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Show 60 information she and the other crew members provided, Forest Service managers knevi vihether a stand would be ready to harvest in a year, or not for another ten years. If the stand showed signs of having reached its freak, a second crevi of "timber cruisers" would be sent to make an estimate of board feet to compare against the logging company's later offer. The timber cruising crew checked trees for condition as viell as size - a fir tree viith a forked top, for instance, won't produce as much lumber. Then they marked the stand for harvesting. In some cases they vient through a stand and marked only certain trees to be cut. Forest Service lands aren't used only for commercial logging, but because of logging the agency got its start. As is so often the case, federal control became necessary because private individuals were abusing the land. In the nineteenth centnry, so much original forest land was stripped for logging and farming that erosion and floods followed, causing a lot of damage. Forest fires raged and destroyed valuable timber. To correct these abuses, the Forest Service was established by an act of Congress in 1905, and during the next few years the government set aside vast tracts of timberland for national forests. Fire control was the biggest priority of the early foresters, but they also helped farmers to plant trees to keep topsoil from blowing away. Today the Forest Service has much broader goals. The 188 million acres of national forest are used for outdoor recreation, wildlife and fish habitat, cattle and sheep grazing, and water protection. And, of course, for timber production. The demand for wood and wood products has grovin so phenomenally |