Railroads serving such communities have been forced to face 
the hopeless task of maintenance without adequate income follow- 
ing the exhaustion of the forests. In Michigan railroad mileage 
increased from 3,938 miles in 1880 to 7,243 miles in 1890, the 
period which embraced the great expansion of the lumber industry 
in the state. During that time Michigan white pine was making 
possible the agricultural settlement of the Prairie States, the growth 
of Chicago and Detroit, and was contributing heavily to the de- 
mands of New York and even Boston. Shortly after 1890 the lum- 
ber cut began to fall off, and the increase in railroad mileage be- 
tween 1890 and 1910 amounted to but 1,778 miles. By 1910 Mich- 
igan’s forest wealth was nearly gone. Despite other industrial 
developments creating transportation demands, the mileage of rail- 
roads began to shrink, and many communities, once served amply, 
were cut off altogether, or had train service but once or twice a 
week. Today a large mileage is operated at an actual loss. 
There are cities, in their time great lumber markets, which 
today are forced to bring their lumber thousands of miles from 
distant producing regions. Albany, which handled more lumber in 
the 40’s than any other city in the world, today uses pine from 
the South and Douglas Fir from Washington and Oregon. Wilkes- 
Barre is in a similar condition; and Saginaw, not only the world’s 
greatest lumber market of its time, but its greatest producer of 
lumber as well, today is hemmed in by millions of acres of idle 
cut-over forest land which produce no wealth. 
Furthermore, the direct loss to the community, the state, and 
-he nation through reduced tax returns from cut-over and idle land 
as compared with producing forest land, and the increased burden 
of taxes on other property to make up this loss, is staggering for 
the country as a whole. Today in Michigan, for instance, millions 
of acres of forest land produce nothing of value and, of course, 
pay a small tax. These same areas, if in forest, might have an 
average value of $75 to $100 an acre instead of the present nom- 
inal value of $2.50 per acre. Taxation under any system would 
yield much more from these lands, were they productive, and the 
burdensome local taxes on farm and town property could be 
ightened. 
The foregoing are some of the major consequences of forest 
depletion which in the past have been unavoidable. It is fair to 
add that this lavish use of our forests resulted in a cheap product 
8]