Should Large Areas of Productive Forest Lands be Devoted Solely to a Limited Recreational Use?

The following paper was presented before a meeting of the Puget Sound Section of the Society last May. It was called forth by the proposed legislation to take 404,270 acres from the Olympic National Forest and combine this land with the present Mount Olympus National Monument to create the Mount Olympus National Park, with an area of 703,000 acres. Approximately 13 billion board feet of merchantable timber would thus be withdrawn from the western part of the Olympic Forest, in addition to 3 billion feet already included in the present Mount Olympus National Monument. The timber backlog of Grays Harbor and other industrial centers of the Olympic Peninsula would be reduced by nearly one half. The questions of principle thus raised are of broad general interest as well as serious locally. Mr. Drake presents the point of view of those concerned for the economic consequences of heavy industrial curtailments.