(click on image to view condition before restoration)

Logs from the Forest Delivered at the Stream, Aroostook County, Me. - Stereoview

(on the reverse)

Lumbering is the most important industry in Maine. Of this state's 21,145,600 acres of land surface, about 15,000,000 acres are in timber and wood lots. There are spruce, hemlock, balsam, birch, cedar, oak, maple, beech, ash and basswood or linden. The conifers exceed all others. Tall and straight are the conifers, or cone-bearing trees, with most of their wood in their trunks instead of in branches. Hence, much of the tree can be sawed into good boards. Aroostook County has large forests of such trees.

Streams like the one before us are a great aid in the lumbering industry. Maine has 2,465 lakes and twice as many rivers and streams comprising one-tenth the surface of the state. The logs are hauled to the stream banks in winter when the deep snow makes good hard roads. In the spring the logs are floated down the streams and rivers to the mills where the logs are sawed into boards. The logs may also be sent to one of the many mills which grind the wood into pulp for the making of paper. Maine has one of the largest paper mills in the world and our country uses more paper than any other country in the world. A great part of the paper we use is made of wood. Of its hardwoods, Maine makes many products ranging from spools and clothespins to meat blocks and furniture.

In Maine much attention is now being given to reforestation and many of the most extensive timber operators are taking decisive measures to continue the growth of Maine forests. In many cases, the practice is now being followed of planting a new tree for every tree cut.