Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / June 26, 1925, edition 1 / Page 8
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FRIDAY, JUNE 2G, 1023 THE FRANKLIN PRESS PAGE FIVE a roalty of from two to eight per cent i.s levied on all minerals extracted. The activities of the Forest from which money returns are received include timber sales, grazing, special uses (land rentals, mining permits, etc.,) water poorer, and fire trespass. The income from these sources form the first tract of land were acquired in 1914 to June 30, 1924, totaled $51, 537.00, and varied annually from $412.00 for the fiscal year 1924 to $18,623.00 , for the fiscal 1924. Eighty-five per cent of this revenue was from the sale of timber. ,p ' In accordance of the. Act of Marh 4, 1907, twenty-five per cent of the gross receipts of the Forest is paid to the counties in which the Forests are located for the benefit of public schools and. roads. An additional ten per cent is expended by the For est Service in the construction and maintainance of roads and trails within the counties. . Public Recreation. The Nantahala .is one of the 157 National Forests which are visited during the vacation of 1924 by nearly eleven million peo ple. Recreation, like timber, water power, grazing, etc., is a forest re source which will be devevloped to its fullest ' extent. The neccessary climate and scenery we have with us, and there remains only the question of their accessibility, which is being brought about by road and trail con struction as rapidly as funds will per mit. Road construction is being fol lowed by ,the establishment of pub lic camp grounds by the . setting aside of areas and their classification of the form of development desir able. The object of a careful study and classification is that each site may serve its highest use for affording re creation and enjoyment to the great est possible number of people. Mu nicipal or State camp picnic grounds, boy scout camps, public summer schools, commercial hotel, camps, or resorts, are favored as against' the . more exclusive forms of development. Roads and Trails. The program of road and trail construction and main tainance and including a system of transportation and administration of the Forest and the full development of the timber and other resources. One hundred and seventy-five miles of trails have been constructed and are under maintainance, which brings the trail system to more than three fourths completion until the Forests is extended -by future purchases. The road program has only commenc ed, and construction work is being pushed as rapidly as funds will per mit. On July 1, 1924, 32 miles of road had been constructed, at i total cost of $220588.32. The road under maintain ance on that date, including the above and a number of existing county roads, total 9-1 triivs, the total maintainance cost being $24,332.97. The completion of the present road plan includes approximately 200 of new construction' and betterment of existing roads, estimated to cost in the neighborhood of five hundred thous and dollars. Scenic Values. The area included in the Nantahala Forest contains a quality and variety of scenery most of which is unsurpassed. This is borne out by the thousands of tourists, who visit the region not only once but many times. 'J he Forest is made accessible to the tourists or ' pleasure fc.Uers from rtints on the Tallulah Falls Railway from Clarksville north to Franklin, from points on .the branch of the Sou thern Ry .between Ashville and Mur phy, aad form Highland, N. G, which points are reached by auto, either by an eighteen mile trip from Dillard, Ga., or a thirty-one mile trip form Walhalla, S. C. A system of graded hiyhways.complete and unde process of construction, makes the Forest ac cessible by auto from all near-by cities. 8 The Enemies of the Forest, Fire. Fire is h' greatest ' encjmy, not only of the Nataiiala Forest, but of forests in general, s-.nd the past his tory of fire in the region, before the Nantahala Forest . was created, is one of unrestricted burning. Prior to the pacing the Forest under administra tion, no fire records are available, as to the possible annual acrage burned. From evidence on the ground and from the general knov ledge of the local citizens, fires were the rule, whenever weather conditions per mitted, and burned entirely unchecked by human agencies, except whenever they endangered fences, buildings or similar property,. They were started intentionally to improve the range (a mistaken idea tiow generally giv en up), to cover evidence of blockad ing, to improve chestnut hunting, and evidently sometimes "just to see them burn." Carelessness amounting to indifference on the part of the brush burners, hunters, operators of saw mills, and of railroad locomotives, etc., played a large part. Damage from unrestricted burning is evidenced by shallow, poor and eas ily eroded soils, small quantity and low quality of timber, and the absence of young growth for a future crop. The developement of the Forest, with its many resources, is "depend ent of .fire control of fires; and, in order to be sucessful the full and hearty cooperation of the public is esential. . and support is something which should not need solicitation. The Forest is owned by the public, and it goes without saying that the public should make ever endeavor to protect its interest. Every local citi zen has the additional interest in his county, which receives direct benefit from, the form of Forest receipts, one fcurth of which is returned direct to the county, and one-tenth expended by thr; . Forest Service on roads w ithin its boundaries. Insect and Blight. Insect infesta tion and blight are lesser enemies of the Forest, the former being confined largely to the yellow pine beetle, which frequently kills all small patch es of yellow pine timber, usually if a few acres, less, in extent. The chestnut blight, however, is an enemy of vital importance, which is justj beginning to gain foothold on the chestnut of this section, being first discovered within the Forest bound aries in 1924 This, blight started in the New England States, has extend ed south, killing all chcstnut Tn its path, and ' now occurs in scattered path, throughout Western North Car olina and North Georgia. Judging by its usual rate of speed, the next twenty to thirty years will sc the end of the dicstnut on the Nantahala Forest. With chestnut forming about fifty per cent of our present stand of timber and with its quick growth and well-known value as a commer cial tree species, the seriousness of the situation is apparent. There is no means of combatting or 'hocking this blight, and there re mains only the remedy of using the chestnut timber and products as rapid ly as possible in advance of the attack. Our management plans for timber utilization, therefore, provide for the early and rapid selling of chestnut. The Future Forest In visualizing and planning for the Nantahala Forest of the future, it is assured that funds will continue to be provided by Congress for the fur ther -acquizition of lands, the con struction and maintenance of roads, trails, and other improvements, and for adequate protection and adminis tration. s The present area of approximately one quarter of a million acres should be doubled and consolidated and will be made accessible by roads and trails, so that all resources can be fully developed. With fire control well in hand and the markets of the future enabling the close utilization of timber. The Forest will trc a self-supporting unit, producing a continual supply of raw material for dependent industries. This situation as to area and fire control will result in max imum benefit of stream flow protec tion to fully develop water power industries. " Recreational use will undoubtedly increase more rapidly than any other, and the main highway of the near future, together with a complete system of forest roads and trails, should enable the Nantahala Forest to fulfill the requirements of the most discriminating pleasure seeker, The Forest Organization and Public The pivot position on the National Forest that of Forest Ranger, in in charge of the smallest unit of or ganization, the Ranger District, and that of Forest Supervisor, in charge of the individual Forest, Above these positions follow in line that of Dis trict Forester, in charge of the geo graphical division or group of For ests, and the Forester, chief of Jhe entire Forest Service. ' Forest Rang es on the Nanatahala Forest are lo cated at Clayton,' Georgia. High lands, N, C, and Franklin, N.'C, and the District Forester in charge of the Eastern Group of . Forests, at Washington, I). C. The keynote . of National Admin istration is service. Forest ' officers arc agents of the people, and their duty is to carry out the rules and regulations prescribed by the Secre tary of Agriculture for the adminis tration of, the Forest and to assist the public in making use of Forest re sources. The public is invited to use and enjoy the resources of the Nantahala Forest will be acorded every courtesy and consideration by, its officers. The Importance of Forest Resources Coupled With Conservation ' Statistics show that three-fifths of the timber originally in the United States is gone, and that we are cut ting all classes of timber faster than we are growing it. One-half of the remaining, timber in the Continental United States is in three states bord ering the Pacific Ocean necessitating an enormous expenditure in freight by the eastern center of population. The supply of hardwood timber, jn which the Nantahala Forest plays Its part, is now limited to the Southern Mississippi Valley and the Southern Appalachians. Scarcety of the sup ply, due to past lumbering operations and repeated fires, has already reduc ed production in the latter region. ' In view of these facts, it is very evi dent that every acre of timberland must be utilized for growing timber and that the removal of successive crops of timber must be managed in such a way as to secure the closest possible utilization and to secure fu ture production. Unfortunately, in the past, forest products have been handled much in the same manner as the products of the mine, without regard for the future, rather than as a crop to be sulceedfcd. ,b!f fuiture crops. Conservation through use, therefore, is the solution of the timber problem and it is this, form of developement which is back of the plans and poli icies in effect on the Nantahala Fof- cst. ; ' THE DR. F. L. SILER MEMORIAL Several months ago .some of the friends of Dr. .SiU-r, suggested that instead of placing a memorial to him in the cemetery, that something use ful be done in his memory. . , A Community House was spoken of. A one stury building vof brick, cne half, of which would be a Club room large enough to accommodate the social organizations of the town and where women and children fVom the country would. find a. rest' room. ' The ether half of the building to be .used as kitchenette and toilets. Fach Club using the Community House would pay a small rental which would go toward paying an' -attendant to keep the j !.t e in order. . A house to answer- this purpose world have to be o-i or near Ma. a . street, right in tov u. Dr. Silcr being 'such -a public spirited man with the welfare of the', county ii!',va3 at heart, and luv.:ig s-pent lis life in such unselfr.-h service, for the' .people of the county, v. as deem.rl ' advisable to request the county com missioners for a piece of land for this building. The commissioners would ln.vn tn hf nnthririvpd hv the reffisla-' turc to give th'u property. So the . matter was taken up with our representatives at the meeting of t'he last General Assembly. 1 They gladly granted the request but when they went to draft the bill, they were confronted with Article 1, section 10, which states that under these condi of the Constitution of North Carolina, tions the building would . belong to and be under control of the state. Therefore the matter of the Memor ial building has been dropped for the present as there arc not available funds for the purchase of the prop- There is nothing our town needs so much as a Community Center of this kind for both county and town use. and surely no one with a memory more worthy, of perpetuation in some useful form, than that of Dr. Siler. This word of explanation is due those in different parts of the county who were interested in the passing of the bill,' and to those who are inter ested in the stone. This is why the matter of the tone. has been held up. To those who were waiting to see what was going to be done about the building and to those who intend to contribute to the stone, we-wish. to say that the stone will be purchased. So those who have expressed a de sire to take part in this and have not yet done so can see Mr. W. W. Sloan as the committee desires to' close the matter up at an early date. Your HOME was once just a HOUSE. . , And back of that it was a conglomerate mass of BUILDING MATERIALS, without definite form or substance, only a reality as you visualize Yes, that pretty home of today was once packed away in our warehouse in neat stacks la belled: Framing, Sheeting, Footing, Flooring, Wallboard, Glass, Windows, Sash and Doors, Lime and Cement, Hardware. It was all there, only waiting for you to come and haul it away, and put it in the form your heart desired. . , The Great Teacher once said, "In my Father's house are many mansions!" f In all reverence we want to pharaphase that statement in saying IN OUR WAREHOUSE ARE MANY HOMES!'. You don't need to look at catalogs, get estimates from outside sources, and figure tedious freight rates. All of these things we have done for you. ' And the materials for your house ALL THE MATERIALS are here in Franklin, readv to use. All you have to do is decide on your plan and engage your carpenters. " The rest is our job. IN OUR WAREHOUSE ARE MANY HOMES! CUNNINGHAM BUILDING FRAN" 3E J
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 26, 1925, edition 1
8
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