Historic, archived document

Do not assume content reflects current
scientific knowledge, policies, or practices.

Contribution from the Forest Service,
HENRY S. GRAVES, Forester

Washington, D.C. Vv April 15, 1916

FOREST CONSERVATION FOR STATES IN THE |
_ SOUTHERN PINE REGION.

By J. Girvin PETERS, Chief of State Cooperation.

CONTENTS.
Page. Page
The situation summed up. ..-.---.--.--------- 1) Horestamanar ements ssa ee ee 8
What the lumber industry means to the Dibave-OwmMed! TOLeStss esse cess ee ce eerie 8
Eouthem pine: States... 2. -2o..-.-2. 2. 05s2..% SU IORI anes ent p ya yees Se eo eg emery ue olen 9
LINGYP SY BTEL ROS 700 Si RRS a lt i 4 | Eow the Federal Government will aid....... 12
Winrestrictedserazineg. cli... s2-<- 2c ~ see e et ee Mee LUGO AGING ce hee Ces een ee ee eee Be 14

THE SITUATION SUMMED UP.

A situation confronts the States of the southern pine region—Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama,
Misissippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri—which, unless
met and controlled by adequate legislation, threatens seriously to
affect their future development and prosperity. The situation arises
from the removal of the pine and hardwood forests without proper
provision for restocking those cut-over areas, valuable chiefly for the
growing of timber, and from the destruction by fire of the young
trees and other vegetation on watersheds of important rivers, which
carries with it increased erosion, the silting up of stream channels,
and danger from floods.

If cutting continues at the present rate without provision being
made for new timber crops, southern yellow pine will in the course
of time cease to be an important commercial resource of the South.
It is now one of the chief sources of wealth, but it is probable that

Norn.—The bulletin points out the essential elements in the various forest problems
that confront the States in the southern pine region, shows how these problems are inter-
related, and forms a basis on which may be founded a plan for solving them—matters
of great importance to lumbermen, farmers, and all others interested directly or indirectly
in the conservation of the timber resources of that region.

- 25987°-——Bull. 36416

2 BULLETIN 364, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

the annual cut has already reached the high point. If pine is to
continue to play an important part in commerce and industry in the
South, steps will have to be taken now to protect cut-over areas from
fire and unrestricted grazing, and to manage them in a way to insure
continuous production.

Investigations have shown that the removal of the forest roel
cover by repeated fires has increased the amount of soil washed into
such streams as the James, Roanoke, Wateree, Savannah, Alabama,
Pearl, Red, Arkansas, Trinity, Brazos, and Colorado (of Texas).
Great sums of money are spent annually in dredging work to remove
sand bars from the rivers of this region. Bare ground from which
rain runs off as quickly as it falls also increases the danger from
floods; and floods in the Southern States have in the past caused
millions of dollars damage to property and the loss of many lives.
Watershed protection will not of itself prevent floods, but it will
lessen their frequency and seriousness; and it will oS excessive
erosion over the whole area covered.

The solution of such problems as these is necessary to the future
welfare of the whole community, and experience has demonstrated
beyond question that they can be solved satisfactorily only through
public action. Adequate forest legislation would involve in each
State:

(1) A nonpartisan department of forestry.

(2) A technically trained forester as State forester.

(3) A forest fire protective system.

(4) Cooperation with private owners and towns in preparing
plans for the management of timberlands and woodlots and for
commercial and shade tree planting.

(5) State-owned forests by gift or purchase.

(6) An adequate appropriation of funds.

Besides the steps just outlined, each State might well make an
examination of its own lands (if it possesses any), and withdraw
from sale those chiefly valuable for timber production, setting them
aside as State forests. Measures might also be taken to restrict the
running at large of live stock.

The Anan: pine States he in a region especially favorable to
the rapid growth of desirable tree species and offer an exceptional
opportunity for the practice of forestry. Virginia, North Carolina,
and Texas already have adopted forest policies, but their combined
yearly appropriations for putting them into effect amount to less
than $20,000.

At the request of each of the States in the southern pine region,
except Georgia, and in cooperation with them, the Forest Service

FOREST CONSERVATION IN SOUTHERN PINE REGION. 3

has made studies of their forest conditions and reports have been
prepared and, in most cases, published either by the State or by the
Service.?

WHAT THE LUMBER INDUSTRY MEANS TO THE SOUTHERN PINE
STATES.

The manufacture of lumber and other timber products ranks first
among the industries of Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Vir-
ginia. It ranks second among the industries of Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, and South Carolina, third among those of North Carolina
and Texas, and sixth among those of Missouri. Something like
16,000 sawmills operate in these States, and a large number of addi-
tional establishments manufacture cooperage stock, veneers, and
other forest products. These plants employ some 330,000 persons,
or about one-third of all the workers engaged in the various indus-
tries. The average annual lumber cut in the region amounts to
about 19,500,000,000 board feet, of which approximately three-
fourths is yellow pine. Assuming an average value for the lumber
of $14 per thousand feet, the total value of the annual cut would
amount to nearly $275,000,000. About a quarter of this sum repre-
sents the value of the stumpage from which the lumber is manu-
factured; the greater part of the remainder is paid out in the form
of wages to residents of the region.

The amount of standing timber in the southern pine region has
been estimated by the Bureau of Corporations and the Forest Serv-
ice as 675,000,000,000 board feet, of which 385,000,000,000 feet is
yellow pine, 40,000,000,000 feet cypress, and the remainder prin-
cipally hardwoods. At the present rate of cutting this amount will
last scarcely more than 35 years. Should there remain no commer-
cial bodies of yellow pine or prospect of any, after the present stands
are exhausted, the resultant loss to the people of the Southern States
in business and wages will be very seriously felt.

The naval-stores industry, which is one of the most important in
the South and which depends upon yellow pine as a source of supply

1“ Forest Conditions in Virginia and Proposed Measures for Forest Protection,” by W.
W. Ashe, House Doc. No. V, Communication from the Governor, 1910;

“Forest Conditions in Western North Carolinas oby e-S: Holmes, Bull. No. Dae Nae
Geol. and Econ. Surv., 1911;

“Forest Conditions in South Carolina,” by W. M. Moore, Bull. No. 1, State Dept. of
Agrie., Com. and Ind., 1910;

“Condition of Cut-over Longleaf Pine Lands in Speen ee by J. S. Holmes and
J. H. Foster, Circ. 149, U. S. Dept. Agric., For. Ser.,

“Forest Conditions of Southwestern Mississippi,’ ; by J. S. Holmes and J. H. Foster,
Bull. No. 5, Miss. State Geol. Surv., 1908;
‘ oe Forest Conditions of Mississippi,” by "C. EL Dunston, Bull. No. 7, Miss. State Geol.

urVv i
* ote Forest Conditions in Louisiana,” by J. H. Foster, Bull. No. 114, U. S. Dept. Agric.,

or. Ser u
= es mores Resources of Texas,” by. William L. Bray, Bull. No. 47, U. S. Dept. Agric.,

ur. For

“A Forest Policy for Texas,” by J. G. Peters, San Antonio Express, Jan. 17, 1915;

“The Forest Resources of Arkansas,” by "Samuel J. Record, Circular of State Land
Commissioner, 1910; i

“Forest Conditions of the Ozark Region of Missouri,” by Samuel J. Record, Bull. No.
89, University of Missouri, Agric. Exp. Sta., 1910.

4 BULLETIN 364, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

for turpentine and rosin, has an annual output valued at approxi-
mately $30,000,000. This industry, too, must either cease to exist or
else move its operations to other portions of the country, unless
provision is made now for a future supply of timber suitable for
turpentining. 3

FOREST FIRES.

The chief obstacle in the way of the conservation of the region’s
timber supply is forest fires. These kill many trees of merchantable
size, destroy young trees and seedlings which otherwise would form
the basis for new timber crops, consume the ground cover and soil
humus, leaving the earth bare and subject to erosion, and sometimes
destroy human life.

As long ago as 1879, according to figures gathered for the entire
region in the Tenth Census, 729 fires burned more than 5,000,000
acres, causing a money loss in salable products and improvements
of $2,250,000. This estimate was undoubtedly low at the time that it
was made, since conditions were not favorable for gathering com-
plete figures.

While no other attempt has been made to obtain figures for the
entire region, the present annual loss is unquestionably much greater,
since the construction of railroads, the development of lumbering,
and the practice of brush burning have gone on steadily. North
Carolina is the only State in the southern pine region for which data
on the present damage from fire are available. During the five-year
period from 1909 to 1913 the average number of fires reported per
year in North Carolina was 633; the average area burned about
415,000 acres, and the average loss as follows:

Vaine or timber destroyed 2-2 ee a ee ee ee $160, 000
Value of youn’ srowth; destroyed22 44 Se eee ee eee 204, 000
Value of forest: products destroyed 4 2 coe sae ee ee ee 218, 000
Value:of improvementss:destroyed 2 ee ee eee 66, 000

Total amiga cei he a ee $648, 000
Number of lives lost_____- As I ala SF ala Wh Lala Sea ete 2
Cost. to, private individuals to fight fire:—_ == SS eee $19, 000

Concerning the value of young growth destroyed the State For-
ester of North Caroline says: |

The growing realization of the value of unmerchantable young growth is
perhaps the chief reason for the apparently high money loss. Whereas in
1911, the first year any general estimate was placed on destroyed young growth,
the less from this one cause amounted to only 25 per cent of the total damage,
in 1912 it comprised 33 per cent, while in 1913 it has increased to 45 per cent
of the total estimated damage. An instance of the growing recognition of the
destructiveness of woods fires comes from Transylvania County. A farmer
there claimed $300 reduction in the tax valuation of his place because 300

FOREST CONSERVATION IN SOUTHERN PINE REGION. dD

acres had been burnt over. This reduction was granted by the county com-
missioners. The county therefore lost several dollars in taxes every year
from that one fire, besides the much more serious loss sustained by the farmer.

In North Carolina the destruction of mature timber is only a small part of
the fire damage, because the usual surface fires, unless occurring late in the
spring, do not kill the larger trees. For this reason the value of the reproduc-
tion and young growth destroyed necessarily assumes large proportions.

And further concerning the total loss:

The very serious annual loss from forest fires can perhaps best be brought
out by a comparison. The average loss from fires in North Carolina for the past
five years has been about $650,000 a year. This is equivalent to a tax levy of
36 cents on the $100 on all the land in the State, or a tax of 13 cents on the
$100 on all property, real and personal, now listed for taxation. How quickly
would this fire tax be done away with if it Game in the form of a regular tax
levy! Yet the fire tax is paid year after year by the people of North Carolina
without a murmur. One or two per cent of the amount lost, if properly spent
by the State, would reduce the fire damage one-half the first year, and not only
save much valuable property belonging to our citizens, but insure the future
well-being of the State.

With the North Carolina figures as a basis, the average yearly
damage from forest fires in all of the States of the southern pine
region may be estimated as 3,500,000 acres burned over, with a money
loss of $6,500,000. If to this were added the losses from soil deteri-
oration and floods, the damage would be far greater.

Damage to the forests in this region is confined principally to the
young growth. This is especially noticeable on the cut-over long-
leaf pine lands, which are burned over every spring and fall and
so kept in a practically barren and waste condition. Except on the
bottom lands, damage of this character prevails in all the forests and
is generally severe.

Some of the cut-over lands will undoubtedly be devoted to agri-
culture, but in the meantime fire and erosion are robbing them of
valuable chemical and physical elements. Should they be kept in
trees aS a means of retaining their fertility until demanded for culti-
vation, their value will certainly be higher than if they are allowed
to deteriorate through neglect. This is especially true of the less
valuable agricultural areas.

In many places the disposal of cut-over pine lands for farming
purposes will go on very slowly. A merchantable crop of longleaf
pine trees for pulpwood can be grown naturally in 30 years if pro-
tected from fire. Commercial shortleaf and loblolly pines can
be grown in even a shorter time. Consequently, a real opportunity
is presented of utilizing the cut-over areas profitably while awaiting
the time for their agricultural development.

Besides the cut-over lands suitable for agriculture, there are large
areas valuable chiefly for the production of timber. Land should,

6 BULLETIN 364, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

and will eventually, be put to its most profitable use—real farming
land to agriculture, real forest land to timber culture. For the
present, however, all land which is not actually under cultivation or
needed for pasture purposes should be in timber, as a means of main-
taining productiveness and of conserving the fertility of such parts
of it as will eventually be put to agricultural use.

The exclusion of fire from cut-over areas will practically insure
new stands of timber in place of the old. Little or no planting will
be necessary. The abundant reproduction of yellow pine wherever
the young growth has escaped the ravages of fire is evidence that
yellow pine will reproduce itself naturally if only given a chance.

The protection of cut-over lands from fire will, of course, entail an
expenditure, the full burden of which most private owners of timber-
land will hardly feel themselves in a position to bear on account of
the long time element involved in growing future crops of timber.
This is the situation in practically all the large forest areas in the
United States, and many of the individual States are recognizing the
public interest involved by assisting in the protection of such lands.
Another and very important reason for State aid in forest fire pro-
tection, and one which is especially strong in the southern pine
region, is the danger from floods, which is greatly increased by the
destruction of the forest cover on the watersheds of streams. Losses
from floods along the Southern Appalachian streams alone during
the ten years preceding 1908 aggregated more than $35,000,000.1
Floods, erosion, and soil washing are together a serious menace to
the steady development and continued prosperity of the southern
States. Control of forest fires is one means of removing their cause.

Forest fires occur in the southern pine region, because there is little
or no public sentiment against them. They are accepted as inevitable
and as uncontrollable. This, however, is just the opposite of the
truth. Experience elsewhere has demonstrated that most fires can be
prevented; with prompt action all fires can be controlled. The prob-
lem is largely one of education; public opinion must be focused upon
the subject. The fact must be constantly reiterated that forest fires
can be prevented with a little care, and that, unless they are pre-
vented, the welfare of every citizen of the State is affected. Educa-
tion of this kind can only be effectively carried on through organized
effort on the part of the State. The value of a protective force patrol-
ling the woods, warning persons against the careless use of fire and
securing their good will and cooperation in preventing and extin- -
guishing fires, has been demonstrated over and over again by a
prompt and impressive decrease in fire loss in every State where it
has been tried. The States in the southern pine region have all

1 Preliminary Report of the Inland Waterways Commission, 1908, page 522.

FOREST CONSERVATION IN SOUTHERN PINE REGION, i

passed punitive laws against setting fires. What are needed now are
laws providing for the establishment of a protective system and
funds to maintain it. Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas have
recently enacted such legislation. It will be to the lasting advantage
of the other States in the region to follow the example of these three.

Closely related to forest fires is the destruction of timber by in-
sects, since the damage done by fire affords entrance for the beetle
into the timber, while trees damaged by insects are particularly liable
to destruction by fire. Although not generally recognized, insect
attacks may cause widespread and serious damage to pine timber in
the South. Since 1902 the southern pine beetle has been more or less
active in the Southern States from Virginia to Texas, and in some
localities has killed a large amount of timber. It is not within the
scope of this bulletin to discuss insect depredations, but any State
which plans to inaugurate a forest policy should communicate with
the Bureau of Entomology, Department of Agriculture, Washing-
ton, D. C., for advice regarding the best means of preventing injury
to timber from this source.

UNRESTRICTED GRAZING.

Wherever stock is permitted to run at large, it is the general prac-
tice to fire the woods once or twice a year in the belief that this im-
proves the forage. Fires set for this purpose cause great damage to
the young growth and do not make the grass any better. As a matter
of fact, continued burning reduces the vitality of the better grasses,
which are then replaced by less desirable ones. More than this, if
fires were kept out new grass would actually make better growth,
partly as a result of receiving protection from the older grasses; and
often a mixture of new and old grass makes much more satisfactory
feed for cattle than new grass alone.

Damage to the forest, especially in the longleaf pine region, is
caused by hogs devouring pine seeds and tearing up pine seedlings
for their tender roots. The amount of such damage, when the whole
region is taken into account, is really large and must be reckoned
with. :

The grazing problem can be solved in large measure by impressing
upon the farmers and landowners the fact that in the long run the
forage is injured instead of being improved by fire in the woods every
year and by making the most of local laws which prohibit stock
being run at large. The best and surest means, however, of putting
an end to the damage to woods and forage is a State-wide law com-
pelling the inclosure of stock.

1 Virginia, chap. 195, laws 1914; North Carolina, chap, 243, public laws, 1915; Texas,
‘chap. 141, laws, 1915.

8 BULLETIN 364, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
FOREST MANAGEMENT.

With a few exceptions, no attempt is made in the southern pine
region to manage private forests for continuous production. Nor is
this done in the United States generally. Present economic condi-
tions make necessary the lumbering of the larger holdings on a big
scale. This means a large annual cut accompanied by rapid deple-
tion of the merchantable timber supply. Even where curtailment
_ might otherwise be possible, it is frequently prevented by a heavily
bonded indebtedness, on which the necessary payments must be made
with the proceeds from the annual cut of timber. Nowhere is this
more often the case than in the southern pine region. The farmer
also often sacrifices his woodlot to meet indebtedness. Yet even
where it is possible for the lumberman or farmer to cut his timber
only as the market and his personal needs may require, he usually
does the cutting without reference to a future crop of timber on the
same land.

To meet this problem the States of the southern pine region need
to investigate economic conditions in the lumbering and farming dis-
tricts, with the idea of giving advice to private owners as to how far
the practice of forestry may pay in dollars and cents. Assistance
should also be offered in the planting of trees on waste areas and in
the prairie regions and in shade-tree planting in towns and cities.
It is customary for the owner or town to pay the agent’s field ex-
penses, while the State pays his salary. All States with forestry
departments have provided for work of this character.

STATE-OWNED FORESTS.

Large areas of true forest land should be owned by the State, since
it is better able than the private owner to hold the land for con-
tinuous timber production and for stream-flow protection. Public
ownership, furthermore, guarantees a permanent administration of
the properties. The stability of the lumber industry may thus be
assured, and with it, steady employment for the wage earner. The
educational effect of public forests as demonstration areas is very
important and may be productive of excellent results. Public forests
can also be used as recreation grounds by the people of the State,
and may eventually become an attraction for tourists and pleasure
seekers from other parts of the country. They also afford range and
breeding ground for game. Through revenue from timber sales and
other privileges they should become self supporting. ~ In some cases
sufficient revenues should be derived from them to go to the support
of other State activities as well.

Nearly every State which has given serious attention to its forest
problems has provided for the establishment of publicly owned for-

- FOREST CONSERVATION IN SOUTHERN PINE REGION. 9

ests. Those now having State forests are Connecticut, Indiana,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, and
Wisconsin. The number of State forests is approximately 150 and
their aggregate area 3,700,000 acres. New York has 1,800,000 acres,
Pennsylvania 1,000,000, Wisconsin 400,000 acres, and Michigan
277,000 acres. At a recent election the people of Minnesota approved
an amendment to the constitution permitting the State to set aside
as State forests all lands now owned by it which are chiefly valuable
for the production of timber, amounting to about a million acres.

Practically all of these State forests have been established through
purchase, although in the West some were set aside from lands
already owned by the States. New York has spent approximately
$4,075,000 and Pennsylvania $2,250,000 in buying lands for State
- forests. Pennsylvania has paid about $2.25 an acre for the same
land, cut over and burned, which it sold years ago, when covered —
with timber, for about 27 cents an acre. These lands are now esti-
mated to be worth $6 an acre. _

The Federal Government, under the terms of the so-called Weeks
law, has also adopted this policy as regards lands situated on the
forested watersheds of navigable streams and has appropriated
$11,000,000 for purchases.

It is probable that the States in the southern pine region have
disposed of nearly all their timber holdings. Just how much of
such land, which can be used most profitably for growing timber,
remains in the ownership of the States should be determined as soon
at practicable and steps taken to withdraw it from sale and set it
aside as State forests. In addition, these States should gradually
acquire, through purchase or gift, other bodies of true forest land,
especially in regions like the Southern Appalachians, the pine hills,
and the Edwards Plateau in Texas. When lands are taken over by
a State provision should be made to reimburse the counties and the
townships for loss of tax revenue. Some States pay a tax on the
same basis as 1f such lands were privately owned; others pay a fixed
charge of a few cents an acre. The Federal Government gives
counties in which National Forests are situated 25 per cent of the
gross revenues, and an additional 10 per cent is used, in cooperation
with the localities concerned, for the construction of public roads.

LEGISLATION.

A consistent and comprehensive forest policy can be carried out
only through a forestry department and a State forester. Such
departments are urgently needed and earnestly recommended. ‘They
have been established in only three States in the southern pine re-

SBD BULLETIN 364, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

gion—Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas. Louisiana has provided
by law for a forestry department under the State Conservation Com-
mission, but for lack of funds it has never been organized. Alabama
endeavored to establish a forestry commission, but the law author-
izing it was declared unconstitutional on account of an error in the
procedure of enactment.

Thirty States have established forestry departments. Some have
placed them under departments already established, namely, the
board of agriculture in Colorado and Vermont; agricultual experi-
ment station in Connecticut, Kansas, and Ohio; geological survey
in North Carolina and Virginia; agricultural and mechanical college
in Texas; State school of forestry in North Dakota; State land de-
partment in Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota; and forest, fish,
and game department in Tennessee and West Virginia. New and
separate organizations have been created as forestry boards or com-
missions by California, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota,
New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. New
Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin have consolidated their forestry
departments with so-called allied departments into conservation com-
missions, and, similarly, Michigan has put the forestry work under
a public-domain commission. Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode
Island have given control to a forest commissioner or State forester,
who, as in the case of the board or other organization, is directly
.responsible to the governor or the legislature.

Whatever the character of the organization may be, the best
results will be obtained by keeping it free from politics. If a single
officer directs it, his tenure of office should be permanent and he
should be removable only for cause. If a new and separate board is
organized, it should be nonpartisan and the members should receive
no compensation other than necessary traveling expenses. The ex
officio membership of the board should comprise officials who are
removed from politics as far as possible, such as the president of the
State University, director of the State forest school or agricultural
experiment station, and the State geologist. Appointees to the board
might be chosen, as in some States, upon the recommendation of
organizations interested in the advancement of forestry in the State,
such as conservation, forestry, agricultural, lumbermen’s, or timber
owners’ associations.

The State forester should be chosen solely for his fitness for the
position and should be a technically trained forester of experience.
If he is to werk under the direction of a board he should be appointed
by the board.

The forestry department should be authorized especially to or-
ganize a forest-fire protective system; to cooperate with private
owners and towns; to acquire lands for State forest purposes; and

FOREST CONSERVATION IN. SOUTHERN PINE REGION. 11

to make forest investigations. A reasonably adequate appropriation
of funds will be required to carry on the work.

- As an example of a law which provides for these features may be
cited that which was recently passed by the Legislature of Texas.
This measure is brief and simple. The Texas Forestry Association
was organized by a number of public-spirited citizens especially to
do educational work on its behalf, and the press throughout the
State gave very generously of space in both news and editorial
columns for the same purpose. The law follows:

An act authorizing the board of directors of the Agricultural and Mechanical
College to appoint a State forester, prescribing his qualifications, duties, and
salary, providing for a system of forest protection, management, and replace-
ment, and declaring an emergency.

Be wt enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas:

SEcTion 1. That there shall be appointed by the board of directors of the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas a State forester, who shall
be a technically trained forester of not less than two years’ experience in pro-
fessional forestry work. His compensation shall be fixed by said board at not
to exceed $3,000 per annum, and he shall be allowed reasonable traveling and
field expenses incurred in the performance of his official duties. He shall,
under the general supervision of said board, have direction of all forest inter-
ests and all matters pertaining to forestry within the jurisdiction of the State.
He shall appoint, subject to the approval and confirmation of said board, such
assistants and employees aS may be necessary in executing the duties of his
office and the purposes of said board, the compensation of such assistants and
employees to be fixed by the said board. He shall take such action as may be
deemed necessary by said board to prevent and extinguish forest fires, shall
enforce all laws pertaining to the protection of forest and woodlands, and
prosecute for any violation of such laws; collect data relative to forest con-
ditions, and to cooperate with landowners as described in section 2 of this
act. He shall prepare for said board annually a report on the progress and
condition of State forestry work, and recommend therein plans for improv-
ing the State system of forest protection, management and replacement.

Sec. 2. That the State forester shall, upon request, under the sanction of the
board of directors, and whenever he deems it essential to the best interests of
the people of the State, cooperate with counties, towns, corporations, or indi-
viduals in freparing plans for the protection, management, and replacement of
trees, woodlots, and timber tracts, under an agreement that the parties obtain-
ing such assistance pay at least the field expenses of the men employed in
preparing said plans.

Sec. 3. That the governor of the State is authorized, upon the recommenda-
tion of the board of directors, to accept gifts of land to the State, same to be
held, protected, and administered by said board as State forests, and to be
used so as to demonstrate the practical utility of timber culture and water
conservation, and as refuges for game. Such gifts must be absolute, except for
the reservation of all mineral and mining rights over and under said lands,
and a stipulation that they shall be administered as State forests.

The board of directors shall have the power to purchase lands in the name
of the State, suitable chiefly for the production of timber, as State forests,
using for such purposes any special appropriation or any surplus meney not
otherwise appropriated, which may be standing to the credit of the State
forestry fund.

12 BULLETIN 364, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

The attorney general of the State is directed to see that all deeds to the
State of lands mentioned in this section are properly executed before the gift
is accepted or payment of the purchase money is made.

Sec. 4. That all moneys received from the sale of wood, timber, minerals, or
other products from the State forests, and penalties fer trespassing thereon,
shall be paid into the State treasury, and shall constitute a State forestry
fund, and the moneys in said fund are hereby appropriated for purposes of
forestry in general, under the direction of the board of directors.

Sec. 5. That for the maintenance, use, and extension of the work under the
board of directors, and for forest-fire protection, there is hereby appropriated
the sum of $10,000 annually out of any moneys in the State treasury not other-
wise appropriated, to be placed to the credit of the State forestry fund.

Sec. 6. That the board of directors may cooperate with the Federal Forest
Service under such terms as may seem desirable.

Sec. 7. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this
act are hereby repealed.

The above law as originally drafted also contained in section 3 the
following:

Said State forests shall be subject to county taxes assessed on the same basis
as are private lands, to be paid out of any moneys in the State treasury not
otherwise appropriated.

But this paragraph was struck out by the legislature since it is
unconstitutional for the State to pay taxes.

HOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL AID.

The Federal Government offers aid in forestry to States along
three different lines: (1) Demonstration work at State experiment
stations, (2) farm woodlot management under the Smith-Lever law,
and (3) fire protection under the Weeks law.

State experiment stations prepared to handle the work can secure
cooperative assistance in investigating the proper methods of forest
management, nursery practice, tree planting, and the like.

In connection with farm woodlot improvement the Forest Service
is planning to get in direct touch with the farmer throughethe exten-
sion work of the United States Department of Agriculture and the
States. ‘his work has recently received a tremendous impetus
through the passage of the Smith-Lever law. Under its terms a
Federal appropriation is made each year to further agricultural ex-
tension work in the States through the medium of the extension
staff of the State agricultural college. To avail itself of the funds
provided by this law a State must appropriate for this particular
line of work an amount equal to that made available by the Federal
Government. The law makes possible much cooperative work be-
tween the Federal Government and State agricultural colleges
through inspection and practical field demonstrations by agents of
the United States Department of Agriculture. Cooperative projects

FOREST CONSERVATION IN SOUTHERN PINE REGION. 13

can be proposed by the State, but must be approved by the Depart-
ment. Since woodlot management is to a large extent a farm prob-
lem, the aim is to acquaint the county field agents of the State exten-
sion service with the essential principles of woodlot management in
order that they may show the farmer how to manage his woodlands.
Such projects have already been conducted in Tennessee and Indiana.

' Of most immediate concern to a State which is just organizing its
forest work is the Federal cooperation which can be secured in fire
protection. Under the Weeks law the sum of $100,000 was appropri-
ated for the fiscal year 1916 for allotment to the States, to be ex-
pended in protecting the watersheds of navigable streams, provided
the State establishes by law a system of fire protection and makes
an appropriation therefor, and provided further, that the State ex-
pends at least as much as the Federal Government. This cooperation
has been in effect for nearly five years, and the results secured in con-
serving our natural resources have far exceeded the anticipation of
its most enthusiastic supporters. The States which are receiving
funds under the law are: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa-
chusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia,
West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas, Michigan, Wis-

consin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and
Washington, 21 in all. The remaining States in the southern pine
region should not’ let the opportunity pass for securing cooperation
of this character in keeping down their forest-fire losses.

PUBLICATIONS OF UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUL-
TURE RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION OF FORESTS.

AVAILABLE FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION.

Forest Planting in the Eastern United States. (Department Bulletin 153.)

The Northern Hardwood Forest: Its sompouno Growth, and Management.
(Department Bulletin 285.)

Shortleaf Pine: Its Economie Importance and Forest Management. (Depart-
ment Bulletin 308.)

Primer of Forestry. (Farmers’ Bulletin 173.)

Primer of Forestry. Part 2—Practical Forestry. (Farmers’ Bulletin 358.)

The Profession of Forestry. (Forestry Circular 207.)

FOR SALE BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS.

Forest Planting in Western Kansas. (Forestry Bulletin 52.) Price, 10 cents.

Working Plan for Forest Lands in Berkeley County, South Carolina. (Forestry
Bulletin 56.) Price, 10 cents.

The Natural Replacement of White Pine on Old Fields in New England.
(Forestry Bulletin 63.) Price, 10 cents.

Advice for Forest Planters in Oklahoma and Adjacent Regions. (Forestry
Bulletin 65, revised.) Price, 5 cents.

Working Plan for Forest Lands in Central Alabama. (Forestry Bulletin 68.)
Price, 10 cents.

The Forests of Alaska. (Forestry Bulletin 81.) Price, 25 cents.

Protection of Forests from Fire. (Forestry Bulletin 82.) Price, 15 cents.

The Crater National Forest: Its Resources and their Conservation. (Forestry
Bulletin 100.) Price, 10 cents.

Forest Planting in Western Kansas. (Forestry Circular 161.) Price, 5 cents.

The Status of Forestry in the United States. (Forestry Circular 167.) Price,
5 cents.

Forest Planting in the Northeastern and Lake States. (Forestry Circular 195.)
Price, 5 cents.

Assistance to Private Owners in the Practice of Forestry. (Forestry Circular
202.) Price, 5 cents.

14

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