land along the Lake Huron coast, south of Saginaw Bay, and destroyed whole towns, many lives, and millions of dollars' worth of property, the lumbering interests wero uttorly destcoyed. Xot a single mili, I ani told, in all that región has since been built. It was thought the tire had rnined the future of the burnei district, and that it would be henceforth valueless. The lires occurred thu yer oi'the (Jhieago Bres, just ten years ago, and today this burnt district is said to be the finest fanning région in the (¦tate. The destruction of the pineries of Michi gan, Wiscopaip and Minnesota is a matter of importance. How long will the forests of these three States that contain the chief stores of pioe timber on this continent east of the ltocky Mountains, continue to sup ply the enormous drains being uiade upon thesn ? One example will show liow rapid is the procesa of destruction. The Sginaw Valley formcrly contained the lart;cst and finest pine forests in the state of Michigan. Mili after mili was built along the banksofthe river, until their united capacity reached 000,000,000 feet of lumber peryear. To supply these milis the pine in the Saginaw Valley bas been already in a great part exhausted and mili owners are obliged to bring logs from other rivera, often as far as 150 miles distant to supplement the store of the Saginaw river. The output on that river has reached its climax. No more new milis are being built or old ones replaced. The bobinen mus( t;radually diminish in volume until the Saginaw Valley, now the greatest lumber district in the world, shall hear the buzz of the saw no more. Talking to a gentleman of Alpeua who has witnessed the growth of the lumbering business of that place almoht from its commencement, and whose liusiness for yean has kept him accurately poste] as td the quantityand location of the pine in the Alpena district, he said that dividing the nuaiber of millions of feot of jiine timber tributary to the Alpena river by the annual capacity of the Alpena milis, it gave them iifteen years' supply. These flgnres aiiree very closely with those given me a tow weeks ago by the president of the largest logging company on the Mississippi river, operating in the Wisconsiu pinenea, a región thiit has lnen worked mnoh leM lensively than the Michigan piñenes. They would last, he saii, thirty or furtj ?ears. The Minnesota pineries are n il M iarge as eithor of the others, and will probablynot survive them. In from twenty-five to forty years the last tree will be cut, and the entire country frmn .Maine to the Iïocky Mouutains, must learn to live with meagre qnantities of pine hmili i arought at great expense from distinl oouotries. The pineries cannot be replaced. A full irown tree represents huudreds and hunIreda of years of growth. I saw smal] pinea no largeraround than a man's arm, baarras ïhe scars made ly the axet of the United 3ttea engincers thirty-five years ago. What ages, then, must be reqvired to proluce a tree tliree or four ('eet in diameter? When the foresta reach the onnditton of the pineries of Maine and New York, and beoniocxtinct, new ones will tatatheirptacaa. The American of the near futun1 nnit !earn to hew nnd bnild without pina, aiui narvel at the thoughtlcss raoklea n"=s of li is aneestors. ( Jee. Trowbridge, of Midland, got lost in ;he wooiis a week (ir so ago, and was frozen to death. There is an item circulating to the effect that (!en. Sickles contémplales extending hu Chicago Sí Saginaw railroad from Lake View to Howard city.

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Courier
Old News