Like all other parts of the United States when dense forests prevailed
when the white man settled, our trees were cut and Stumps pulled out so that
we are no longer a heavily wooded area.
In the beginning the trees
were cut and small spaces cleared to build homes and make available enough
land to grow the crops necessary for family life. As population increased
more land was cleared. Rail fences were built and later plank roads.
With the coming of the railroad the timber industry grew for two reasons,
first the railroad provided a means of shipping the logs away and second the
trains burned wood for fuel and used wooden ties and rails, that is a wooden
rail with a piece of steel nailed to it, for a number of years. Large tracts
of forest land were bought for the purpose of supplying this demand.
For many years the packages in which our produce was shipped away were made
of native wood but now we have only two package manufacturers operating.
During the 1920's timber sold at a high market price so that during that
time much timber was cut. At one time as many as as thirty-two saw mills
operated in the county.
In 1929 the price of lumber was reduced to
such an extent that the timber industry has been greatly reduced.
It
is the one large industry in the country which employed nearly 500 people in
the 1920's which now employs less than 100 people.
Aside from the
people regularly employed in the various occupations connected with timber,
most farmers spent their winters cleaning woodlands and selling logs and
cord wood. As soon as crops were gathered the hired men were put to work
cutting wood and the farmer had an income from his wood of from fifty to
five hundred or more dollars. Since this form of occupation has practically
disappeared in the county, many farmers do not employ labor during the
winter months.
While our early homes were built of native wood and
saw mills sold their products straight to the consumer in early days, that
type of industry has disappeared. We now have our lumber companies which are
jobbers. They buy the finished product from the manufacturer and sell to the
builder. The same change has taken place in the fruit package industry. All
but two of our fruit package dealers are now jobbers, buying their packages
from manufacturers and selling to the farmer. More paper packages than were
formerly used are now in use.
In order to prevent the promiscuous
misuse of the forests and to conserve the young trees and to preserve
forests in general the federal government purchased land and established
forest preserves.
The United States Department of Agriculture gives
the following information regarding the work of the United States Forest
Service:
"Forest depletion, which went on in the United States
practically unchecked for more than one hundred years received its first
real curb at the turn of the twentieth century.
"The need for a
conservation policy had been felt for a long time, but it was not until
increasing demands of a rapidly expanding civilization sharply accelerated
the rate of forest use — and misuse — and emphasized this need tremendously
that public opinion called for Federal action to halt the destruction of the
forest resources.
"It was apparent that things were happening to the
forests. They were being logged without thought of future timber
requirements; uncontrolled fires and excessive cutting were destroying the
remaining timber, preventing natural reproduction of trees, and stripping
important watersheds of their protective covering. In short, it was clear
that the public itself, through its Federal Government should take steps
toward the proper management of areas of greatest influence upon public
welfare and exert every effort toward extension of sound principles to
forest management and use.
"At this time also, it was evident that a
great advance had been made in the development of scientific forestry.
Public spirited citizens wished to apply this new knowledge in order to
restore and maintain the usefulness of the country's forest lands.
"During the 15 years, beginning with 1890, the trend toward public forestry
moved swiftly, culminating in 1905 with the creation sf the United States
Forest Service in the Department of Agrizulture. The forest reserves, as
national forests were then called — areas withdrawn from the remaining
timbered regions of the western public domain — were placed under the
management of the Forest Service.
"The Secretary of Agriculture at
that time commissioned the Forest Service so to manage these Federal
properties that they would provide the greatest good to the greatest number
of people 'in the long run.' This cardinal principle has been steadily
adhered to in their administration through the years.
"Forestry, as
applied by the Forest Service, is concerned with the perpetuation and
development of forests that they may continue their many benefits to mankind
— furnishing wood and other products for man's use; preventing erosion of
soil and regulating stream flow and water supply for irrigation; for power,
for domestic use, and for control of floods; harboring wildlife; providing
abundant opportunity for outdoor recreation. All these contribute to what is
perhaps most important of all — steady, gainful employment for a sizeable
portion of the country's population, resulting in stabilized communities.
"Instead of being handled under scientific methods as a crop, timber is
often 'mined.' When forestry is practiced in timberland management, the
mature trees are used as 'earned interest,' while younger growing trees are
left intact as the 'capital stock.' The economic and soil-protective values
represented by a forest in a healthy growing condition are thus permanently
maintained.
Since 1905 the area of the national forest system has
more than doubled and has been exfended to the Lake States, and the East and
South. Equally important to placing this increased area under intensive
protection and administration, is the work of the Forest Service in
cooperation with States and private timberland owners in the operations of
forestry, range management, and wood utilization; and the provision of
employment on a large scale in times of economic depression.
"There
still remains a vast amount of forestry work to be done in addition to
managing the National forests already established. Recent studies indicate
that more than 200,000,000 acres of timberland are so depleted, or so
located, or of such value for public service that private management
reasonably cannot be expected to meet the requirement of public interest
therein, at least not without undue subsidy. Public acquisition and
management of these lands, therefore, appears to be the most feasible
course. A fair share of this job for the Federal Government, considering the
financial ability of the states, appears to be a little more than half of
the entire job.
"Moreover, it becomes increasingly clear that Federal
aid to State and private forest owners, and perhaps some degree of
regulation, are needed to meet adequately, the interest of the nation as a
whole in the management of other forest lands as well.
"Throughout
the forest areas there is a large task of making the forests contribute more
fully to the solution of the problem of rural poverty and to the development
and maintenance of a satisfying rural culture. Integration of forest work
with part-time farming to provide an adequate livelihood for people living
on the small farms of the forest regions is an example of this type of
adjustment.
"In summary, the work of the Forest Service is directed
toward determining and apply measures for making our woodlands and related
wild lands contribute in fullest degree to the lives of our people and to
the solution of various national problems."
The Shawnee Purchase which now includes what was formerly known as the
Illini and Shawnee Purchases was forest land purchased under the Clark
McNary Act which provides for the purchaser of lands for watershed
protection primarily and for the preservation of natural and timber
resources. The land was also purchased in 1933 for the purpose of making use
of the recreational possibilities, wild life and timber possibilities. It
includes most of the hill land in Jackson, Union, Alexander, Massac, Hardin,
Pope, Johnson and Saline counties. It comprises a total of about 794,900
acres.
In Union County the Shawnee Purchase includes the high hills
in the north and west parts of the county.
In acquisition of large
blocks of timberland small acreage which is suitable for cultivation or
timberland is often acquired. This causes the government to accumulate a
problem of providing for the former tenants of such land. In most instances
the tenant is glad to sell to the government so he may move nearer to a hard
road or a town. However, about twenty tenants have remained on the land in
Union county.
These people come under the rehabilitation program of
the Department of Agriculture. They are given tenure permits and where the
land is good enough pay an annual rental of one to three dollars and fifty
cents. Rent of the buildings amounts to about ten dollars per year and all
buildings remaining on the land are repaired and put into a usable
condition. If persons are attempting to remain on land which is too poor for
cultivation, they are encouraged to move to a better location. If the land
is too poor to yield a livelihood the tenants are assisted by the government
until they have moved to better ground. The tenants are required to work
under a crop rotation plan.
As soon as the land became the property
of the government, foresters examined the timber marking trees suitable for
timber now, and planting new trees of short leaf pine, tulip poplar and
black walnut.
The shortest rotation timber crop production is black
locust fence posts which requires a growing period of seven or eight years.
Next comes pulpwood and next soft timber which requires thirty or
thirty-five years to mature.
As soon as the trees are inspected and
the amount of salable timber ascertained, a sale is advertised and
individuals make purchases of this timber. The one who purchases it is
required to use a method of selective logging, that is, he is allowed only
to cut trees that are marked and they must be felled in such a way that
younger trees around them are protected.
Since government land is not
taxable, it has been agreed that the county shall receive 25 percent of all
revenues derived from the sale of materials produced on forest preserves
which are given to the state to be distributed to the county.
The
Forest Service also maintains a fire protection program. Approximately
thirty or forty guards are employed part time especially during the fire
season of September to November and February to April fifteenth. Towermen
are employed during all seasons to man the towers which overlook the forest
area. A central dispatcher is kept on duty to relay messages from the tower
men to fire fighters.
The reforestation program is supposed to
eventually restore the land to a point where the timber industry can be
revived and continued.
Natural resources in this area are also
protected and leases are made to prospectors for oil, silica, fluorspur and
other minerals, also for gravel deposits.
The land was purchased
under the emergency relief program and for this reason, fourteen Civilian
Conservation Corps Camps were established in the area in order to give
employment to a large number of young men and also to utilize the available
labor in carrying on the reforestation program.
There were three
types of camps in the area, soil conservation, forest service and state
forest preserve. The state and federal government cooperated in their
program.
Each camp had a quota of 200 men with a supervisory force of
eight men. The supervisory force was composed of a camp superintendent, a
forester, three foremen, a chief mechanic, an engineer and a truck trail
locater.
Five rangers, members of the permanent forest service setup
were assigned to each camp. There was also a military force in each camp for
the purpose of maintaining order. This consisted of two officers from the
regular army or the reserves.
These C. C. C. Camps provided labor for
soil erosion projects, for firefighting and for road and other construction
projects in the forest preserve.
Three large recreation facilities
were developed, Giant City, Camp Dixon Springs and a picnic ground near
Robbs, Illinois.
After the C. C. C. Camps were diminished, the W. P.
A. completed the work that had been started. There are now only five camps
in the whole Shawnee Purchase area and only one of these is in Union County.
One development carried on by the C. C. C. Camp in cooperation with the
state forest preserve was the building of a nursery where young trees are
grown. These trees have been used by various programs in the state, such as
highway landscaping, reforestation of forest areas, and sale to private
concerns.
One of the largest projects attempted by this program is
the Crab Orchard Lake Project in Williamson County, Union County's neighbor.
This project is planned as a flood control measure and will affect Union
County inasmuch as the northern part of the county is a watershed and some
of our creeks which overflow each spring causing much damage to our crops
will be protected by the large reservoir.
The permanent improvements
made by the C. C. C. labor in Union County are landscaped areas in the Stale
Forest Preserve, the building of the forest service headquarters in what was
formerly the Jonesboro fairground and the Lodge and picnic grounds at Giant
City which is partly in Union County. The roads of these spots were also
built by C. C. C. labor.
Contributed 11 Sep 2017 by Norma Hass, extracted from History of Union County, by Lulu Leonard, published in 1941.
| Jackson | Williamson | |
| MO |
 |
Johnson |
| Alexander | Pulaski |
