i : \9) New Pork State Cullege of Agriculture At Gocnell University Ithaca, N.Y. Library wor University Library Report of the Forestry committee of the MR. CHARLES LATHROP PACK President of the Fifth National Conservation Congress, who was unanimously re-elected at the Congress on Thursday, November 20, 1913 REPORT of the FORESTRY COMMITTEE of the FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS at WASHINGTON, D. C. NOVEMBER 18, 19 and 20, 1913 fh wv National Capital Press, Inc. Printers Washington, D. C The Forestry Committee and the Sub-Committees THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Henry S. Graves, Chairman, Forest Service, Washington, D. C. BR. T. ALLEN, Yeon Building, Portland, Oregon. J. B. Waite, Long Building, Kansas City, Mo. W. R: Brown, Berlin, New Hampshire. E. A. STerLine, Secretary, Real Estate Trust Bldg., Philadelphia. CuariEes Laturop Pack, Ex-officio, Cleveland, Ohio. STANDING SUB-COMMITTEES No. 1. Publicity, Chairman, E. T. ALLEN, Portland, Ore. T. B. Wyman, Munising, Mich. F. W. Rane, Boston, Mass. P. S. RripspaLe, Washington, D. C. O. W. Price, Washington, D. C. No. 2. Federal Forest Policy, Chairman, Jos. N. TEAt, Portland, Ore. Hon. A. F. Lever, Lexington, S. C Rosert P. Bass, Peterboro, N. H. E. G. Griecs, Tacoma, Wash. F. E. Oumstep, San Francisco, Cal. No. 3. State Forest Policy, Chairman, Wiatam T. Cox, St. Paul, Minn. F. A. Exuiort, Salem, Ore. C. R. Perris, Albany, N. Y. H. H. Coapman, New Haven, Conn. J. E. Ruoves, Chicago, Til. No. 4. Forest Taxation, Chairman, GiFrorp PincHot, Washing- ton, D. C. F. R. Farrcuinp, New Haven, Conn. Dr. H. S. Drinker, So. Bethlehem, Pa. E. T. Auten, Portland, Ore. E. M. Grirrira, Madison, Wis. No. 5. Forest Fires, Chairman, C. S. CHAPMAN, Portland, Ore. D. P. Srmons, Seattle, Wash. F. H. Brizarp, Berlin Mills, N. H. J. S. Houmes, Chapel Hill, N. C. Corrt DuBors, San Francisco, Cal. No. 6. Lumbering, Chairman, R. C. Bryant, New Haven, Conn. G. M. Cornwat., Portland, Ore. J. B. Wurte, Kansas City, Mo. J. F. Cuarkx, Vancouver, B. C. F, A. Sitcox, Missoula, Mont. C. B. Martin, Aberdeen, Wash. ApAm TRIESCHMANN, Crossett, Ark. W. R. Brown, Berlin, N. H. No. 7. Forest Planting, Chairman, E. H.Ciapp, Washington, D. C. T. T. Muncer, Portland, Ore. S. N. Sprinc, Ithaca, N. Y. S. B. DerwitEr, Philadelphia, Pa. No. 8. Forest Utilization, Chairman, R. S. KEtiocc, Wausau, Wis. Bruce Ove, Cadillac, Mich. W. C. Mixes, Globe, Wash. E. A. Zrecier, Mt. Alto, Penna. No. 9. Forest School Education, Chairman, J. W. Toumry, New Haven, Conn. Water Mutrorp, Ithaca, N. Y. C. H. SHatrucx, Moscow, Ida. Gro. S$. Lonc, Tacoma, Wash. W. B. Greetey, Washington, D. C. No. 10. Forest Investigations, Chairman, Rapuart, Zon, Washington, D. F. B. Laney, Washington, D. C. Wa ter Mutrorp, Ithaca, N. Y. C. G. Bates, Denver, Col. A. G, McAnrE, San Francisco, Cal. PUBLISHED by AUTHORITY of the FORESTRY COMMITTEE of the FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS, NOVEMBER, 1913 Apology is made for the fact that owing to lack of space, the book having to be confined to the allotted number of pages, it is impossible to give in full the discussions at the forestry sections on the reports of the sub-committees. TABLE OF CONTENTS GE FRONTISPIECE—Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack. 7 FORESTRY COMMITTEE AND-THE SUB-COMMITTEES..............0.0cceeee 3 PORE WORD sasisn sian aycssennadace dassccsn i Aamde sod os sina snwiabadsn wind at» dohversynedohoeee ew acces 7 ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT CHARLES LATHROP PACK...........0.cecceeeeeee 9 FORESTRY COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION........... 0c ccc cece cece cece eee eeeees 12 The Report of the Forestry Committee. OPENING OF THE FORESTRY SECTION OF THE CONGRESS................ 24 PUBIC UEY, «2x 3ccpecctoaacereis vase ivacassaesraneds ies daria adyavalatoase.ooaieduniuenhe Mand Oe emtagn naam banks 25 By the Sub-Committee on Publicity. DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT OF.THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLICITY........ 41 THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH COMMERCIAL PLANTING IS DE- SERABLES axevcseenedendw s bactiacicnsndid «fa deiteu ine dace S Oi da aval eeeranarais lesa od enevayssarananacainre 45 By the Sub-Committee on Forest Planting. THE DISCUSSION ON THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOREST BRANDING seco aii ee ntidaigauanssckubehbaeied ¥ oes rumeatiqene tuaexaueyeeres 89 THE ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES OF FRAMING, PASSING AND ENFORC- ING A: STATE FOREST LAW sscnmacsvay suka swenyhaciie y oot bas acaticuioiacie Peeeinacgaee 91 By the Sub-Committee on State Forest Policy. DISCUSSION ON THE REPORT OF THE SUB- COMMITTEE ON STATE FOREST = POLICY : cgi vdionava-y Gewisio sncantas ves tyuleewe inns cama mown eiged ber ee seu 105 HORES TP “TASCAIMON sacs ciclsiuuta's an ataiectekguiet ols e'y as wou ies Wale ba niatatniees vale cud 108 — By the Sub-Committee on Forest Taxation. APPENDIX TO REPORT OF SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOREST TAXATION...... 139 DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOREST TPASCAULION: age ieeurd cantare vais hoasaiand dasiaaree wentenaikomeneay panne aaimnes anaes 142 SECONDARY FORESTRY EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STRACIE'S wo stedeints'aea'e'e 148 By the Sub-Committee on Forest School Education. THE RELATION OF FORESTS AND WATER........ 0.0.00: e cece cece cere eee nee 184 By thé Sub-Committee on Forest Investigations. DISCUSSION ON THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOREST INVESTIGATIONS” suceyvoewndante vee rhedate udu eeatineteaald ss con enlumane ea 204 TIMER BRINIG, 5 sccacsosseueutns sas cince slat aeani ba pst A Midacesey orang yuugi oat cA aR aaa Wee Dace eM RinE 205 By the Sub-Committee on Lumbering. DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON LUMBERING. 243 THE CLOSER UTILIZATION OF TIMBER: vioss anoesion pe eesahlngade ys beaeuslennens 245 By the Sub-Committee on Forest Utilization. ‘ DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOREST WS UL IZA LOIN. 3,122 srolivelaiars ciecutiaha tina's 0) Seanad mieanionrn nd auiaka adnnbelaniels A aalaceenemnenes 259 FIRE PREVENTION BY STATES, BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND BY PRIVATE INTERES T Si soccicomneatenasguwpecuade aes eeeuaauodblnes awigotast 264 By the Sub-Committee on Forest Fires. TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued. PAGE DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOREST PIRES « sincacsnnavees ox nta vamhntioa gui Joos + Paw ihacohnuse rs cekaeeangawatanewneaameanes 319 FEDERAL HOREST POLICY: ciccceencavievevesssennengu eye ene tianey teen nn pees 323 By the Sub-Committee on Federal Forest Policy. THE, CONCLUDING: SESSION sss sinsscieweoau'ss oa 44 wowmebute Ver seuWebldewe gegen tae 357 RESOLUTIONS ON FORESTRY: és sxanacouens pacads deneeos@evyasannntiere yy rascals 359 FORESTRY ADDRESSES ..sascis coiiatasie chet pao s 84.04 VG ieeeR aa Fe db ARNE ab 4 ee 360 FEDERAT; FOREST POLICY 26 csa.cciaeietdaiaengle ds odadudawal Pebind Relate Peete se 360 By Henry S. Graves. ECONOMIC FACTORS IN PRIVATE FORESTRY WORK.........:0e-eee cece e eee 339 By E. A. Sterling. PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF FOREST ECONOMICS........... cece cence cee eeeeeee 378 By E. T. Allen. ; CONSERVATION OF LIFE IN THE LUMBER CAMP............0.0000ccueeeee 385 By Miss Mabel Boardman. THE LUMBERMAN’S POINT OF VIEW..........cceccceecececcueccunccenceuveeas 390 By J. E. Rhodes. LUMBERMEN AND FORESTRY ............. ccc cecceecee cen eeecveeetecsecencenees 395 By William Irvine. WHAT THE CONSERVATION CONGRESS ACCOMPLISHED.................. 397 By Charles Lathrop Pack. FOREWORD ORESTERS and lumbermen having long desired an investigation of vari- K ous phases of forestry and lumbering problems, by committees of com- petent men, it became apparent, when the Fourth National Conservation Congress was in session at Indianapolis in 1912, that such investigation was part of the work of any organization encouraging forest conservation. Accordingly, at that time, members of the American Forestry Association together with lumbermen and others interested, all being delegates to the Con- servation Congress, discussed measures for doing the work and raising the funds necessary for it. The outcome was the appointment by Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack, after he had been elected president of the Congress, of a Forestry Committee com- posed of four directors and one vice president of the American Forestry Asso- ciation, with Mr. Pack, also a director of the Association, as a member ex-officio. The committee appointed ten sub-committees, topics were assigned to them, and after several thousand dollars had been subscribed for carrying on the work the investigations started. The subscribers to the fund were Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack, W. R. Brown, of Berlin, N. H.; Lehigh University Forestry Fund through Dr. Henry S. Drinker; Capt. J. B. White, of Kansas City, Mo.; and Robt. P. Bass, of New Hampshire. Having selected the sub-committees with wei care, choosing both theo- retical and practical experts, and enthusing them with the earnest desire to secure the best information possible and compile the most valuable report on each subject assigned that had ever been made, the Forestry Committee pushed the work along so vigorously that when the Fifth National Conservation Con- gress convened in Washington, D. C., on November 18, 1913, for a three-day session, the report of each committee was ready in pamphlet form, for distribution and discussion. Every man present at the forestry section meeting of the Congress when these reports were made and discussed was impressed with the great value of the work which had been done, and particularly with the necessity of continuing it in the future. Several of the committees reported upon only one phase of the forestry and lumbering problem submitted; other phases equally important still need similar investigations, and reports upon them will be of equal value. Each year new problems arise, each year a thorough study and recommendations upon existing conditions will be of a value difficult to calculate. The work should go on, year after year. Each year there should be a great gathering of foresters and lumbermen to hear reports of their committees and to exchange opinions. There are forestry associations and lumbermen’s organizations and what is now needed is a gathering of the men interested in each in order to work out, as far as their knowledge and ability goes, the problems of forest conservation. There should be closer relations between foresters, lumbermen 8 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE and timberland owners. They can work together to great mutual advantage. Various individuals and corporations are now endeavoring to work out some of the chief problems. How wise it would be, how much more could be achieved if all who are interested could meet once a year and exchange opinions, how valuable it would be to have committees of experts reporting each year the result of their investigations. It was the sincere wish of every one who attended the forestry section meetings of the Congress, and of all who have received the reports of the com- mittees, that the work should be continued year after year. These proceedings, as a matter of permanent record, are published under the auspices of the Forestry Committee, and are entirely separate from the water power proceedings of the Congress which it is understood the Congress will publish separately. Copies may be secured from the American Forestry Association, Wash- ington, D. C. ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT CHARLES LATHROP PACK At the opening of the Fifth National Conservation Congress, the New Willard Hotel, Washington D. C., November 18, 1913. T is with unusual pleasure that I welcome you all, ladies and gentlemen, delegates to the Fifth National Conservation Con- gress. At any time and in any place it would be a privilege to greet a body of men and women of this character, so truly representative of the best spirit and the best endeavor of America, men and women unselfishly devoted to the practical altruism of conservation. At this particular time in Washington the pleasure is intensified. This is true for the reason that the cause of conservation is face to face the coming winter with the most serious fight in its history. Your presence at the seat of the Nation’s government will afford the best possible opportunities for gaining counsel from those in authority and for making our own message widely heard by the American people. As you all know, this is the first great gathering of conservationists held in Washington since the year of the epoch-making Conference of Governors at the White House in 1908. It was at the White House Conference that the conser- vation movement first assumed concrete, definite and tangible form. To those of us who were privileged to be present, that gathering was an inspiration. To all it was historic. Its counsels were led by the President of the United States, and its deliberations and activities had the benefit of the constructive energy and talents of such men as Gifford Pinchot—(Applause)—the late Dr. W. J. McGee, of splendid memory—(Applause)—Mr. Frederick H. Newell, Honorable Walter L. Fisher, not to mention others. From the first day of the White House Conference, there has never been a moment’s doubt as to the ultimate success of the best conservation ideals. ‘The cause was right. As a further fundamental, it commanded the confidence, the friendship and the enthusiastic support of the American people. It is obvious that a righteous cause with the backing of the public can never fail. There may be differences of judgments, there may be moments even of conflict and there may be delays, but there will be no defeat. Truth loses some battles, but no wars. The main battle for sane and constructive conservation has moved steadily on- ward, making definite progress with each succeeding year, until now it is recog- nized as an essential part and parcel of good government. (Applause.) The White House Conference was followed by other work for the cause. It was in 1909 that the National Conservation Congress was formally organized at a general gathering of public spirited men in Seattle. This assemblage and its far-reaching consequences were the general result of the previous meetings here in Washington, and the direct result of the wisdom, foresight and energy of the ‘10 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE noble band of workers of the Northwest in the common cause known as ‘the Washington Forestry Association. ‘The step was typical of the men of the great Northwest and illustrative of the spirit that has enabled them to build an empire and has made them at all times such forceful and valuable allies in the fight for conservation. This body held a convention in November, 1908, at which it was arranged that a Conservation Congress of national scope should be held in Seattle during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. From the beginning thus made has grown this Annual Meeting or Congress in which we all take pride. The Seattle Congress devoted itself to Forestry and Water Power. A year later, the St. Paul sessions were largely taken up with consideration of the conservation of public lands, one of the most important phases of the work involved in the scope of the organization. At Kansas City, in 1911, Soil Fertility was the primary problem on which the talents, scholar- ships and practical experiences of the delegates were concentrated. Last year, in Indianapolis, we devoted our thought largely to the conservation of Human Life, questions to which some of the Nation’s most earnest, conscientious and highly developed minds have given constructive thought with results that com- mand our admiration. This year we return to the seat of Government and to Forestry and Water Power, where we can anew synchronize the place and the subjects with which the conservation movement found its birth and its first development. Since 1908, large results have been achieved in the conservation and proper utilization of these fundamental resources of the greatest, richest and most fortunate nation in the world. Let me emphasize the statement that the growth of conservation has been coincident with the growth of proper utilization of these resources. Conservation and utilization are synonymous. They cannot be divorced. Our opponents—sometimes we call them—would like to make it appear that conser- vation means reservation and the locking up of resources for the benefit of future generations at the expense of the present. We know that this is not true. We know that without proper utilization there can be no conservation worthy of the name. We know that perpetuation can be best achieved by present use along scientific lines, and it is to this policy that we stand committed. (Applause. ) It is a policy which must be protected by constant vigilance—fought for when necessary. But one should not make the mistake of assuming that at all times all the laws and regulations that have been passed or made in connection with the handling of our public resources are all right and fit the Situation, because it is not the fact. No one knows this better than those who have had actual experi- ence. What people like ourselves stand for are the underlying principles and the frank correction of errors and amending of laws when found to be wrong. We are for the truth! Another phase of combat arises from the insistence with which some interests strive to make it appear that there is popular clamor for State control of the great Government properties in forest and stream. The growth of conservation does not please everybody. It is an economic problem. There are those who FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 11 prefer a return to the old order of things, wherein wasteful gain was the keynote. It is inevitable that with these people true conservation should be unpopular. We must all recognize this even though such recognition forces us to feel we love conservation for some of the enemies it has made. Thus recognized, the enemy is half defeated. We must spare no effort, however, to insure complete defeat. That we can do it we all know. That we must do it is obvious. I greet you all most cordially as my fellow workers in the vineyard that shall yield perpetual fruitage for the use and good of the entire American people. (Applause. ) : FORESTRY COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION Tur REPoRT OF THE ForestRY COMMITTEE. VA vee the present Forestry Committee was appointed, following the meeting of the Fourth National Conservation Congress at Indianapolis in 1912, several of the public spirited men who had followed the de- velopments took up the question of the most effective organization to represent the mutual forestry and lumbering interests involved. The desirability of such an organization was emphasized by the presence at Indianapolis of a number of men who were no longer in need of the general educational propaganda relative to the conservation of natural resources, but attended the Congress for the purpose of meeting progressive men in their own and related lines and securing specific in- formation helpful in the solution of their own problems. The need for a working organization and a rallying point, where mutual and more or less technical problems may be discussed, is felt particularly by the forestry and timber interests. The Conservation Congress was originally founded on forest conservation, and while the importance of other conservation subjects is realized the time seems to have come for specific forestry work at popular national meetings, in addition to the general publicity and education. It is merely a frank admission of the facts to say that the attendance and support of the forest conservation interests would have been lost to the Congress if it had not returned to the original theme; and not only this but the active workers in for- estry desired an opportunity to exchange views on technical problems, so as to take home tangible information in return for their time and expense in attending. The Forestry Committee of the present Congress was organized with the view of meeting, to some extent at least, the conditions which existed. The Con- servation Congress offered the first essential in the way of a recognized national organization, with which active forestry committee work could be associated. The second need was financial, and this was promptly met by the American Forestry Association, which provided the necessary funds. There then remained only the necessity of perfecting the proper organization of the forestry committee itself, Various precedents have been established by older organizations for carrying on the character of work deemed most effective in this case. The plan which has given good results and is in general use is that of standing committees or sections assigned to various subjects. The American Railway Engineering Association and the International Congress of Applied Chemistry are good examples of this form of organization. The National Educational Association has carried the idea still farther, to the point of having various independent sections, each with its own president and program. A central organization in each case holds the sections or standing committees together for the common cause. The needs of the Forestry Committee for this year seemed best met by the appointment of sub- committees to investigate and report on the more important forest conservation subjects. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 13 As soon as this plan was decided upon ten sub-committees, with four to eight members each, were appointed. The subjects covered the more important technical problems of forestry and lumbering, and broad national questions involv- ing legislation and regional public interests. The chairmen and sub-committee members were selected on the basis of their experience and ability to contribute new knowledge on the subjects assigned, or to compile the old in workable form. The list of committeemen is in itself sufficient evidence of the seriousness ‘and high character of the investigations undertaken. Several topics were suggested under each sub-committee subject, and the more important selected for this year’s report. Practically all details of text and arrangements were left to the sub- committeemen. It is striking evidence of the importance and public interest in forest conservation that fifty busy men should freely give their time and thought to work of this kind. The printed reports, therefore, as presented to the Congress are not the views of rhetoric of any individual, but the mature conclusions of a body of experts, who represent all regions and all phases of forest activity. The neces- sary publicity to the sub-committee’s findings wil] be given by printing and dis- tributing the reports, by wide circulation through the AMERICAN Forestry Maca- ZINE and lumber journals, and by distribution among trade, technical and public service organizations. ~< . By presenting these reports at forestry section meetings and giving ample opportunity for discussion, further information will be gained and that available will be disseminated. Those who attend will receive the benefit of the informa- tion given, and, in turn, by taking part in the discussions, will contribute to the fund of available knowledge, and add facts for use in the present or future revision of the reports. Most of the subjects will continually develop new phases, and what is up to date or advanced thought or information to-day may be obsolete to-morrow. At the same time, there are fundamental principles which remain unchanged, and basic methods which when once applied need revision only in detail. No one has any thought of being able to settle at once and for good and for all the many complex conservation problems. Recognizing, however, the evolutionary nature of the development, it is apparent that the broader and better the knowledge and the closer the harmony among the various interests, the sooner will come security to the nation’s timber resources and provisions for maintaining the needed supply. ‘Tt is not fitting for the Forestry Committee to pass judgment on its own work nor to outline plans for the future. It is a temporary body which will ge out of office automatically at the close of the coming Congress; while as to results, the accomplishments of the year will speak for themselves in the sub- committee reports and in the forestry speeches before the general Congress. It may not be out of place, however, to say that the form of organization adopted is in general effective, and that the results are even better than was anticipated. It is unfortunate that the present officers of the Conservation Congress, who have so consistently supported the work, and the Forestry Committee have a tenure of service so short that they can little more than inaugurate work of the kind which has been attempted. 14 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE From the standpoint of developing and establishing basic policies, and in perfecting and applying technical methods in the various fields of forest activity, an organization along the line of the present Forestry Committee is certainly needed and promises to be effective. At the same time, such work cannot be undertaken without a central national organization to lean on and funds to prosecute the work. Granting that a strong national organization is needed to carry on popular educational and publicity work, it would seem that the more specific and technical field could best be covered by a properly organized forestry committee, supported by and affiliated with the non-technical central organization. Whatever the supporting organization and clearing house, it is certain that there exists a well-defined desire for an annual national forum of forestry and lumber interests, such as provided this year in connection with the National Con- servation Congress, where views can be exchanged and problems of mutual interest worked out to practical conclusions. It would not necessarily be a large gathering, but essentially one of ways and means to accomplish many desirable things. The best basis for such a meeting would be a permanent organization for investigation and report, probably through standing committees which would be directed by a central body, either an administrative committee or the directors of the parent organization. If specific mention was made of the individuals who have made possible a creditable showing this year, it would have to include every man on the Forestry Committee, every sub-committee chairman, and most of the sub-committee mem- bers. Mr. Charles Lathrop Pack, in his function as President of the Congress and outside of it, has given the strongest possible support to the Committee; and to him and to Col. W. R. Brown, Dr. Henry S. Drinker and Capt. J. B. White is due the credit for the financial arrangements, through the American Forestry Association, which made the work possible. For the large amount of valuable Pacific Coast data, and for cordial co-operation in all the work the Committee owes its thanks to Mr. E. T. Allen. SYNOPSIS OF SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTS The following is a brief summary of the work of the Forestry Committee, and its sub-committees, for the Fifth National Conservation Congress. ComMITTEE 1 PUBLICITY Chairman, E. T, Allen. 2--_--~- Forester, Western Forestry and Conserva-. tion Association, Portland, Ore. T. B. Wyman___-__- Secretary, Northern Forest Protective As- sociation, Munising, Mich. F. W. Rane_________ State Forester, Boston, Mass. P. S. Ridsdale-______ Secretary, American Forestry Association, ; ‘Washington, D. C. Overton W. Price___.Vice-president, Treasurer, National Con- servation Association, Washington, D. C. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 15 TOPICS ASSIGNED 1, Publicity at the meetings of various popular and_ technical organizations, 2. Publicity of the forestry work of the Conservation Congress, both of the general congress and of the Forestry Committee. 3. Publicity through the press, looking particularly to the arousing of public interest in fire protection, taxation, and State forestry. 4, Publicity methods and devices useful to fire associations and other forest protective agencies. The full report of this committee as printed, covers the four topics assigned. An introductory chapter presents in a new way the necessity for publicity since: “Public education is the chief measure of progress in forestry.” Some of the conclusions of the committee are that: 1. Progress in forestry depends more on what the public will permit than upon foresters and lumbermen. Consequently, public education is ot primary importance. 2. Education is a matter of publicity and publicity is a trade in itself. It cannot be practised intuitively. 3. Since no one else has the interest or the requisite forestry knowledge, foresters and lumbermen must learn this trade. 4. It is not forests, but the use of forests, that we seek to perpetuate. Therefore, to be sound and convincing, educational publicity must include the lumber business. So long as the public believes forestry good and lumbering bad, there will be confusion and no real progress. In addition to presenting a full report, the sub-committee assisted during the year in preparing the forestry program and arranging section meetings, and in giving publicity to the forestry features of the congress. CoMMITTEE 2. FEDERAL FOREST POLICY Chairman, Jos. N. Teal_-------- Chairman, Oregon Conservation Commis- sion, Portland, Ore. Hon. A. F. Lever____Congressman, Lexington, S. C. Robert P. Bass__---- Ex-Governor New Hampshire, Peterboro, N. H. E. G. Griggs_------- President, St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co., Tacoma, Wash. F, E. Olmsted_____-- Consulting Forester, Boston, Mass. TOPICS ASSIGNED 1. Needed legislation in national forestry. 2. National versus State control of national forests. 3. Economics of timber supply in relation to production and con- sumption. 4, Details of national forest administration. The first three topics as above listed are covered by separate sections in the report. The subject is one of the broadest and most important before the 16 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE country today, and is likely to become a matter of legislation which will vitally affect public interests. The whole report is a timely contribution to public knowledge on the subject. Most of the criticism against the Forest Service concerns conditions beyond its control, which result from lack of authority or inadequate funds. The first section on “Needed Legislation in National Forestry” outlines the needed changes and increases in Congressional legislation and appropriations which will enable the Forest Service to administer the National Forests with full efficiency. It is stated that “the legislation which is needed in national forestry is primarily to extend the principles already recognized by Congress and to enable the executive authority better to put these principles into practice.” Another attempt, to wrest the national forests from public control tor private exploitation, is imminent, this time under the guise of arguments and legislation for State control. Section II of the Federal Forest Policy report, on “National versus State Control of National Forests,” should dampen the powder of the States’ rights advocates before they reach the firing line. The facts and evidence, stated by a man like Jos. N. Teal, who is, himself, a resident of a public lands State, are conclusive and irrefutable. One of the opening sentences summarizes the incentive at the bottom of the whole States’ rights movement for control, of the national forests as follows: “In reality knowledge of the facts and consideration of the arguments used to substitute State for national control show that the underlying motive of the propaganda for State control has for its object the elimination of public forests, State or national. This fact should be known, and the issue accepted and fought out in the open instead from ambuscade.” Section III, on “Economics of Timber Supply in Relation to Production and Consumption,” was written by Mr. E. T. Allen at the request of the sub-com- mittee. It deals with the neglected topic of forest economics in a way which brings out many new and striking facts, particularly in relation to the sale of timber from national forests. As an indication of the character and soundness of this chapter the following is quoted: “It follows that the maximum cut from the national forests should be assured, not during the existing period of stored and excessive virgin supply, or during the permanent future which will begin when adequate forest crops have had time to mature, but during the closing years of an intervening transition period.” CoMMITTEE 3. STATE FOREST POLICY Chairman, W. T. COR sues. State Forester, St. Paul, Minn. FB, Ay Hlliottcecann= State Forester, Salem, Ore. C. R. Pettis_________ Superintendent, State Forests, Albany, N.Y. H. H. Chapman__.__ Bao tensn Yale Forest School, New Haven, onn. Le dey dee os ecce Secretary-Manager, National Lumber Man- ufacturers’ Association, Chicago, Ill. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 1? TOPICS ASSIGNED 1. Established principles in framing, passing and enforcing State forest aws. 2. Acquirement and management of State forest reserves, with special reference to cutover lands. 3. Co-operation between States, between the States and the Federal Government, and between States and private agencies. The rapid development in State forest organizations, based on new and old legislation, and the important part each forested State must play in the adminis- tration of our forest resources, makes this one of the most important sub- committee subjects. The report this year is largely confined to the first topic, “Established Principles in Framing, Passing and Enforcing State Forest Laws.” The established principles are stated and discussed as a basic policy, followed by a model State forest law embodying these principles in more detail. Obviously any model or skeleton law must be modified materially to meet the conditions in various States and regions, but if there is a general understanding as to funda- mental principles, adaptation to local conditions becomes comparatively simple. Owing to the large amount of valuable detail submitted by the committee, and the great interest in State legislation, which will probably lead to many suggestions and recommendations during the section meetings, it is possible that the report will be printed only in synopsis, and the revision for final printing made after consideration of the report at the section meetings. CoMMITTEE 4. FOREST TAXATION Chairman, Gifford Pinchot__President, National Conservation Associa- tion, Washington, D. C. Acting Chm’n, E. T. Allen------ Forester, Western Conservation Association, Portland, Ore. . F. R. Fairchild___Professor of Political Economy, Yale Uni- versity, New Haven, Conn. Dr. H. S. Drinker_President, Lehigh University, South Beth- lehem, Pa. E. M. Griffith____State Forester, Madison, Wis. TOPICS ASSIGNED 1. Existing tax laws and their influence on forest management. 2. Basic principles of wise forest taxation, with definite suggestions for legislation. 3. Forest taxation in other countries. 4, Bibliography for students of forest taxation. While several individual investigators have gone far into the subject of forest taxation, and a few of the States have passed progressive tax legislation, this is the first time a body of experts has undertaken a summarized compilation of existing knowledge, with working recommendations for forest tax legislation. 18 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE The four topics listed are covered under separate chapters or sections in the report. If there is any doubt anywhere existing as to the urgency and importance of reform in forest taxation it should be dissipated by reading the following introductory paragraphs in Section II: “Next perhaps to war, taxation is the most powerful instrument of government, capable, if unwisely used, of destroying individuals, communities and industries. Few government functions are less studied by the average citizen. Probably none of its branches is less understood than forest taxation. * * * It is everywhere recognized by foresters, tax experts and political economists that the general property tax applied to forests in the United States is unscientific and discouraging to conservative management.” Forest taxation has too long been considered purely academic and theoretical, whereas it really is a problem which vitally affects the capital invested in timber, the price of lumber to the consumer, and’ the prosperity of States. The report states that * * * “There are two distinct influences upon the rise of timber prices. One is a true rise of intrinsic value, due to diminution of supply and growth of consumption. This alone affords any basis of profitable investment. The other is the accumulation and compounding of carrying costs which, without investment profit, must be continually added to the selling price to prevent actual loss * * * The general property tax upon timber, then, has an alarming tendency to become excessive and it is exceedingly difficult to meet because it is imposed annually while revenue with which to meet it is deferred. * * * From the community standpoint it threatens rapid wasteful cutting of mature timber, penalizes the growing of new timber, and for both these reasons hastens, the cessation of all revenue from forest taxation and the consequent imposition of the entire burden upon other forms of property.” The basic principles of wise forest taxation are considered under the two separate heads of Taxing New Forest Crops and Taxing Mature Forests, and lead up to definite suggestions for legislation. The report is exhaustive in its treatment and specific in its recommendations, and could well be used as a working basis for legislative action in any State. In fact, there is now available for the first time, a compendium to which any State interested in the subject can turn for sound adoptable recommendations. An important chapter discusses “The Danger in New Tax Theories” “the adoption of new systems framed without forestry in mind,” of which conspicuous examples are “the diametrically opposed income tax and single tax.” Owing to the pressure of other duties Mr. Gifford Pinchot was unable to direct the details involved in the compilation of the report, and Mr. E. T. Allen served as acting chairman. CoMMITTEE 5. FOREST FIRES Chairman, C. S. Chapman______ Secretary-Manager, Oregon Forest Fire ; Association, Portland, Ore. D. P. Simons_______ Manager, Sound Timber Company, Seattle, Wash. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 19 F, H, Billard__----_~ Forester, Berlin Mills Company, Berlin Mills, N. H. J. S. Holmes__-_---~ State Forester, Chapel Hill, N. C. Coert DuBois_...--- District Forester, Forest Service, San Francisco, Calif. TOPICS ASSIGNED _ 1. Fire prevention by States, by the Federal Government, and by private interests. 2. Forest fire association work, with special reference to the possibility of co-operation and standard practice between the various protective associations. 3. Forest fire insurance. One of the most hopeful developments of recent years is in the line of forest fire prevention, hence the work of this sub-committee is of prime importance, since without fire protection there can be no forestry. The report covers fully the first topic in fire prevention by States, by the Federal Government, and by private interests. The general situation, including ‘the definite results from systematic fire prevention by private associations and other organizations, com- prise the main body of the report. This is followed by a detailed discussion of the fire protection work being done in various States. “No phase of forest work has been so actively taken up or made such marked progress as that of forest fire prevention during the past ten years. “During the past five years there has been an increase of over 3,000 per cent in the area of privately owned forest land patrolled against fire; while in addition to this, 92,000,000 acres of private land has been systematically looked after and an area of some 187,000,000 acres of timber land patrolled by the Forest Service. ° “Forest fires in the United States, according to the most conservative estimates since any records were available, have caused an average annual loss of 70 human lives and the destruction of merchantable timber to the amount of $25,000,000.00.” CoMMITTEE 6. LUMBERING Chairman, R. C. Bryant_----_-- Professor of Lumbering, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. G. M. Cornwall___-- Editor, The Timberman, Portland, Ore. J. B. White___-----_ Lumberman, Kansas City, Mo. J. F. Clark_-------_ Forest Engineer, Vancouver, B. C. F. A. Silcox_-_----- District Forester, Missoula, Mont. Adam Trieschmann..Crossett Lumber Company, Crossett, Ark. C. S. Martin-_------ Saginaw Timber Company, Aberdeen, Wash. W. R. Brown_-_----- Berlin Mills Company, Berlin, N. H. TOPICS ASSIGNED 1. The basis of lumber costs and stumpage values. 2. The application of scientific management to lumbering operations. 20 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE 8. Reports on log and lumber measures, with recommendations for standard scales. 4. Forest engineering. The report for this year is confined mainly to the second topic listed. An appendix is submitted in the form of an excellent preliminary report on “Efficiency in the Logging Industry in the Pacific Northwest,” by C. S. Martin. This is a committee representing particularly the manufacturing end of the lumber business, and since many widely diversified problems are involved the chairman calls attention to the fact that a complete report could not be prepared in one season. Although the committee was composed largely of lumbermen and dealt exclusively with lumbering questions, little co-operation or assistance was received from those who should be most interested. Apropos of this situa- tion is Dr. C. A. Schenk’s truism that “the new turn in lumbering methods cannot be brought about from the outside. It will be necessary for the rejuvenation of lumbering, for the forester to become full fledged lumbermen.” If outside help will not be accepted, and less than 5 per cent of the insiders in the lumbering business who were asked for information show any interest, how can anything be worked out? After all, the theorist, considered as “a man who tries to think what he is doing” is usually the one who worked out the reforms ultimately welcomed by the “practical” man who is too busy to help. There is a very large field for profitable investigations under the several topics named, but to carry on the work satisfactorily the co-operation and assist- ance of the lumbermen is a first essential. Moreover, funds should be available for the employment of a competent field man to study and compare conditions and methods and personally obtain information from operators. The various phases of forest utilization could properly be handled under the same subject heading. CoMMITTEE 7. FOREST PLANTING Chairman, E. H. Clapp__-__ Forest Service, Washington, D. C. Acting Chm’n, 5. N. Spring---- Professor, Forestry Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. T. T. Munger__-_Forest Service, Portland, Ore. S. B. Detwiler____Superintendent, Chestnut Blight Commis- sion, Philadelphia, Pa. TOPICS ASSIGNED 1. Conditions under which commercial planting is desirable. 2. Nursery methods. 3. Field planting methods. 4. Natural versus artificial regeneration. While a large amount of forest planting has been done, much of it might be classified as sporadic or experimental. In most planting operations too little atten- tion has been paid to the purely commercial aspects of the question. The sub-committee’s report deals entirely with the commercial conditions FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 21 under which planting is advisable. It summarizes both for technical and regional conditions, and for various classes of owners. The startling statement is made, and substantiated by figures, that $65,000,000 is lost annually through allowing denuded and potential forest lands to remain unproductive. The urgent need of a definite financial plan for the acquirement and reforestation of denuded lands by the Federal and State Governments, and for assistance to private owners, is pointed out. Several plans covering these points are outlined. To the main report is added an appendix, which treats in detail of the com- mercial conditions under which planting is commercially feasible in various regions. Owing to the absence of Mr. E. H. Clapp on official duty in the West, Prof. S. N. Spring, of Cornell University, served as acting chairman and prepared the main body of the report. CoMMITTEE 8. FOREST UTILIZATION Chairman, R. S. Kellogg--_-_--_ Secretary, Northern Hemlock and Hard- wood Association, Wausau, Wis. Bruce Odell__-----_- Cummer-Diggins Company, Cadillac, Mich. W. C. Miles________ Manager, West Coast Lumber Manufactur- ers’ Association, Tacoma, Wash. E. A. Ziegler________ Professor, Mt. Alto Forest Academy, Mt. Alto, Pa. TOPICS ASSIGNED 1. Closer utilization in logging. 2. Closer utilization in manufacturing. 3. Closer utilization in marketing. 4. The preservative treatment of timber. This subject, in common with lumbering, properly requires field study by a paid man in order to procure and compile satisfactory data, and the two lines of investigations could be combined. The report of the sub-committee for this year describes clearly the economic limitations to the closer utilization of timber, and to some extent touches on the unapplied possibilities in the line of utilization. The actual developments are contingent on commercial conditions and also influenced to some extent by lack of information. Apropos of the latter, the synopsis of the report states that “The lumber industry needs more information than is yet available upon the merchantable products than can be obtained from trees of various kinds and sizes. Further investigations should be made of the costs of manufacturing many by-products, and of the conditions under which such operations are suc- cessful. The effect of unrestrained competition in timber exploitation upon our forest resources should receive serious study.” The portion of the report dealing with the conditions which prevent closer utilization is in effect a reply to the unjust popular opinion that the lumberman is responsible, either deliberately or otherwise, for the wastage of 50 per cent to 75 22 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE per cent of timber which he handles. It is pointed out that the conditions which make possible closer utilization in logging and manufacturing are: (1) Ready markets; (2) Cheap transportation ;.(3) Character of timber ; (4) Efficient man- agement; (5) Proper equipment. The last two are reforms which are usually within the power of the lumberman to correct, but the first three and many other conditions are due to influences entirely beyond his control. This report should give the laymen and general public a much clearer con- ception of the difficulties in the way of complete, or even close, utilization of timber. CoMMITTEE 9 FOREST SCHOOL EDUCATION Chairman, J. W. Toumey_----- Director, Yale Forest School, New Haven, Conn. Walter Mulford___-_- Professor, Forestry Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. C. H. Shattuck___-_- Professor of Forestry, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. George S. Long_---- President, Washington Forest Fire Asso- ciation, Tacoma, Wash. W. B. Greeley_____- Assistant Forester, Forest Service, Wash- ington, D. C. TOPICS ASSIGNED 1. Forest school education; its strength and weakness. 2. Courses or methods of teaching needed to better fit men for practical work in lumbering. 3. Secondary forest school education. 4. Function of schools in technical investigations. Within recent years the question of technical forestry education has been thoroughly discussed at conferences called for the purpose, hence the report of the sub-committee on the general subject is confined this year to the third topic: “Secondary Forest School Education.” The need for a body of trained rangers and woodsmen has been felt ever since forestry became a national necessity, and the report deals in considerable detail with the question of the school courses, and form of training best suited to prepare men for this class of work. The teaching of forestry in public schools, and short courses in forestry for farmers and agricultural students, are also discussed. CoMMITTEE 10. FOREST INVESTIGATIONS Chairman, Raphael Zon__--_~__ Forest Service, Washington, D. C. F. B. Laney___.-____ Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. Walter Mulford_____ Professor, Forestry Department, Cornell ae ee eae N.Y. ee nited States Forest Service, Denver, Col A. G. McAdie_______ Director, District Weather Bureau, San Francisco, Calif. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 23 TOPICS ASSIGNED 1. Subjects demanding investigation. oe : 2. Responsibility for investigative work; correlation and avoiding dupli- cation. : The report deals fully with the relation of forests and water, and while in part a compilation of established facts and theories, contains some new and interesting matter. The new feature concerns the effect of forests in broad con- tinental valleys upon precipitation over continents. If this new theory is correct, as it seems to be, it provides even a greater justification for forest conservation than the accepted view of the relation of forests to stream flow. This theory has been discussed more specifically in an article entitled “The Relation of Forests in the Atlantic Plain to the Humidity of the Central States and Prairie Region,” by the chairman, Mr. Raphael Zon, in Science, under date of July 18, 1913. From the summary we learn that “the facts brought out in this report clearly show that there is an intimate relation between the forests, the climate, and the regularity of the flow of water in the streams. “There are no accurate means of determining the extent of forest land necessary for the regulation of stream flow and the protection of the soil against erosion. From the study of conditions, however, existing in other countries, it may be inferred that, in order not to disturb the natural balance, the proportion of forest land to other kinds of land must be not less than one-fifth of the total area of the country.” OPENING OF THE FORESTRY SECTION OF THE CONGRESS “servation Congress was held at the New Willard Hotel, Washington, D. C., on the morning of Monday, November 17, 1913, one day in ad- vance of the Congress in order to give ample time for hearing and discussing the reports. Mr. Henry S. Graves, chairman of the Forestry Committee, presided throughout the two days’ sessions. In opening the meeting, Mr. Graves said: “I think that any lengthy intro- ductory remarks by me are unnecessary. You must all have understood the reason why we have organized a special section of forestry at this convention. I think that everyone who has attended the previous conservation congresses has felt that the time had arrived when we should have meetings which would enable the discussion, by men from different parts of the country, of specific, practical problems. In forestry, at least, we have gotten beyond the stage of discussion of whether it is desirable or not, and our great task now is to determine methods of getting forestry into practice and that is why we are here. We are here for business and we have a very full program. Therefore, I am going to push the meeting as hard as I can, and hold down discussion where it seems to be extending beyond the immediate subject in hand, because I think we have, if anything, more than we can do. Ve opening session of the Forestry Section of the Fifth National Con- I want to say at the beginning that the reports of the different sub-committees have been published and will be ready for distribution. I believe that there are, altogether, twelve different reports. We have had a committee of some fifty odd men from different parts of the country working on these reports this sum- mer and fall, and I think it is a pretty good record to have gotten reports from all of them through in time for publication for this meeting. These men have worked splendidly and have co-operated, not only with the different chairmen. but with the other members. Representing, as I do, the central committee, and also on behalf of the Conservation Congress itself, I. want to say that we appre- ciate very warmly what these gentlemen have done. I want particularly to speak of the work done by Mr. E. T. Allen and Mr. E. A. Sterling, who have really borne the brunt of this big task of working up these reports and getting them ready for this congress. We will begin, without further discussion by the chair, by calling on Mr. E. T. Allen to discuss the final subject of our meeting the question of publicity in the promotion of practical forestry.” Mr. Allen presented the following report: FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 25 PUBLICITY By tHe Sus-CoMMITTEE ON PUBLICITY. Chairman, E. T. Auuen, Portland, Ore. T. B. Wyman, Munising, Mich. P. S. Rispa.e, Washington, D. C. F. W. Rang, Boston, Mass. Overton W. Pricz, Washington, D. C. Presented by Mr. E. T. Allen, Monday Mornitig, November 1%, 1913. LD UBLIC education is the chief measure of progress in forestry. Perfection : of methods applied in the woods is essential and a great deal of good is a being done by those who know how and are willing to spend the money. But a minority is never fully successful’ The certainty and speed of any accom- plishment upon human action are measured by the extent of desire for this ac- complishment and of knowledge how to achieve it. If every citizen, in whatever capacity, fully realized all that is involved by the waste or preservation of forest resources; fully knew his own relation to it, and what conduct of his would best serve his welfare and the community’s: fully understood the economics of forest industry and what governs the conduct of its members, and fully comprehended the power and responsibility of the commonwealth in protecting the interests of its constituents, there would be little need of forestry associations and congresses. The reason why publicity for most forestry topics is vital is that they are given proper consideration by a very inadequate proportion of those whose conduct is involved. Government, State, and private forestry workers are accomplishing a great deal. Yet what one of us does not often have the baffling feeling that we are battering at a wall far too strong for our facilities, while this is at the same time the reason why our facilities are inadequate? We cannot hope to have the industries dependent upon the forest fostered and protected as they deserve until public and legislators regard them as they do agriculture, for example, and have equal understanding of their governing conditions and needs. They will not attain such understanding unaided, the aid is limited by their demand for it, and they will not demand it because they do not understand the need. It looks like a deadlock, yet deadlocks can usually be broken. If lumbermen and foresters would realize the need to devote as much study to the technique of public education in forestry as to the technique of forestry practice, the deadlock would break. And the movement would gain in geometrical ratio as knowledge of forest economics creates a thirst for more knowledge. This is not conjecture. It has been proved. Progress differs locally almost exactly with the degree in which propaganda has been skilful. And skill has been proven to lie largely in the realization by propagandists that forestry is business, not merely an abstract problem of public or private conscience, and in their consequent application of business advertising principles. There are two methods of attack. The old way works about as follows: “You are partly responsible for lack of forest protection. Forest destruction is bad for the country. Badness is wicked. Therefore you are wicked. You need a sermon 26 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE and we'll preach it.” The new way works more like this: “Do you want to make more money as well as do your duty? Then stop the other fellow from destroying dollars you would otherwise share. We have a bargain-price insur- ance policy that you can’t afford to be without. Look over our prospectus and invest.” Now forest preservation is insurance and insurance is good business. We are offering the public a commodity that must be paid for in money and careful conduct, and we must convince the public that it is worth the price. We must arrest attention, which is being sought by plenty of competitors. We must hold interest when we get it and make good with our argument. All of this involves a knowledge of exactly the same elements of human nature, of the same principles of psychological appeal, that must be the foundation of every successful contest against the inertia of humanity, from the wiles of the side-show barker to the trained persuasiveness of the insurance agent and the publicity devices of the modern advertising genius. We may reach the thoughtful minority by calm logic or appeal to public spirit, but it is the thoughtless majority that we are really after. What we say to these must be not only what “he who runs may read,” but what he will read, will remember, and will act upon. The average man does not want mere logic. But if you can stop him a moment, and photograph an idea upon his mind in spite of him, you not only have the idea there where he cannot get away from it, but he is favorably disposed toward the idea itself. For in his mind is also a feeling that it was probably his idea all the time, else he couldn’t have responded so quickly—a feeling you don’t get when you have to hold a man a prisoner in a corner until you force him to admit rather unwillingly the correctness of ybur argument. This is not a plea against dignified, scholarly appeal to reason, nor against appeal to high motives of citizenship and responsibility. It is merely the plea that to get a large proportion of our population interested in forest affairs we should adopt methods that experience has proved most effectual in getting its interest in anything else. It is to modern business and political campaigning that we must look for the last word in the psychology of appeal to human ignorance and indifference. Apply the methods that experts in these lines employ, improving them if you can, and you are probably putting the hardest possible punch behind forest propaganda. Then if our first premise is true—that public interest and understanding are essential to satisfactory forestry progress—it follows that technical training and ability in publicity is a necessary part of the equipment of forest workers. What does it avail you to devise a perfect forest law if you have not the knowledge of legislative manipulation to get it passed? Are even perfect fire-fighting organi- zation and methods as valuable as reducing the number of fires to find and fight? Why learn how to manage forests properly unless you can convince owner and public that it pays? Why be a public forest official when you cannot tease enough funds out of the community to do satisfactory work? Why take four years out of a boy’s life to fit him for a forestry job and teach nothing to.help him create a demand for his services? Why devote a forestry convention to FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS av discussion of needed laws and practice and go home with no more knowledge of how to make your community let you apply them? Nothing more clearly indicates the neglect of this subject by American foresters than the difficulty met by this subcommittee in finding material for compilation in its report. Hardly any writers have discussed it in a compre- hensive way. Publicity devices are borrowed and changed more or less, but few men are giving them much original thought. Forest legislation is notori- ously retarded by lack of skilful, well-financed campaigning. So-called press bulletin work is growing in popularity with forestry organizations, public and private, but is often defeating its own strength by failure to present real news in newspaper form. Cartooning, the greatest modern educative medium, is employed the least. The purpose of this report, however, is not to discuss past failures or past achievements, but to outline the main directions in which forestry publicity should be developed. PUBLICITY AT MEETINGS OF POPULAR AND TECHNICAL ORGANIZATIONS ‘HIS topic embraces forestry meetings of all kinds and also other meetings | where forestry is touched upon to some degree but over the arrangements of which forest workers do not have control. We have little excuse if the former are not successful educative mediums. With the latter we must do the best we can. The publicity value of a forestry meeting is affected by its earliest pre- liminary arrangements. If there is choice of meeting place, it should be with a view not only of attendance but also of local advertising values. A town with economic connection with the subject, or with historical or other attractions, is better than one with no point to exploit. Other things being equal, local press facilities are important. A town too small to have its own press notices recog- nized elsewhere, or so large that it minimizes the importance of its own hap- penings, is not as likely to help as one that will seek to make the meeting advertise it. It is often unwise to select a place where another and more locally or gener- ally important convention is to be held simultaneously. Your meeting is over- shadowed by the other. Another early factor is the program. There is not much publicity in the mere announcement that there is to be a meeting. There must be a basis for continued interest. This requires organization well in advance down to the last detail. Choose several live, interesting topics, advertise good speakers, intimate the probability of newsy facts or controversies—all this early and often. If possible announce innovation in subject, treatment, or organization. Bear in mind always that publicity cannot be given to plans that do not exist. Merely to invite people to come together and meet rarely accomplishes a successful constructive convention. It never accomplishes a well-advertised one. Finally, having made the program practical and constructive in scope, be sure it is not overloaded. In this you are looking ahead to publicity at meeting time, which is always fostered by discussion and controversy. With the time completely filled by set papers, you cannot stage any fireworks. 28 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE With place and plan carefully determined in ample time, certainly months before the meeting, the campaign should have two objects—to get out attendance, and to give the meeting public prominence which will advertise forestry in general and give weight to the meeting in particular. In some ways both objects can be served at once, in others they cannot be. There should be a mailing list of all the real workers in forest affairs whose presence is especially desired, to receive continued forecasts of the meeting that will stimulate their interest. These forecasts, seldom of more than 200 to 400 words, should appear to be announcing decisions and developments as soon as arrived at. In this way they can also serve for press use. One may announce meeting place, another the program, another request advice from the recipient as to some phase of the meeting, another mention possibilities of dangerous conclusions if the faithful are not on hand, another the character and amount of interest being taken in the meeting, etc. The views or preliminary reports of speakers and committees should be collected and used both to excite the interest of delegates and for newsy material for the press. When considering the former in all this, try to bring out two things: that the meeting will supply just what they want to get out of the time and expense devoted to such a trip, and that if they stay away something distasteful to them may be done. — Such of this material as is suitable should go to all lumbering, farming, mining and engineering trade journals. The first sent should be accompanied by a letter inviting them to take part in the meeting and to send representatives. By asking them to signify their interest by reply, so you can make arrangements to supply them with copies of addresses, etc., enlist their friendship and make their notices more than perfunctory. Supply them with something frequently, to give their readers the impression that the meeting and its topics are important enough to make such journals keep in touch with progress. If the meeting is a fairly important one, its executive officials should early get in touch also with United and Associated Press representatives in their home towns and explain that from time to time there will be news worth telegraphing. Get an understanding on this, then follow it up. The value of anything to these agencies is in its newness. “It has been decided today” or “a report received today” is what they want. Remember that some minor thing delivered to a man before anyone else has it may carry reference to your project over the wires when to wait until it has been discussed by other officials or some committee will spoil it. Such use of interesting developments of the approaching meeting, or of affairs to be discussed thereat, offer the very best means of getting publicity through very short telegraphic items. Everyone connected with the meeting should send in ideas for this. Each should be handled singly. Newspapers will know that many such points do not develop simultaneously and be suspicious, if they are bunched, that some are not new. In the preparation of material for the press, remember that nothing will more effectually discourage its use by correspondents than the attempt to make it a medium for laudatory mention of individuals. Newspaper men have a highly developed dislike for “boost” stuff. In the meantime have similar arrangements with daily and association press FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 29 representatives in the convention town to turn loose through them everything that will not suffer by the delay required to do this instead of releasing it in the officials’ home towns. Their interest in advertising their own city will make such press representatives use stuff that others may neglect. Follow the same tactics with chamber of commerce, commercial club, or any like mediums in the con- vention city. In this connection, get the widest railway excursion rates to the meeting; do this early, and get the railroads as well as the mediums mentioned to help give them publicity. Show up interesting features aside from the meeting and get people to planning the trip. In one of the communications sent the list of desired delegates, suggest that they get some local press mention of the meeting, based, perhaps, on their pro- posed attendance. Several months before the meeting arrange for clipping bureau service informing you of all approaching meetings of people at all likely to be interested in forestry or lumbering. There are also published lists of convention dates, issued monthly, which are valuable in this connection. Send to each such meeting, to be read by its secretary, a message of greeting with invitation to your own and a forecast thereof. When the meeting approaches tell newspaper men you will see to it that the real news is sifted out of everything for them. We often hear complaint of the press reports of semi-technical conventions. The reason is usually that reporters cannot recognize the news in topics foreign to them. Someone should be assigned io this and keep it written up to the hour, in form that permits using as much or little as is wanted without destroying its force. Resolutions, papers and syn- opses should be mimeographed in ample numbers and photographs of speakers obtained and provided. Desirable trade journals not represented should not be neglected, but provided with sets of everything with a brief running account. This thoughtfulness may win their interest after all. You can often stimulate the publication of forestry material, particularly in Sunday papers, by giving out good photographs illustrating the particular topic, along with information con- cerning it. In selecting photographs, remember that those which show action appeai particularly to newspaper men, as for example, men fighting fire, building trails or telephone lines, lumbering, tree planting, and the like. The above outline does not include every device that will suggest itself to a fertile meeting promoter, but indicates the systematic manner in which such affairs must be handled to get the best results. Publicity is not automatic. It must be fostered assiduously. MEETINGS OTHER THAN FORESTRY. There are meetings on scores of subjects other than forestry which afford unusually good opportunity, because the people who do not understand forest problems are just the ones who should be reached. While we cannot lay down a program for these, we should use every chance they afford. Conventions, congresses, chautauquas, granges, association and club meetings, unless of the 30 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE most narrowly technical kind, usually have an opening for the introduction of some phase of forestry in some degree. If neither forestry nor conservation along general lines, it may be in connection with lumbering, fire prevention, taxation, or some even more remotely associated question. The W. C. T. U. was once induced to consider fire prevention, and to work for the detail of United States troops for this purpose, by being shown it would remove the boys from the temptation of army posts. Among the most obviously needed activities in this field of opportunities are: 1. Systematically learning in advance the nature and date of all public gatherings in the territory involved. 2. Establishing relations with their governing authorities. 3.- Having place made for forest topics on the program if possible. 4. Providing speakers or furnishing material for their own speakers. 5. Preparing resolutions to be presented. 6. Arranging for attendance, with credentials, if necessary, by some one who will look out for forest interests in discussion, on resolutions committee, and with the press. There is not much to be added to these suggestions except that in negotiating for place in the program of a mixed meeting, where forestry talks are to be popular rather than technical, it usually is best to have them come just after or better still just before those by prominent speakers on other subjects, so as to obtain a large audience. If forestry appears more than once, better spread it through different sessions, in the same way and for the same reason, than to have a strictly forestry session which permits outsiders to escape and reaches only those already in sympathy. PUBLICITY OF THE FORESTRY WORK OF THE CONSERVATION CONGRESS PRELIMINARY report, covering suggested organization and advertising Ae both sectional and general forestry programs, was submitted last spring. Some of the suggestions concerning forestry meetings, discussed in the foregoing pages, were applied particularly to this convention. In addition it suggested that the entire congress be modeled somewhat after the annual conventions of the National Education Association, which has but one general session a day in which all factions participate. Each branch holds two sessions a day, in halls or hotel assembly rooms scattered about the city, treating its own topic exclusively and as technically as possible. All join at the daily general session, in some large auditorium, to hear men of national promi- nence on subjects of common interest to all, and also, for the broadening of outlook, to hear each others’ topics presented in a comprehensive, popular way designed for unfamiliar hearers rather than for those who deal with the same topics in their own section meetings. Such a plan might tend to make the congress less of a medium for inspiring laymen who attend out of general interest only, but would be far more appealing to the actual workers in every branch of conservation who in the past have had the minimum of opportunity to deliberate with fellow workers in different States. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 31 Could it become publicly established as such, it would afford every advantage of the ordinary technical convention, with the addition of cheaper fares, opportunity to come in contact with other lines of work, and tremendously greater publicity and influence. Nor is it by any means certain that it would appeal less to the public, for most laymen have some favorite subject, and, gravitating to the section attracting them, would get more out of it than at a promiscuous con- vention. Obviously the other branches as well as forestry would have to adapt them- selves to this plan. It could hardly be established for this congress, but its possible adoption hereafter should be given consideration. There remains to be discussed the subsequent publicity to be given the forestry proceedings of this congress. Since all committees go out with this meeting, to be superseded by those appointed by the incoming president, we can do no more than recommend. It is our belief, however, that they are worthy of more space and circulation than can be afforded by the usual publication of the proceedings of the congress as a whole, and that steps should be taken before this meeting adjourns to provide for separate publication in ample numbers to permit comprehensive distribution. PUBLICITY THROUGH THE PRESS HIS topic, as assigned to=the subcommittee for report, concerns “Particu- | larly the arousing of public interest in fire protection, taxation, and State forestry.” As a matter of fact, all forest problems are so related, and the improvement of public sentiment toward any is so much a matter of educa- tion in forest economics, that discussion must be of the principles of general forest campaigning in the public prints. Probably all foresters and lumbermen appreciate fully the power of this medium. Its aid is widely sought. Its counter-influence, through attacks due to misunderstanding, is correspondingly deplored. Nevertheless, forest industry has not developed anything like the systematic and skilful use of newspaper and magazine publicity that is employed so successfully by other industries. The ingenuity of theatrical, railroad, political and individual press agencies is pro- verbial. Activities of this kind are now regarded as a business necessity. They are needed and legitimate nowhere more than in forest propaganda, which has nothing to conceal but everything to teach and all for the public good. To get the maximum co-operation of the press in the work we are doing requires equally intelligent co-operation on our part. The conduct of news- papers and magazines is a highly organized business with its own rules and necessities. It is reasonable to suppose they are founded on experience and that failure to comply with them is bad business, which in this instance means smaller circulation and consequently less value as a publicity medium. Then is it not profitable for us, as well as only fair to the press, to approach this work with the fullest possible undertsanding of the technique of the newspaper business as well as of our own which we seek to exploit? It is unreasonable for forester or lumberman to complain when the newspapers take a wrong viewpoint through 32 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE ignorance of forestry or lumbering while he makes no greater effort to present his side with an intelligent insight into the exigencies of publishing. If, as we contend, forest affairs are of vital importance to the public, press and public want the facts. Everybody wants to know about things that affect him. If the public and the press do not demand any essential or interesting information we have to impart, it is because we do not know how to present it in the form that publishing experience has proved necessary. And that is all there is to it. If we sincerely believe the spreading of this information is desirable, it is our duty to learn how to adapt it to established mediums. A newspaper wants news. This means something not previously known to its readers. It wants it while it is news, which means that it has not been printed elsewhere, even for other readers, and also that it has not lain long unprinted. These are the essential principles for the layman to grasp. He must not forget that even unpublished information loses value with every hour it is delayed, because this convicts the paper of the newspaper crime of sluggishness in news-gathering. But it is even more unforgivable to take advantage of an editor’s unfamiliarity with the subject to foist onto him, as news, something that has been printed already. A newspaper will also use some things that are not news if they are inter- esting. But it wants to know this and handle them accordingly. Moreover, things that are news differ in value with the universality of their interest. A discovered fact of high importance, but only technically, is worth less than one of smaller importance in which everyone is interested. Finally, incomplete infor- mation that is news is more valuable, as a rule, than the same information delayed for completion or verification which does not carry any essential differ- ence of idea. Perhaps the foregoing remarks seem trite, but the publicity efforts of foresters and lumbermen often show slack compliance with the principles out- lined. The first study should be the classification and valuing of your informa- tion from a newspaper standpoint. With such a classification, we are equipped to approach the next problem— presentation. Effective publicity work usually requires systematic furnishing of written material. This must comply with newspaper practice. Any good text- book on newspaper writing will be far more useful than such brief discussion as is practicable here. But correct practice must be followed. ‘If the story can be sent out as sharp timely news, under a date-line, it should be written like telegraphic reports and not spoiled with “editorial” interpolations. If it cannot possibly be made news, do not betray intent to deceive by writing it as such, but put it in interview, report, or column-filler form. And write everything so the essentials are presented in the first few lines or paragraphs, so excess length can be dropped to suit the editor without spoiling what remains or requiring rewriting. Now, as to what should be given publicity, what can be given it most easily, and the systematizing of distribution. Since these points fall into group rela- tions between subjects and mediums, they can hardly be discussed separately. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 33 Perhaps the best way is to consider the foregoing pages as a sort of introductory preface and continue the report in the form of a suggested outline for a general publicity campaign. OFFICE ORGANIZATION. Arrange mailing list so material reaches proper hands. Address editors of small papers and trade journals personally ; with city papers, address news editor. Seal and use letter postage. Mimeograph material, rather than print, since it looks fresher. Use date-line and show corresponding release date to assure editors material is not used by others earlier. The supplying of heads is ama- teurish. Every paper has its own head rules. For bulletins that must be up to date, like fire news, arrange with corre- spondents throughout territory and send them identical guiding question-lists, to be filled out and returned by all on the same date. ‘This gives consistent news. Have them also suggest matters that should be given publicity, in this way keep- ing in touch with current field needs in this respect. In other words, organize and direct sources of information. STATE PREss. Base bulletins chiefly on needs of the country weekly, which is more powerful collectively than the daily because more carefully read. Since you cannot estab- lish personal relations with these, much depends upon impression carried by copy. Make point of uniformity in make-up, so copy will be recognized immediately as giving an actual news service unobtainable elsewhere. Fire news, during season, is probably the best opening for this. Actually collect and compile definite information as to numbers, damage and causes of fires, preventive work in progress, and arrests and convictions. Send out immediately it is received, under date-line, to be used as telegraphic news. Work in precautionary advice, as reports from field on urgently needed conduct. With reputation for being an accurate, practical news bureau thus established, gradually work up the use of similar bulletins which are succinct, pithy news reports of happenings and statistics of timber, lumber and forestry business in the State. Slowly this true news service can be made to carry implied needs of forest industry, its value to the community at large, and, lastly, interviews with prominent men on issues involved. If practicable, classify papers and specialize the bulletins. Where forest industry predominates give brightest and strongest features of news affecting this industry, also gossip lumber and timber workmen will appreciate. For agricultural districts, try to show relations to farmer, orchardist or stockman, and for mining districts its relation to the mining indus- try. Weeklies will use material adapted to their constituents if it is strictly up-to-date and newsy. Facts and figures can thus be dinned continuously until they become truisms in every home. DaiLy PREss. Perhaps send some material prepared for weeklies, but also work up local bearing, studying trend of sentiment in each and combating where necessary. 34 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE Go in strong for local commercial aspects and figures of forest industry. See that every meeting, report, or visit of outsiders, in any way connected with forest industry, is reported as local news and carries desired points. Educate lumber- men and foresters to collect and supply such information. Above all, try to have some one man on each paper handle this material, thus educating him to do so properly. Show him the value of this as stock in trade for him. If possible, get one or more prominent dailies to run a forest and lumber column, just as many do a shipping column, pointing out how this will insure circulation in lumber districts and aiding them to push such circulation. Collect photographs to carry frequent feature articles in the magazine sec- tions of the dailies. TRADE PAPERS. Classify lumber, agricultural, and other technical trade papers and furnish with specially adapted regular news letters. Regularity is important to impress with importance. Make them newsy enough to get space, yet always weave in the importance of forest industry. It is well to cultivate distant trade journals, as well as those in the region involved, so as to use in local argument their interest and endorsement of work in hand. PaTENT PUBLICATIONS. Opinions differ as to the value of these, some authorities believing that the compliment of special communication to country editors, and the printing on the live news side of the sheet, outweighs the certainty of “patent insides” or “boiler plate.” But they are certainly useful as auxiliary, and sometimes to carry car- toons. Their co-operation requires full understanding with the publisher as to space, policy, and interests of his patrons. MacaZINEs. Get as many articles as possible about timber, lumber, fire prevention and forestry printed in the magazines. Even better than acceptance of your own is to furnish the material to well-known staff writers whose statements are con- sidered unbiased. ‘There is a wealth of material in the hands of forest workers that would be welcomed by such writers. Whenever successful in getting such a “flash,” send marked copy to every local paper of any importance suggesting quotation and citing it as convincing evidence of the importance of the subject. INTERVIEWS. Keep in touch with prominent workers in forestry and lumbering, whose statements are considered technically reliable and worth space, and urge them to prepare or lend their name to interviews on suggested topics. Do the same with well-known authorities not in the industry and consequently considered unbiased. Use these frequently, also keep several in reserve to be available when needed in any particular crisis. FIFTH NATIONAI, CONSERVATION CONGRESS 35 Ciuss, SOCIETIES AND MEETINGS. Reference to these has been made under another heading. It may be re- called here that many such of no particular value through reaching the audience assembled may afford opportunity of getting press publicity for statements or resolutions endorsing work in hand, and this almost as often to show approval by uninterested and unbiased elements as to show that by allied elements. CRIMINAL TRIALS. Every prosecution of violators of forest law, especially when conviction results, affords opportunity for press work to deter similar offence. Its im- portance should be emphasized, news value being augmented by skilful reference to some peculiarity of circumstance, and if possible the judge should be induced to comment in a way adapted to quotation. SERIED ARTICLES. Have some forest official or prominent professor of forestry or kindred subject, write a series of simple lucid articles for popular education and instruc- tion. Get a strong farmer’s publication, or syndicate house supplying the country press, to advertise and feature these as its achievement to serve its patrons. Such a series could well take up the study of useful trees and their qualities, planting and culture of woodlots, prices and transportation of lumber, the fac- tors governing growth, protection and manufacture of lumber, etc., and con- stantly work in the principles which it is most desirable to inculcate generally, locally, or in view of timely need. THE UNDERLYING TONE. In all the efforts suggested above the aim should be not only to indicate reform methods, as for example precaution with fire by the public or legislation by the State, but even more to show the need of reform. There is no better way te do this than to hammer continually on the importance of forest industry, moreover, it affords a mine of interesting matter and an appeal to local pride that is good newspaper stuff. The timber cut, the men employed, the pay-roll dis- tributed, the dependent industries supported, the taxes paid, the part played in stimulating railroad extension and general development—in short, all the com- munity benefits of the greatest manufacturing industry in the United States—can and should be exploited until every citizen regards its fair treatment, fostering and perpetuation as desirable, as a matter of course, as that of the most valuable industry in his home town. ‘The only reason he does not so regard it now is that he is not equally familiar with its facts and figures. At every opportunity the commercial importance of forest industry, as well the losses by its destruction and means of their prevention, should be presented in telling parallels with other industries that are better understood and appreciated. 36 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE CARTOONS AND EDITORIALS. While we can hardly systematize any way to obtain help through editorials and cartoons, such help is often generously given if asked. It may be of tre- mendous value. During campaigns for forest laws it exerts great influence upon legislators. Most dailies readily recognize the topical appropriateness of forest fire cartoons during unusually dangerous weather, and there is probably no instru- ment so effective in promoting public precaution. Often their own artists will make them, but few will be offended by the offer of sketch ideas or even finished drawings. PUBLICITY METHODS AND DEVICES OTHER THAN THE PRESS. HE, simplest introduction of this topic is to say that the promotion of forest business can utilize to advantage practically all the devices used to promote any other business. Excepting the dishonest and prejudicially vulgar, there is hardly an idea successfully applied to modern advertising and sentiment-moulding that cannot be adapted, with suitable modification, to arrest- ing and directing the public mind in favor of forest conservation. The problem is to select from these, or develop new ones, so as to get maximum results from the money and effort available. This involves both ingenuity and considerable knowledge of mechanical technique. The forest propagandist should either employ experts or devote considerable study to an art usually quite foreign to his training. As a rule, unfortunately, he has done neither, and what effort he has made has been in borrowing ideas from the very few who have given the subject study or in using his original ideas very imperfectly. . Probably the commonest attempts are along the line of posters, circulars and like special publications. A collection of these issued throughout the United States will show general weakness in two directions. One is a tendency to borrow instead of to originate. The other, and more inexcusable, is the spoiling of good ideas by neglect of the first laws of presentation. Only recently has it been realized that the personal welfare and pride of the reader, rather than ultimate good to the community, is the strongest line of attack. Brevity, clear- ness, and the compulsion of direct personal appeal instead of the impersonal statement of fact, are still much neglected. But the greatest ignorance is shown concerning the mechanical make-up of the finished product. The vigor of color schemes, the carrying power of different sizes and styles of type, the weight of contrasting backgrounds and borders, the balancing of type and picture designs, the mailing weight and durability of paper stocks—all these and many other points have been reduced almost to laws by expert advertisers outside of forestry, but forest propagandists seem hardly to know there are such laws. Confinement to the commonplace printed mediums mentioned, with all origi- nality devoted to giving them new dress, is another evidence of our lack of pub- licity sense. Wholly new inventions are as useful here as in advertising town lots or merchants’ wares. And the most successful publicity agent of all is the one who, besides creating opportunities, keeps the most watchful outlook to turn FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 37 those created by others to his own advantage. One of our famous ex-presidents, whose remarks get the front page of every paper, on a western trip, decided to make his first talk in a certain State at a small town reached soon after passing its border. Obviously the speech would go over the wires nearly verbatim. The manager of this State’s forest fire association, shrewdly guessing that the great man would welcome suggestions for localizing his talk and showing familiarity with conditions, wired him enroute to speak of local timber wealth and dwell upon forest fires and their suppression. He did so, and at no cost but for the telegram the most effective publicity punch in the United States was concentrated and localized for forest protection in that State. It reached every newspaper reader in it within a few hours and was available for quotation indefinitely. This was sheer publicity genius, but everyone of us has many such opportunities. It follows that effort should be to do new things, rather than copy old ones, but some suggestions miay lie in an outline of plans already tried or proposed. PosTtERS AND WARNINGS. The best examples omit laws, penalties and long arguments. Terse epigram- matic appeals and striking statements appear in large type and bright colors, readable at considerable distance. Cartoons and symbolism are increasingly employed. Series of different posters, each devoted to a single idea, are often effective on long roads or trails. Present tendency is away from cloth or metal posters, once preferred for durability, and toward a jute tag-board or fibre which takes coloring work well. 150-lb. stock (24x36) is about right. Thinner paper is weak, thicker is expensive to mail and breaks when folded. Most experts agree that complete change of design each season is better than durability. The warning poster is rapidly advancing from general woods use to special fields, such as reminding smokers in railroad trains not to throw burning material from car windows, and around logging camps to convey fire rules endorsed by proprietors. If prepared and distributed by, forest protective agencies, such special warnings will be signed and posted by many business institutions. CIRCULARS. Effectiveness in circular “literature” depends, even more than upon good writing, upon attractive make-up and skilful distrubution. Unless you reach people not already converted, and get past their indifference bred of over- circularizing by countless advertising agencies, the expense is wasted. Either there should be different series to present special appeals to different vocations and localities, or all material should be carefully prepared with this in mind. It is easy to prejudice one class by what is strongest with another toward which it feels antagonism if, as is most effective, your argument to the latter is on a personal business basis rather than upon patriotic generalities. Preparation of mailing lists wholly outside our own sympathizers, which is where material should go, involves great care to have names correctly spelled and addresses up to date. Those in position to aid as sub-distributors, like county and town officials, teachers, ministers, lumbermen, and business houses, should 38 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE be supplied by a carefully worked-out system to use material to advantage and without waste. Hotels, game license officials’ desks, sporting goods counters, trade organization secretaries, and county officials’ correspondence are excellent mediums. Rangers and fire wardens should receive suggestions to develop local methods. The ranger who sees that every picnic or Fourth of July ground is posted with warnings, drops circulars in every free delivery box, and keeps clean copies of fire laws and circulars suspended by a string near the delivery window of his postoffice, soon gets to inventing other such plans. The circular itself should be bright, novel, and, above all, distinctive. It should look different and interesting at first glance, unread. Put yourself in the recipient’s place. You are repelled by cheap advertising, but respect anything with a little better paper, neater type, cleverer color scheme, and compelling pic- tures than you are accustomed to receiving. If money is an object, make a smaller issue and work harder to put it in the right hands. It will get you more money next time. : Put most thought on your cover. Make people pick the thing up and look at it. Then break up your text so it wont look discouraging. Lead the reader on with contrasting colors and type, bold-face, under-lines, pictures—anything to make him see something different just ahead of him. Be brief. Be concise. Make argument direct, personal, positive. Back it with facts. State them in terms of comparison. What layman cares how many feet of timber we have or burn up? Show it in houses, train-loads or miles of board-walk. Put it-in taxes, in pay-rolls, in wheat. And remember that every story tellable in a cartoon or diagram is ten times better so told than in text. It punches harder; takes less paper. Study the cartoon magazines and the graphic and chart methods of health and civic welfare propagandists. GUMMED STICKERS. This is the cheapest kind of direct publication that approaches permanency. Besides for use on stationery, it is suitable for walls, posts, signs and like ob- jects seen by many people. Its two principles of effectiveness are brilliant color scheme and boldness of design. Close text or detailed picture od not get atten- tion. There should be a phrase or symbol that is comprehended with no effort whatever. Closer material may be combined with this, however, if not detract- ingly. DeEvicks For CHILDREN. Schools, Boy Scout and Campfire Girl organizations, etc., are highly impor- tant channels. Children are soon citizens. They also carry their new ideas home to their parents. Educational authorities are among our most willing co-operators. Shortly before the close of the spring term but early enough to catch the short-term country schools, a new device for every season should be put in the hands of every public school pupil, with the aid of the school authorities. This project lias been highly developed by the Pacific northwest fire associations, which supply every teacher with a number based on the average daily attendance rec- FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 39 ords, accompanied by instructions from the State superintendent. Printing in such large quantities insures a comparatively cheap rate, but the complicated dis- tribution requires early and careful systematizing. Such material must in no way offend parents or teachers, must teach its les- son emphatically, and interest children of all ages. Among successful devices have been a catechism of questions and answers, a fiction story taking an indi- vidualized tree through a life of adventures, and a paper cup pattern whose suc- cessive folds develop text and pictures showing the growth of a forest fire. In most States Arbor Day ceremonies are suggested by a bulletin from the superintendent of instruction. This may be made to include much regarding forests and lumbering, with a drill for the pupils in precaution with fire. Larger pupils, particulary in high schools, will learn and disseminate much information in preparing essays on forest topics for money prizes. No great in- vestment is required to keep schools and homes buzzing with these topics for a considerable period each year. PusLic FoLDERS AND DIRECTORIES. Railroads, telephone companies, summer resorts, and other enterprises that do much printing for public reference, can often be induced to give short fire matter conspicuous place. They thus bear all cost of a wide distribution. Rail- road time-folders and telephone directories are especially useful. Occasionally manufacturers, as of logging machinery, for example, are glad to insert interest- ing forest information to insure retention for reference. Movinc PIcTurREs. Astounding statistics are given concerning the attendance at moving picture houses. They are now in the smallest towns. Already several excellent films are on circuit showing the inception, growth and results of forest fires, but the possibilities are almost limitless. And in addition to the pictures there should be inserts giving facts about forest industry, the fire evil, etc., from a local viewpoint. During the dry season, even if no fire pictures are on, slides of this nature can be included, at a price, with the advertisements shown on the screen between reels. MIscELLANEOUS DEVvICcEs. There is no limit but that if ingenuity and expense to the ways common con- veniences can be made to carry forest information. Rangers for the Pacific coast patrol associations distribute to campers and settlers met on their beats hundreds of gross of boxes of safety matches bearing labels that remind the user to he careful with matches, tobacco and camp fires. Cheap whetstones or any other pocket article useful in the woods can be utilized in the same way. Perhaps, were all city and underwriters’ agencies to co-operate with all forest agencies, match and tobacco manufacturers might be induced to have a word on fire danger in or on all-their retail packages. Cards bearing game laws on one side and forest material on the other; spe- cial cards for garage and livery patrons, giving road information; road maps or 40 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE country maps bearing corner inserts arranged for with the publishers—these are old ideas capable of indefinite extension. Guide-boards, fence signs advertising local stores, calendars, etc., can carry a line at small or no cost. Stationery and checks have both been used to popularize epigrammatic mot- toes like “Timber makes pay checks; burned timber pays no wages,” or “You get this money because Oregon has timber,” until they become unforgettable. Nor are these confined to stationery and checks. A few hundred rubber stamps, with accompanying ink pads, in the pockets of industrious friends throughout the State, will improve an astonisking number of objects, fixed and portable, before they wear out. Fairs and exhibitions of all kinds afford space for models, cards, charts and pictures. Holiday and festival processions admitting business fioais wilii certainiy welcome one exploiting forest industry and protection. Fairs may also be made to impress the public with the essential part of forest industry in community life by getting up contests similar to the well-known plowing contests or the rock- drilling contests familiar in mining regions. Log-rolling, chopping and sawing, loading and unloading, etc., are spectacular and would also add to the effect upon those unfamiliar with the industry by collecting the lumber workers in a way to illustrate their numbers. SPEAKING AND WRITING. Aside from the newspaper and magazine work discussed elsewhere, the in- formation for which all private and official forest agencies are repositories should be made available for the many people who can use it publicly. Their numbers, their geographical distribution, and their influence make such people far more effective distributors than the original collecting agency. Consequently the latter should make a point of cultivating such distribution and of getting a reputation for willingness to provide anything, from notes to a written speech, without any retention of credit. Club speakers and committee chairmen, boards and com- missions, and public men and women generally are not averse to showing broad- ness and technical familiarity through our help if assured that we will protect them thoroughly. Public speaking ourselves is effective largely in the measure that we realize how to add to what we actually say to the actual audience. The fact that we are on any program is a recognition of the importance of our business and our topic that should be made to impress those who do not recognize this importance. So what we say, and the fact that we said it, should be given the utmost publicity. It is well to prepare our own synopses for newspapers, bringing these things s. as to count the most in fewest words, and to keep close watch on any publication of proceedings by the meeting itself. Very often, if the space accorded us is limited, it is preferable to use practically nothing of our real talk, but to make our appearance on the program carry something we believe more effective upon the ultimate reader. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS Al CONCLUSIONS : T is obviously impossible to make this report a complete text book. Its aim has | been to present a few suggestive examples leading logically to certain con- clusions. Summarized, these are: Progress in forestry depends more on what the public will permit than upon foresters and lumbermen. Consequently public education is of primary importance. Education is a matter of publicity and publicity is a trade in itself. It can not be practised intuitively. Since no one else has the interest or the requisite forestry knowledge, fores- ters and lumbermen must learn this trade. It is not forests, but the use of forests, that we seek to pertetuate. There- fore, to be sound and convincing, educational publicity must include the lumber business. So long as the public believes forestry good and lumbering bad there will be confusion and no real progress. DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLICITY N opening the discussion on this report, Mr. E. T. Allen said: ] The moral of this whole report is, that the forester and the lumberman knows very little about publicity; he is an amateur at it, he does not study it, and does not get results, and is generally about the poorest propagandist publicity artist of any industry in the United States. What the committee has attempted to do in its report is rather to get up a brief, concise worded manual of sugges- tions for the lumberman, or forester, or the worker along any of these lines, who wants to get his business and his needs before the public and does not know how. Of course, such a manual containing detailed suggestions we cannot read as it is too long. I would like to say that personally, and I think this committee believes also. that this Conservation Congress will do a great deal more if it is built up of sections of this kind. Let there be a dozen of them, including. water power people, welfare people, and others working in the same town, and not in one great big general inspiration meeting, because we are afraid that will die, but do think that a series of such meetings as I have outlined could be kept running perpetually and the results would be of a great deal of benefit. It is not forests, but the use of forests, that we seek to perpetuate. There- fore, to be sound and convincing, educational publicity must include the lumber business. So long as the public believes forestry good and lumbering bad there will be confusion and no real progress. I firmly believe from the work that we have done on the coast, and that we have watched elsewhere, that you can absolutely measure the progress of forestry, and forestry protection in any community, not by the skilled foresters, and not by what they learn at the forest schools, but by their ability to do the same kind of advertising they use in life insurance, soap, or anything else. In other words, we have a sort of commodity to put before the public, you might call it prosperity insurance, if you will, and one way we can get that over is to put it before them in business like and convincing language, to use all the art of the side show barker, the real estate agent and the newspaper man. It is forestry, and it is just as dignified as anything else we do. You will find in the regions where that sort of thing is studied and applied intelligently, that it is where you get appropriations to fight fires, that it is where you get lumbermen to work for you, that it is where 42 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE the thing slides along ‘smoothly. It is a subject we do not touch in the forestry school, but it is a thing the forester and the lumberman has to learn, or he will not be successful. The Chairman—With regard to the promotion of forestry, I have frequently referred to the influence of one man, the possible effect of the work of one man, in the case of Doctor J. T. Rothrock, of Pennsylvania. The work that Doctor Rothrock has done is wonderful, and we have a great deal to give him credit for in our expansion of forestry afterwards as a result of the work he did in the early days and since then in Pennsylvania. We would be glad to hear of the way different men have accomplished things. Doctor Rothrock is here and he has accomplished probably more than any other man in his locality, and I would like to call on him. Doctor J. T. Rothrock, of Pennsylvania: I think the one thing in this very interesting report that appeals most strongly to me is the possible use that we can make of the moving ‘picture fad. The moving picture has immense possi- bilities for good as well as for bad. In 1893, I went before the Pennsylvania Legislature with an illustrated lecture, having traveled over the State for two years with a buckboard and a camera for the purpose of obtaining information that I could put in picture form. After the lecture was over, a gentleman, who had been prominent in the opposition, came to me and said, “You may as well go home, young.man, you are of no further use here. The legislature cannot kill the bill that you have been asking for the appointment of a forest commission. You have won fifty votes on the floor of the House of Representatives today by that illustration.” Now, if we could accomplish such work as that when forestry was simply a fad, a lunacy, if you feel inclined to so call it, there is an immense amount of good which can be accomplished by the moving pictures today. Today, forestry is started and I believe if we were to take up this question of going over the State, our own States, with the illustrations that we can derive from every State, at- tending agricultural meetings, etc., and giving illustrations as to what the actual condition is, a vast deal of good could be accomplished. Mr. Leonard Bronson, of Illinois: We have been trying to teach the lum- bermen, and I do think we have made headway in that respect. The lumber paper has not had much of a chance to go into publicity. but it has been able to go to the lumbermen, to the timber owner and the saw mill men and persuade them that there is something in this game for them.) That is one reason why in publicity work in the lumber business the foresters stand so close, elbow to elbow, working hand in hand with the lumbermen today. That has been done, not by these methods that you have to use to reach the general public, but by figures, by cost sheets, and everything of that sort. Mr. J. E. Rhodes, of Illinois: It is my opinion that the most effective publicity agency is the daily newspaper, and there are methods of reaching the public through the columns of the daily newspapers without subsidizing them. The trade papers, of course, are doing a splendid work, but they do not reach the general public, which it is so necessary to reach in order to educate the people to the things we want them to know. So far as magazine articles, and that sort of publicity are concerned, I have always found that the free use of photographs, and illustrations. will carry almost any article with it. The American Forestry Association is publishing the Ameri- can Forestry Magazine, and from my observation of it I think it is — an in- creasing influence. The magazine is well illustrated, and the articles are gener- ally of a popular nature, which I am glad to see more widely quoted and copied than they once were. This is a very important work, in fact, necessary for the promotion of forestry and one to which we cannot give too much attention, FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 43 Every forester, every lumberman, and every person interested in the promotion of forestry should study publicity means and methods by which the public can be acquainted with what we are trying to bring about. Mr. E. M. Griffith, of Wisconsin: One valuable thing that can be done will be to get the press associations to visit your forest reservation, or wherever you are working in the State and let all the editors see the work that is being done. In other words, educate the editors on the ground and they, in turn, will take your material and put it in proper form. Mr. W. R. Brown, of New Hampshire: One thought has occurred to me which has not been taken up, and it is that co-operation is a good benefit to pub- licity, but before you can get universal publicity you all want to think alike. I am extremely glad to see so many people here who are talking this matter over so that we can decide on very many things that come tip in forestry, that we will think alike about those things, that we will formulate a plan, and that by talking this plan over together through the country at large, we will reach a greater number of people. Dr. J. T. Rothrock, of Pennsylvania: In regard to lobbying, our experience in Pennsylvania a few years ago was that the best thing to do was to go ahead of the lobby, and when we had any particular plan in mind, it was always talked over in the Forestry Commission a year or two before we talked it over in the Legislature. Before it got out every county paper in the State of any influence was induced, by some means or other, to have a nice little editorial in favor of that particular project. Then, when the measure came up before the legislature, we would go to the particular lobby of any county and say we want your support for this bill. They would say they would be glad indeed to support it if they were sure they had the influence of their constituents back of them, and we could say your constituents have already supported it, here is an extract from a paper, and we would bring out a paper with .an editorial in favor of that movement. That was a little simple device, but I can tell you it has accomplished great results. Dr. Hugh P. Baker, of New York: I like Mr. Allen’s idea of getting at the people. We have been going out to the high schools throughout the State in illustrated talks, and we find that the children are much interested in pictures and will go home and talk and the parents will listen to the children when they might not listen to someone else about forestry. We are also trying to go a little bit further than simply interesting children in pictures and talk; that can be overdone, it gets old after a time. There is a great deal of indifference on the part of the older people, they have their interests and even though good work is being done here and there, ninety per cent of them will not know about it. Therefore, we have gone this:step further with the children; we have gotten some schools inter- ested in planting a bit of waste land in the vicinity of the school. We believe if we can get the boys in the high school to go out and plant a few trees in the vicinity of the school on waste land, they will go out and watch those trees grow and in that wav we think we have made quite a step towards the solution of the various problems. We are also getting out some little cards. While we are not original in this matter, we are trying to present it in an original way, answering some of the common questions about forestry. These cards are going out to the high schools and to the grangers and the farmers are greatly interested in them. We have also found there is a large amount of timber in the wood lots in the State and the grangers are ready to take what we have. Last year we talked in something like 170 communities in the State and we found universal interest, and this year we have applications from about 200 communities in the State to give them talks. People are interested, and it is a constant surprise to me to find the way they take the gospel of forestry. 44. REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE Mr. Harris R. Reynolds, of Massachusetts: In this connection I should like to tell you what the Massachusetts Forestry Association is trying to do. I think the plan we have been following in Massachusetts is somewhat different from any thing that has been brought out in the matter of getting publicity and putting through legislation. We believe the only way to properly educate public opinion and public sentiment is to put yourselves in touch with men who know forestry. Newspaper work is all right, but, as a matter of fact, a great deal of it is bosh. We are putting out over the State young men who have been trained in our forest schools. The forestry association has had this year from an average of from six to eight young foresters from various schools, Harvard, Yale, Penn State, Syracuse, and Amherst, and these men solicit members for the association and answer questions, besides giving free advice to anyone who wants it along forestry lines. When one-of these men goes into a business man’s office he will frequently find that he is not welcome. But if he is properly coached he will soon interest that man in what ought to be done for his own trees. It is the dollars and cents idea that has to be brought forward, and as soon as a man feels he will get something out of it himself, he is willing to contribute to an organiza- tion of this kind that will give him support. We are organizing in various towns branch associations and through these branches hope to get support in matters of legislation. We have tested that scheme out pretty thoroughly and it has worked. As soon as a representative finds that fifteen or twenty of his best citizens in his home town want a certain thing, he is going to vote for it because he wants to get back in that job another year, and that is the way in which we are attacking the problem in Massachusetts. Mr. J. H. Foster, of New Hampshire: I have just been requested by Mrs. Avery, who is here representing the conservation commission of Louisiana, to say that we should not overlook the fact that the womens’ clubs of this country are doing a good deal of work along publicity lines. Mrs. Avery has just told me that in Louisiana it is the practice of all the women’s clubs of the State to have one paper each winter on forestry, and in addition to that, they are offering prizes to the different grades of school children throughout the State each year, and in that way they develop an immense amount of interest among the children on the subject of forestry. Other gentlemen who participated in the discussion were: Mr. W. T. Cox, of Minnesota; Mr. Filibert Roth, of Michigan; Dr. B. E. Fernow, of, Canada; Mr. Philip W. Ayres, of New Hampshire; Mr. W. O. Filley, of Connecticut ; Mr. F. W. Kelsey, of New York; Mr. Geo. H. Rhodes, of California. THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH COMMERCIAL PLANTING IS DESIRABLE By tHe Sus-ComMiTrer on Forest PLANTING. Chairman, E. H. Crapp, Washington, D. C. Acting Chairman, S. N. Sprine, Ithaca, N. Y. T. T. Muncer, Portland, Oregon. S. B. Detwiter, Philadelphia, Pa. Presented by Mr. E. H. Clapp, Monday Morning, November 1%, 1913. SYNOPSIS HE, conditions under which commercial forest planting is desirable is the | topic considered by this sub-committee. The commercial basis for an investment in planted forest includes safety of investment, suitable regional conditions, a ready market, low initial cost of land and planting, and satisfactory returns at maturity. Fire, insects, and fungi need not be considered insurmountable obstacles to such an investment. If species suitable to climate and soil, which have good annual growth, and which meet market demands are chosen, favorable returns may be expected. An investment in planting offers the least incentive to private owners since returns do not come within a short period, and money must be invested for 50 to 100 years. An exception is the planting of quick-growing species or of slow- growing trees for utilization when small, as for post production, where regional or market conditions are favorable. Here returns come earlier and are propor- tionately higher. Long-lived corporations and communities have a much greater incentive to plant forests than individua!s. Most of all, a long-time investment like planting is feasible for the States and the Federal Government. The report shows the great necessity for an adequate plan of commercial planting by States and the Federal Government. More than $65,000,000 worth of wood is lost annually while the available lands remain deforested. The Federal Government, in co-operation with the States, can wisely expend millions in order to dull the edge of timber famine when it comes. The following summary ends the main report of the Committee, which is further supplemented by an appendix containing a condensed discussion of forest planting in each of the natural forest regions. | (1) Although interest in forest planting is increasing, the actual area planted each year is very small in contrast to the millions of acres which require reforestation. (2) An investment in planting should be made relatively safe from loss, especially by fire. Organized fire prevention and control have minimized losses from this source. Adequate fire protection is sure to come if extensive planting is undertaken. (3) Successful commercial planting depends upon a good future market, lands of low value on which to plant, a choice of species suited to the needs of the market and to the conditions, local and regional, relative freedom from sources of damage, a low initial cost of planting, and a return on the money invested equal 46 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE at least to a fair rate of interest. Many examples of successful plantations exist which meet these conditions. ; (4) As an investment forest planting is not attractive to the small private landowner excepting where other valuable considerations exist, such as apprecia- tion of land values or early returns from quick-growing species. The long-time nature of the investment makes planting more feasible for federal, State and local governments or long-lived corporations than for the individual or small company. (5) The problem of reforestation of denuded lands should be met squarely by entering upon a comprehensive plan covering at least a fifty-year period. Such a plan should include adequate federal and State appropriations, an extension of State forests to include more waste lands, federal aid for States, State aid for counties, cities and towns, and encouragement of private planting. (6) Sixty-five million dollars, at least, are being lost annually because denuded forest lands remain unproductive. Reforestation will go far toward . lessening the severity of the coming timber famine, provided it is done on a large scale and begun at once. INTRODUCTORY HE topic selected for discussion by the sub-committee on planting is the | conditions under which commercial forest planting is desirable. Interest in this work has been increasing during recent years. The total-acreage annually planted, however, is utterly inadequate to bring into productiveness within a reasonable period the very great area which requires reforestation. It will require Federal, State, private and corporate planting on a large scale, annually, to reforest denuded lands so that the United States may receive the benefit of additional timber supply when the period of great scarcity of timber begins. It is chiefly the purpose of the report to point out the fundamental facts concerning commercial planting, its drawbacks and its advantages. A discussion of commercial planting in the various forest regions is appended to this report as a compilation of available data and a basis for consideration of its recommendations. COMMERCIAL BASIS FOR FOREST PLANTING SAFETY OF INVESTMENT destruction. Danger from forest fires has been regarded in years past as sufficient to render an investment in planting wholly impracticable. In gen- eral, this danger has been greatly exaggerated ; yet it does exist as a local problem and must be taken into account in determining protective measures for each prospective planting. Fire in a young planted forest of conifers usually kills the trees ; in hardwoods it may kill or seriously injure them. Organized work in fire fighting and more effective prevention of fires in many of the forested States has minimized losses from this cause. Thus, in the record of Connecticut* planting, less than one per cent of the total planted area was destroyed by fire i is essential that a commercial enterprise be relatively safe from loss or * Rept. Conn. Agri. Exp. Station, 1912. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS ° 4% in 12 years. In this thickly settled region the causes of fires are numerous and the number of fires large. Protection of planted as well as natural forest lies, primarily, in the hands of the State and Federal Government, and must be assured to the people in each State where the danger exists. Adequate fire protection is sure to come if extensive planting is done. Measures of prevention rest not alone, however, with the State, but must be supplemented by the efforts of individuals and of corporations who undertake planting. Local protection by fire lines and by other means has proven adequate to protect planted forest adjoining railroads and which was open to danger from other causes of fires. A decade of educational work and organized fire preven- tion has removed, to a large degree, this objection or stumbling block to the planting of forests. The danger of losses due to insects, fungi and other injurious agencies does not necessarily render an investment in planting unsafe. Careful judgment in the selection of species and mixtures, as well as subsequent economic measures for preventing losses or reducing the damage, are reasonable safeguards in this respect. So far as taxation is concerned, there is steady progress in legislation to do away with injustice arising from repeated taxation of the forest crop. Taxation of the land alone annually at a low valuation and a tax on the crop when cut seems to, be the plan most favored. It is reasonable to expect that future planted forests will not be unreasonably burdened with taxes. Laws granting exemption from taxation on planted lands for longer or shorter periods have entirely failed to stimulate reforestation. REGIONAL CONDITIONS. If planting is to have a sound commercial basis, both regional and local conditions require careful consideration. A study of regional factors may determine at the outset the advisability or inadvisability of planting. Climatic factors, temperature and rainfall, determine broadly the possible species in natural forest regions from which selection may be made for reforesta- tion. A consideration of temperature may be sufficient to eliminate consideration of a given species, as, for example, eucalyptus in regions whose minimum temperature falls below 25° to 30° Fahr., or, catalpa, which is often recom- mended for commercial planting, in regions where it is subject to frost injury. In the extension of a species to the extreme limit of its possible planting range the shorter growing season may so reduce its average yield or conditions may so affect its form as to make it unprofitable for planting. Topography and soil are the important factors which determine forest types, hence, in forest regions these factors must be considered in deciding the prac- ticability of forest planting and in the preparation of plans for commercial reforestation of waste or denuded lands. A safe basis for decision is assured if areas are mapped and the physical types of !and located with reasonable accuracy. Full notes of local conditions are needed upon which the determination of suitable species may rest. Important details of site are included under slope, 48 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE aspect or exposure, altitude, soil in respect to kind, depth and moisture, under- lying rock, etc. Other facts are essential in planning large operations, but the considerations named are fundamental in reaching decision as to species on lands formerly well forested and where the presumption is reasonable that they may again be made productive. If similar sites in forest may be studied within the locality, facts will be secured to substantiate the observations of the physical nature of the deforested lands. If species are planted which are poorly suited to locality, the chance of a valuable crop at the end is gone at the outset. Briefly, then, an intimate knowledge of regional and local conditions is absolutely neces- sary as fundamentally affecting the commercial success of reforestation. In regions not naturally forested as in the prairie and plains country, data concerning climate and physical factors of locality are even more essential, coupled with a knowledge of the silvical characteristics of forest tree species. An accessible market within the region and a reasonable certainty of a steady future demand is necessary to any form of forest management. The species chosen for planting must meet market requirements in addition to being suitable for the sites on which it is to be set. Its rate of growth and relative freedom from insect damage must be known. INITIAL Cost. In commercial forest planting a small initial cost is demanded if full profit is to be taken at the maturity of the crop. Since the investment covers a long period, it is desirable that the cost per acre of forested land be as low as possible without menacing the successful establishment of the forest. Initial cost comprises value of land, cost of trees and all expenses attendant to setting them. Natural forest land without timber is available at low prices. An arbitrary upper limit might be set at $25.00 per acre, and this too high save under exceptional conditions. Most of the land held or acquired for forest planting in the Eastern United States has been much less than this, ranging generally well under $10.00 per acre. The cost of trees has been brought within reasonable limits by development of State nurseries and by the establishment of private nursery companies. Cost of setting trees varies greatly, depending upon local conditions of site and availability and quality of labor. It is not difficult to plant successfully at a low figure and this has been done by many classes of owners under varying conditions. A general figure of cost in Eastern forest planting is a cent a tree set. It has often been lower than this, occasionally higher. With a 6’ x 6° spacing this would amount to approximately $12.00 per acre. An average figure of $11.86 per acre was secured in compiling data of the total cost per acre of private forest planting in Connecticut. Planting on a large scale by the New York Conservation Commission in the Adirondacks has been done at a much lower figure. Excepting on lowlands affording favorable conditions, plains and prairie planting with its additional two years cultivation to ensure initial success costs from $15.00 to $25.00 per acre. Eucalyptus planting costs in California may FIFTH NATIONAL, CONSERVATION CONGRESS 49 be set at $25.00 per acre, including preparation of site. Federal forest planting in the National Forests has varied widely in cost according to the conditions under which it has had to be done. Its purpose is more than commercial pro- duction, since mtich of the work includes water conservation by forest planting. In large operations on accessible sites presenting no unusual difficulties, the cost per acre is about the same as in planting expenses in Eastern forest regions. RETURNS. A high rate of return cannot be expected from an investment in forest planting. It is generally reckoned at 4% to 6% on the investment, with a small net profit per acre. Further than this, in the great majority of cases the return does not come within a short period of years. Eucalyptus within its limited planting range will be merchantable in one to two decades and yield higher returns than those given above. Fence post species yield their crop within 15 to 25 years at a considerable profit. The shortest period for timber produc- tion is, in general, 35 to 40 years, and for large timber 60 to 100 years. Such long deferred returns as the latter are not attractive in themselves to the in- vestor, but there must be and there are in many instances other considerations in commercial forest planting. By itself as a business venture, forest planting does not hold the position which short time business investments do. It does not generally appeal to the private landowner from this standpoint. Such an investment does, however, assume an important position when it directly affects capital already invested or properties that are to be held perpetually for timber production. COMMERCIAL FEASIBILITY OF FOREST PLANTING AS DETERMINED BY OWNERSHIP AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS. LD LANTING of quick growing species suitable for domestic purposes and for sale is feasible wherever the return is not less than from other = possible uses of the land. This applies particularly to the resident owner who will thus secure his own supply, fence posts for example, and can sell the balance to advantage. In view of this he may even be willing to accept a lower return from the soil than it might otherwise bring. In many instances, however, inferior land will be used for this purpose. In wind-swept regions the protective influence of a shelter belt brings higher money return in increased crops on land adjoining the forest. The short period for growth encourages such planting and other useful results add to its desirability. Commercial planting of this kind is much to be desired in farming regions that are treeless, or in woodlot regions where wood is scarce through continued cutting, and the prices of needful farm materials have become high. Although reforestation for timber production is not often attractive to the private owner, many small plantations are being set yearly, especially in the 50 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE eastern United States. Planting by individuals is often a matter of personal interest in such work for the purpose of improving property so that no part of the land is idle, and with no idea on the owner’s part that he himself will harvest the timber. He simply sees his property improved and enhanced in value, more easily sold or left in better condition for his children. As an investment timber planting by private owners must be considered in connection with the steady appreciation in value of forest products and in the price of land. There are many localities in the Eastern United States where waste lands are remarkably cheap. These are non-agricultural, but with the increase of values for other types of land in the locality the price of these lands is rising. Good roads and transportation by automobile have put extensive areas within reach of larger and smaller cities for country residence. This line of development will continue. Planting on such lands will add distinctively to future sale values. The purchase of land by non-resident owners and setting it with forest trees is relatively infrequent. Such planting must be viewed purely from an invest- ment standpoint and offers little to the private individual as compared to other business ventures. Private Corporations: Corporations, lumber companies and wood working industries which depend upon buying stumpage for their supply and own practi- cally no woodland have no incentive for forest planting. When supplies are exhausted locally the. plant is removed to new territory or abandoned. Many of these small corporations are comparatively short lived, and do not wish to invest further capital which cannot be released except after many years. Such companies also may not have capital available for such purposes. There are other corporations and small companies that own some timber- land and also buy stumpage to supply their industries. Such corporations have held their own timber for the time being uncut, as a reserve to prolong the supply, cutting only the purchased stumpage. From this stage the idea has developed of buying young woodland and lands where natural growth of the desired species has become well established. A further practical extension in application of this idea in one case has been the purchase of cheap lands suitable for growth of the species needed and the reforesting of them artificially. Such a plan worked out fully where circumstances permit means a continuous supply for the local industry concerned, provided reproduction is secured either naturally or artificially. Another class of corporations are those holding a large acreage of forest land. They are permanent in character and the problem before them is how to make certain an annual cut to supply their mills perpetually. The paper and pulp companies in the spruce region of the Northeast exemplify this class. Their problem is one of forest organization. In such cases the viewpoint of forestry is presented, namely, continuous crops of timber from the same land. Natural regeneration will most probably be given first consideration by the employment. of. silvicultural methods. Forest planting will supplement natural reproduction, and may also be applied to waste, cut-over lands and burned areas to bring them into productiveness. Forest planting becomes simply a rational part of forest FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 51 management by the corporation. There is every incentive for such corporations to utilize planting where it is practicable and such expenditures are an increase of capital to develop property. Capital is usually available and the long time nature of the investment is not an obstacle. Public Utility Corporations: The future annual supply of railroad mate- rials, especially cross-ties, is essentially important to every railroad corporation, It is estimated that 15 to 20 per cent of our annual timber consumption is rail- road materials. The working out of the problems of a future supply may or may not have any connection with forest planting. The location of the railroads in reference to forest regions, together with the climatic and physiographic charac- teristics of these regions, the present land holdings of the company, the advisa- bility of using treated ties, etc., are some of the factors entering into the problem. It is no solution of the problem merely to say that if railroads need ties, let them plant trees which will furnish them; a statement once made in this respect. For one thing, trees planted now for ties will not mature soon enough to meet the shortage of cross-ties which is surely coming. A hundred million planted trees under 6 inches in diameter would not help a railroad in the cross-tie crisis of fifteen or twenty years hence; yet this is no reason why they should not be planted to furnish ties forty years from now. So far as the region is concerned, if a railroad traverses a treeless prairie and plains region, such as the Middle West, a policy of planting trees for tie production in that region is not fundamentally sound, and experiments already tried do not seem to warrant further attempts. A treeless, windswept prairie country does not offer, silviculturally, advantageous sites for successful tie pro- duction because of limitation as to species and their growth, as well as other factors. One such railroad which extends to the Pacific coast is experimenting in the planting of eucalypts in Southern California for tie production. This is a possible exception to the general principle just stated, but in this case eucalyptus planting within its limited planting range offers at least a reasonably sound basis for such an experiment, although present indications are that the work will not be extended. The source of tie supplies and other railroad material must, then, be our natural forest regions. If a policy of timber land acquirement by a railroad is found to be practicable, or if a railroad owns forest land, planting of forest takes its usual place in the organization and management of the railroad com- pany’s forest. Lands which have been cut over and burned so badly as to require restocking to secure valuable growth should be planted, and all open lands within the com- pany’s holdings made productive in this way. The object of such planting is profit, the highest return per acre possible. Species which will yield material suitable for treated or untreated ties may be selected if adapted to the region and to the sites, but such need not be the ruling factor in making the choice. The object rather is to plant what will bring the best returns, not disregarding, however, the maintaining or improving of the fertility of the site. Railroads with medium to high earning capacity can afford to increase capital account to 52 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE make their lands yield a return instead of paying taxes annually and letting them lie unproductive. As in the case of any other long-lived corporation an invest- ment covering a long time is not an obstacle to the company. With coal companies the problem of future supplies of mine props and other material is chiefly connected with the length of time the coal owned or con- trolled by a given company will last. Extensive planting may be desirable, or it may be determined that the regional supply of timber will be sufficient or can be supplemented by planting. Planting of surface owned by the company is the simplest use to which it can be put. If such planting occupies land in a bituminous coal region where open coking ovens are used, its general success may be les- sened materially or prevented by the effect of sulphurous gases. The feasibility of planting by water companies is apparent by a brief survey of conditions and opportunities. Large areas have to be owned to protect the purity of supply. Such lands offer the best protection if forested. Even though the water may be filtered before use, benefit is derived from forested water- Sheds. Lands acquired on watersheds usually include many open farm lands which should be planted. Much of this work has already been successfully done by New England water companies and each year additional acreage is being set with trees. It is the most satisfactory crop for the lands considering their pur- pose and an excellent future profit is assured owing to nearness of market in nearly every instance. Community Forests: What has been said in reference to private companies furnishing water supply for cities and towns applies to the feasibility of forest planting for cities and towns which own and manage their own water systems. Areas owned are sufficiently large to yield ultimately a high money return to the community. Once established, such forests will furnish regular crops of timber which can be used for city purposes or sold. In either case taxes will be re- duced or the water rate can be lowered to a minimum figure. Some States* have recently passed laws permitting counties, cities, towns and villages to acquire forested lands or areas suitable for tree growth for the establishment of com- munity forests. Such forests have many uses, among which are water protec- tion, timber supply, park forests, etc. Their future value will be very great and they will provide useful material at a future time of local and regional scarcity of timber. Some communities are in a position financially to carry these laws into effect and need only to be shown the possibilities and opportunity. The majority, how- ever, cannot undertake an extensive program of forest planting without State aid. The city of Seattle has recently planned a very extensive planting operation in its large watershed. This is independent of State aid and while involving heavy expenditure promises very definite and high returns. State Forest Planting: Is it advisable for States to enter upon an extensive plan of commercial forest planting? The policy of State ownership and manage- ment of forest lands is now recognized by many of the States. In New York and in Pennsylvania a million to a million and a half acres have been acquired under * New York and Pennsylvania. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 53 such a policy. Development of forest management under this policy im- plies forest planting to restock denuded and burned areas within the State forests and to protect sources of stream flow. Massachusetts* has a policy of purchas- ing private waste lands and has provided a small appropriation annually for their reforestation by the State. Such lands, however, can be repurchased by the owner subsequently. Nine hundred to one thousand acres are being planted annually under this policy. No States at present are planting over one thousand acres each per year and few attain that figure. The State can well afford to go much farther and enter into a plan of com- mercial forest planting for the sake of future industry and supplies for its citizens. The State does not enter into competition with private investors since timber production by forest planting is not sufficiently attractive to induce ex- tensive private planting. The State has the power to secure and appropriate funds for such work, which is comparable with other public work, such as road building, swamp drain- age and irrigation. Non-agricultural forest lands now denuded must be made productive to meet future demands. This is just as important as making farm lands of higher productive value through the building of good roads, or an in- creasing of farm areas by drainage or irrigation, initiated and financed by the State. The more extensive the area requiring forest planting, within the States, the more advisable is the immediate commencemnt of such work. Federal Reforestation: The Federal Government has nearly 190 million acres in the National Forests which are under management for the purpose of pro- tecting stream flow and producing continuous crops of timber. Protection of these forests from fire and the proper cutting of mature timber so as to provide for another crop of valuable trees on sale areas are given a place of first impor- tance in the federal policy. Next to this is placed the task of starting forest growth on a vast area of denuded lands.t It is estimated that 714 million acres of such land in National Forests require reforestation. The government policy places planting for watershed protection first and commercial planting on lands which produce heavy stands of quick growing species, second. Under present plans, 30,000 acres are to be reforested annually. Planting is more difficult on the whole than in the Eastern United States and continued experimentation is required. Climatic factors and physical conditions of planting sites offer complex problems. Planting for commercial profit will be impossible in many portions of the National Forests. Gain will come to the nation through protection of stream flow and in the re-establishment of forest growth on denuded lands to augment future local supplies of timber. The Federal Government can carry out this work in National Forests to better advantage than individual States could. There should be no lowering of the present standard of annual planting or the amount of funds available for this purpose each year. Increase in the National Forest planting budget should be made as fast as experimental work indicates satis- factory methods. *Reports of the Massachusetts State Forester, 1908-1912. + “Reforestation on National Forests,” by W. T. Cox. Bull. 98, Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1911. 54 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE NEED OF FEDERAL AND STATE AID IN REFORESTATION ENTERPRISES THE OPpporTUNITY denuded lands in the United States in need of planting to be 65 million acres, including that in natural forest regions and in treeless regions. Unless reforestation on a large scale is entered upon, there will be but little diminution in this area of denuded lJand in a hundred years. Each year’s (delay in making the investment means a money loss represented by the growth planted forest could be making on this immense area. At an estimated return of only $1.00 per acre per year, this annual wood growth amounts to a yearly loss of 65 million dollars to the nation. Within fifty years our virgin timber will be gone and much of our second growth. To meet future needs of timber denuded lands must be brought into productiveness. Reforestation on a large scale is absolutely essential to the Nation’s welfare. Both Federal and State action is necessary to place reforestation on an adequate scale. Federal aid should apply to States within natural forest regions having denuded and waste lands. Plant- ing within prairie and plains regions serves almost wholly to benefit the individual owner through furnishing domestic supply of farm materials and by protection to the owner’s crops. The Federal Government has adopted a definite policy in forest conservation by creation, administration and management of the National Forests created from public lands and more recently acquired in the East by purchase under the Weeks Law. It has further provided for protection of stream flow, and thereby inci- dentally for future timber supplies by financial aid to the States in protecting forests on important watersheds from destruction by fire. The acquisition of waste lands by the Federal Government for National Forests should be greatly extended and the present restriction limiting the acquisi- tion of such lands to the watersheds of navigable streams removed, on the broad basis of the public need for greatly increased wood production for the future, regardless of State lines. The acquisition of similar lands by States should also be greatly extended. Federal aid should be extended to the States requiring it on the same plan as it is for fire protection under the Weeks Law, namely, that the State appropriate an equal sum for forest planting under a co-operative agreement with the Gov- ernment. Expenditures should be restricted to the planting of non-agricultural lands which have been classified by competent authorities, r | National Conservation Commission in 1909 conservatively estimated A 50-YEAR PLAN For NATION AND STATES A definite policy should be adopted both by the Federal Government and the States for the next 50 years for reforestation on a large scale under as many as possible of the plans outlined. Appropriations for this purpose may be - regarded truly as a valuable investment by the nation and the States, both of which, because of their credit and the low interest rates obtainable, are able to enter upon a long-time investment which cannot be undertaken by private capital on any extensive scale. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 55 The following schedule of appropriations by the Federal Government and by co-operating States is suggested, the amounts being made relatively small at the outset to ensure a normal development and effective continuance of the planting policy. Total amount Total amounts DECADES Federal granted by contributed by Appropriation federal co-operating government states Dollars Dollars Dollars (Annual) (Per decade) (Per decade) WUIAASES sonnet cose uh nese nem 500,000 - 5,000,000 5,000,000 TNS 1 0a coneenmeseeusweenncuasekey ue eneae 1,000,000 10,000,000 10,000,000 WSGEAU4S cvcenmcneccunnncousceimcskeeeakassese 2,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 WO4401058 coc cues comeneeccnosecnnee as 3,000.000 30,000,000 30,000,000 TO0GAUGY aien edna eee peee see en eee 4,000,000 40,000,000 40,000,000 105,000,000 105,000,000 Grand total in years_---_------------------ $210,000,000 Such a co-operative undertaking successfully carried out would ensure the planting of over 20,000,000 acres, or over 50 per cent of our natural forest lands now denuded and incapable of being regenerated naturally. The cost for 50 years is less than that for maintaining our military and naval organizations for one year. Such extensive planting would encourage planting by long-lived cor- porations and by private owners. Counties, towns and municipalities can be assisted by the State. This would undoubtedly add several million additional acres to those planted by the Federal and State governments. Planted forests of the next two decades would yield returns by the end of the 50-year reforestation period. Eventually, under a rational forest management, this 20,000,000 acres would yield 6,000,000,000 board feet per year, estimating the annual yield per acre at only 300 board feet, a conservative figure. Such returns would be of inestimable value to the whole nation during the last half of this century when scarcity of wood will be most keenly felt. Wuat THE States Can Do. The policy of acquiring forest lands by the State, or denuded areas of non- agricultural lands suitable for forest growth, is well established in many of our States. An extension of that policy to other States in natural forest regions and within States where it now exists is much to be desired. Such an extension requires a more thorough classification of land and a more advanced forest policy. States should ensure future supplies of timber by owning and managing large areas and by reclaiming waste and denuded lands on a large scale. Federal aid, whether by direct appropriation divided among co-operating States as indicated above or in the form of a Federal loan, should be applied to extensive planting on State lands. Federal and State work must be further supplemented 56 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE by county, town and municipal planting. There are several methods that suggest themselves for State aid of community planting. (1) Legal permission by the State to local governments (county, city, town, village) to bond themselves or raise money by loan’ for the purpose of acquiring and planting denuded lands. (A measure already in law in New York State.*) (2) Same provision as (1) in reference to bonds or loans, but State to furnish plant material free of charge to counties, cities, towns and villages. (3) State loans with interest at 3% for a 50-year period to county or local community for use in acquiring land and planting it; to be secured b a lien on the first timber returns. (fThis plan was suggested by Dr. B. ER Fernow in an address delivered at the annual meeting of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Lake Sunapee, N. H., July 28, 1913. (4) Caity, town, city or village having or acquiring land for reforesta- tion to give deed to the State which reforests the land and manages it. Within a given period the land may be redeemed upon payment by com- munity of reforestation costs with interest at 3%, provided the forest is thereafter managed in accordance with a working plan prepared by the State Forester and under his supervision. The States should continue present encouragement of private planting by furnishing advice and planting stock at cost where such is not available from private nurseries at reasonable prices. It is very doubtful if financial aid to private individuals, associations, companies or corporations either in the form of free plant material or money subvention is advisable. The State’s own reforestation work and State aid, as indicated above, on a large scale would prevent any assistance of this sort. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS (1) Although interest in forest planting is increasing, the actual area planted each year is very small in contrast to the millions of acres which require reforestation. (2) An investment in planting should be made relatively safe from loss, especially by fire. Organized fire prevention and control has minimized losses from this source. Adequate fire protection is sure to come if extensive planting is undertaken. (3) Successful commercial planting depends upon a good future market, lands of low value on which to plant, a choice of species suited to the needs of the market and to the conditions, local and regional, relative freedom from sources of damage, a low initial cost of planting and a return on the money invested equal at least to a fair rate of interest. Many examples of successful plantations exist which meet these conditions. (4) As an investment forest planting is not attractive to the small private landowner excepting where other valuable considerations exist, such as appre- ciation of land values, the protection of crops by wind breaks, or early returns * Chapter 74, Laws of New York, 1912. ote . Plan to Meet Our Needs for Wood Timber,” AmrErIcANn Forestry, Vol. 19, No. 8, FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 5? from quick-growing species. The long-time nature of the investment makes planting more feasible for Federal, State and local governments or long-lived corporations, than for the individual or small company. (5) The problem of reforestation of denuded lands should be met squarely by entering upon a comprehensive plan covering at least a 50-year period. Such a plan should include adequate Federal and State appropriations, an extension of Federal and State forests to include more waste lands, Federal aid for States, State aid for counties, cities and towns and encouragement of private planting. (6) Sixty-five million dollars at least are being lost annually because denuded forest lands remain unproductive. Reforestation will go far toward lessening the severity of the coming timber famine, provided it is done on a large scale and begun at once. APPENDIX FOREST PLANTING BY REGIONS* NorTHERN Forest HIS region includes the greater part of New England, New York, Penn- | sylvania and the Lake States, extending also in a narrow strip along the Southern Appalachian Mountains to Georgia. The greatest area of denuded lands in the United States requiring reforesting lies within this region. Private and corporate ownership exceeds government holdings. New York, Pennsylvania and the Lake States each have a considerable area of State forests which include much land that is at present unproductive. The Federal Govern- ment is acquiring land under the Weeks’ Law for national forests in the White Mountains and in the Southern Appalachians and has national forests in the Lake States. All of these federal holdings, however, amount as yet to a relatively small area when compared to that of the whole region. NortH Woops, The broad divisions of the forest in the Northeastern United States are the spruce region, northern hardwoods and the white pine region. The Spruce Region is one of natural forest soils, not suited to agriculture. Its topography is rugged. Red spruce is the predominant conifer, growing in nearly pure stands or in mixture with hardwoods and with other conifers. Hard maple, beech, and yellow birch are the principal broad-leaved deciduous trees. Spruce forest covers the larger part of northern New England, the Adirondack section of New York State, and this species is to be found on the highest eleva- tions in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The forests occur in almost con- tinuous areas, and the region is little settled. The extent of individual holdings is on the average large, and some paper and pulp companies have very extensive holdings. Generally speaking, natural reproduction in spruce forest is good under average conditions. Fire has destroyed the valuable species on large areas, and * Classification in general according to map “Natural Forest Regions of North America,” Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1910. 58 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE clean cutting in a portion of the region has denuded mountain slopes, for example, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Natural seeding of poplar and birch has produced valuable forests of these species on burns in this region, but repeated fires have created waste areas. Forest planting in the spruce region is not at present considered practicable as a general method of reproducing forests, since natural reproduction is abundant. For the most part, therefore, natural seeding will be depended upon to secure a new crop.f Planting is, however, advised in the old field: spruce type, one of the subordinate types, as the best means of reproduction. Forest planting finds its principal use within this region for stocking burned lands that are not reproducing with valuable species. Since native spruce is not rapid in growth, the introduced Norway spruce is recommended. Its use in the United States has been chiefly for ornamental planting, but there have been instances in which it has been planted for commercial purposes. Its rate of growth is shown to be very rapid in a small planting, 34 years old, on the Billings’ estate in Vermont. This plantation is estimated to have grown an average of a cord and a half per year. Tests of trees from this plantation have proved that the wood makes a good quality of paper. It is not a difficult tree to propagate in the nursery. The average cost of raising the trees and making a plantation with four-year-old transplants of Norway spruce, spaced 6x 6 feet apart, is approximately $10 per acre.* An objection to the Norway spruce has been pointed out, namely, that it seems to deteriorate after 50 years. Owing to its rapid growth, this does not hinder its use in commercial planting for the production of pulp wood, but may affect its value as a large timber producer. The Northern Hardwoods Region adjoins the spruce region, and is hilly rather than mountainous. ‘The principal species are those mentioned above, — including also a small percentage of white ash, basswood and red oak. The soils are of good quality, and the region is generally more settled. The forest is not continuous, but woodland forms a part of nearly every farm, ranging in area from a few acres to several hundred. Woodlots have a larger average area in northern New England than in the southern part. Planting at present is applicable to open farm lands not needed for agricultural purposes. It will also be useful in the conversion of inferior hardwood forests into a more valuable coniferous type.} The region contains no extensive areas of sandy waste lands. The purpose of planting is chiefly the production of commercial timber, and should largely be carried out by farm owners in the region, individually, or by communities, Species of value for planting are white pine, red pine, European larch, Norway spruce, white ash and basswood. t The White Pine Region of the Northeast has been so named from one of its chief species of trees. White pine is to be found in the spruce region and associated with trees of the northern hardwood region. It is not, however, a ee AO ee by Hawes and Hawley, 1912. “* “How to Grow an ant Conifers in the Northeast: tates,” i 76, U. S. Department of Agriculture. pee BUR BY Gey atta, Bal + “Forestry in New England,” by Hawes and Hawley, 1912. tIbid., 1912. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 59 prominent part of these forests. To the south and southeast of these regions in New England this species is typical of the forest, occurring in nearly pure stands on inferior soils and associated with hardwoods on better soils. In New York it was associated with hardwoods and still occurs in mixture. Its principal associate in Pennsylvania forests was hemlock, and it formed a greater or less percentage of the hardwood forests in that State. In the New England region, second growth stands have been very numerous on abandoned fields. Second-growth lots have usually been cut clear when merchantable, and large areas have, as a result, been occupied by inferior species or by brush. Fires have added to this area. The region is well populated and the land owned, for the most part, in small lots by private individuals. State-owned land amounts to a small total area. Second-growth white pine occupies a less prominent place in Pennsylvania forests than original growth. It has given place to hardwoods on many sites. Fires which followed cuttings in Pennsylvania have been chiefly responsible for the formation of extensive waste areas requiring reforestation. Pennsylvania* has acquired nearly a million acres of State forest land and has reforested approximately 4,000 acres thus far. Species most important for reforestation in the white pine region of the Northeast are white pine and red pine. Scotch pine may prove useful for the poorest lands. Hardwoods, such as white ash and red oak, deserve use on sites to which they are suited. Several million acres require reforestation in the whole region. Unprofitable farm land, poor pastures, brush land and sandy wastes comprise some of the chief types of land for forest planting. The estimate of the National Conservation Commission in 1909 for New England alone was 2,500,000 acres requiring plant- ‘ing, a conservative figure, to which must be added a large area for New York and Pennsylvania. In the management of forest lands it will, in many instances, be practical to cut inferior woodland clean and reforest with pine. Initial cost of planting generally ranges from $8 to $12 per acre, usually approaching the latter figure if three-year transplants, which are to be preferred, are used. The cost of labor usually ranges from $1.50 to $1.75 per day. Trees are commonly spaced 6’ x 6’ apart. Older plantations indicate a profitable yield. The following table gives the yield of several of these: Total Mean . No. . Quality No. Location Species | Age | Trees eee Groth of | PerA |"pa.Ft. | Bd. Ft. Site 1. Connecticut__-_ | White pine and Eur. larch__| 22 | 1312 | 12,280 558 Medium 2. New York-...-_ White pine__-_------_---_- 28 | 1200 | 23,000 857 Good 3.¢ Connecticut-...| White pine__-.--.-.----___ 31 | 1200 | 15,052 486 Poor 4.£ Connecticut-_.._| White pine-_----__--__._.. 50 276 | 41,720 834 Medium 5. Connecticut--__| White pine-----.--~ ~----- 75 524 | 60,360 862 Poor * Report of the Forest Commission of Pennsylvania, 1912. 7 + Dense stand by seeding—too dense for normal development. t Natural stand, not planted; here introduced to indicate yield at that age. 60 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE Estimating the stumpage value of Nos. 1 and 3 at $5 per M bd. ft. and Nos. 4 and 5, in which the timber is larger, at $7 per M bd. ft., the following table shows the financial value of the standing trees per acre: No. Value of stumpage per acre. Dov Se ee re se oie $61.40 I a ouich axl State, We Ann Coca ree Shale ack 115.00 Bin Posts et ee et ieee 75.26 A ia aoe ee a ie eh A os ae 292.04 Desa c ieee tee es wee ee ee ees 422.52 Although conditions are especially favorable for private commercial planting in the Northeastern United States, its progress if judged by area is relatively slow. Probably more interest exists in forest planting within this region than in any other of the natural forest regions of the United States. LAKE STATES HIS part of the northern forest region is level to hilly in topography and | occupies the greater part of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Broadly the forest types are swamp, pine and hardwood, respectively. The swamp type varies in composition and character, but includes among its principal species spruce, cedar and tamarack. The composition of such swamp types may be one of these only, as tamarack swamps, or it may be spruce and tamarack, or cedar. Within this type, which occupies moist and wet lands, there is no field for commercial forest planting. Growth is very slow. The pine type occupies sandy loams and sand soils. The principal species in the pineries are white pine and red (Norway) pine. On the poorer soils the red pine and Jack pine are the chief trees. Most extensive areas in need of reforesta- tion are to be found in this type. The rate of growth is medium. In Michigan, on the higher, more northern lands and on pure sands, it is slower. The hardwood type occupies good soils, generally agricultural in character, excepting rocky hills. Pine originally formed a small per cent of the forest, and is still found in mixture. Hemlock also occurred in this type in portions of the Lake States. The chief hardwoods are yellow birch, beech, sugar maple, white ash and basswood. Forest planting on this type occupies a minor position and will probably always be of less importance than the planting of pine lands. Its place will be somewhat similar to that which it has in the northern hardwood region of the Northeastern United States. The same species will be useful for reforestation. Ownership of land is generally private, reforestation lands in the Lake States being held in areas of considerable size by lumber companies, by development companies and by individuals. An active State forest policy is in effect in Wis- consin and Minnesota by which non-agricultural cut-over lands are being acquired for eventual reforestation. There is also commendable State activity in Michigan. The Federal Forest Service has begun planting on national forests in both Minnesota and Michigan. The States are at present just entering upon this work. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 61 The total planted area, federal, State and private, is known to be small, although no census of it has been taken. Forest planting in the Lake States is commercially feasible, judging by the increasing market for pine and hardwoods and by the available statistics of natural growth. Species for planting in the pine type are white, red, Scotch and Jack pine. The last mentioned is useful on the poorest sands, and a stand may be secured by spreading cones on newly burned lands, a method both cheap and effective for this species. Good transplants of white pine and red pine must be used in the reforestation of pine lands with these species. Professor Roth, of the University of Michigan, recommends good, sturdy stock and wide spacing, 10 feet or more, since clearing up the lands is too costly and this money can to much better advantage be used in protection from fire during the two months of greatest danger. Planting can be done at as low a figure as $6 per acre, and will pay. He estimates the area within Michigan requiring reforestation at 10,000,000 acres. In Wisconsin it is estimated at from two to three million acres. No estimate is available for Minnesota. The present standing timber of value will be gone within a relatively short time. In Michigan it is estimated by the timber owners as a decade: in Wisconsin it will be a little longer and in Minnesota State Forester Cox estimates about thirty years for the present saw timber to last. Such facts point to-the necessity of an immediate and extensive plan of reforestation for the great area of land, incapable under present conditions of reproducing valuable species naturally. CENTRAL HARDWOOD REGION HIS forest has its principal extent in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, | Kentucky and Tennessee, a large part of the watershed of the Ohio River and its tributaries. To the west it occupies the southern portion of the Lake States, extending to the prairies, the central part of Missouri and the north- western part of Arkansas. It dips down into Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, occupies the Piedmont Plateau east of the Southern Appalachians and extends northeastward into southern New England. For convenience of treatment, that portion lying in the Southern States is discussed with what pertains to the Southern Forest Region. The Central forest contains the principal supply of hardwood timber and almost all of our broad-leaf, deciduous trees find their best development there— oaks, hickories, ashes, walnut, cherry, tulip poplar, etc. A full description of forest types and forest conditions is not pertinent to a statement concerning com- mercial planting. Ownership is almost eritirely private, much of the timber being in woodlots, excepting in the more thinly settled hill and mountain portions of the region. Exploitation of valuable species, fires and grazing have caused deterioration of the forest on a very large area. Lands have been cleared and farmed that now need reforesting, since their value is greater in forest than as farm land. Interest in commercial planting is greatest in the northeastern part of this region and in Ohio, to a less degree in Indiana and the Lake States, and little interest, if any, in the rest of the region. 62 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND AND MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES and, in the aggregate, there is a large area of non-agricultural lands, either open land, brush covered, or occupied by worthless tree species. The chestnut bark disease has killed many chestnut stands, the renewal of which with valuable growth is largely dependent upon planting. Activity of State foresters has brought about a large amount of planting by private owners. The species chiefly used are white pine and some other conifers, on account of their higher yield per acre. Results of some of these plantations have been cited under “Northern Forest” (see p. 14). Timber production is the chief object of planting, growing of fence posts and like materials has been only incidental. Massachusetts,* under its policy of accepting deed to private lands at a purchase price not to exceed $5 per acre and reforesting them, has planted 1,000 acres a year since 1906. Such lands may be redeemed by the owner within 10 years on payment of original price, plus the amount expended in improvements and maintenance, with interest at the rate of 4% per annum on purchase price. The State Forester of New Jersey emphasizes care and proper management of woodlands rather than extension of wooded areas by planting.t The following table, compiled from State Forester Gaskill’s report, is a conservative statement of species recommended, and shows their commercial possibilities. A few additional notes have been added. Mf ARKET conditions in this part of the hardwood region are excellent Yield per Species. Acre Age Site for Planting. Purpose of Planting. Bd. Ft., etc. Years. FWhite pine--___------ 30,000 50 ~All soils except poor Satid 2220-2, Timber Red (Norway) pine_-. 30,000 60 All soils_._-__._-___----_ Timber Scotch pine____------ 25,000 50 Any soil, especially for : ; poor soils___._--____ Timber Austrian pine_-.----- (Yield less Poor limestone soils_. Timber and box boards than W. P.) Norway spruce__---_ 30,000 60 Cool site, fairly strong soil, not dry-------- Paper pulp and timber Douglas fir-------.-- 25,000 60 Fair soils__..._.._____ Timber (Rocky Mt. seed) European larch_...-- 20,000 60 Fair soils, well drained Posts and poles Red oak--_---------- 700 railroad Fair soils --.---..--_. Railroad ties ties 40 White ash__--------- 10,000 25 Fair soils (moist)... Tool handles Shellbark hickory---. 15 cords 25 Moist soil_.__----____ Vehicle material, tool : J handles Pignut hickory------. 15 cords 25 Drier soil.._--________ Tool handles Tulip poplar.-_-----. 30,000 50 Good, well-drained Finishing lumber, fine : soils ..._--------__- box boards Basswood -__--------- Yield less Good, well-drained Finishing lumber, fine than tulip SONS: ceieinss heen box boards poplar | Black locust----_-~-_. 2,000 posts 15 All soils except poorest Posts * Massachusetts, Chapter 478, Acts of 1908. + “Forest_ Planting in New Jersey,” by Alfred Gaskill. Reports of the Forest Park Se pominieion 2 New Jersey, 1913. assachusetts and Connecticut planting indicates possibility of higher yield { Will probably yield nearly as high at 50 years as white pine. : ore | Subject to attack locally by borers, which often ruin a plantation. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 63 Catalpa is not recommended for New England and New Jersey. It needs good soils and a milder climate. Trees for planting are preferred to direct sowing of seed on the site. The total average costs given by State Forester Gaskill are $7.38 per acre for planting one-year-old deciduous species and $9.09 for three-year-old conifer transplants ; spacing 6’ x 6’, and cost of trees $3 per M for the former and $4 for the latter. Examples of expected profit are figured to be 5% or 6% on money invested. Planting is recommended in Delaware on farms having no woodlots and for protective purposes.* The species recommended are chestnut, red oak and pin oak, tulip poplar, hardy catalpa and black locust. No data of plantations are recorded. The known area of forest plantations in Maryland is very small. Planting has been recent and principally for the production of fence posts, using catalpa and locust. In one 50-acre plantation} set in 1882-1884, yellow poplar, black walnut, chestnut, red oak, white ash, maples, white pine and a few other species were planted. The cost of planting, if home-grown stock is used, is estimated at $8 per acre. Commercial forest planting has a small place as yet in this State. OHIO VALLEY Under this may be included Ohio, Indiana and Northern Kentucky. One may distinguish in general (1) upland forests, containing oaks, hickories, sugar maple, white ash, tulip poplar, basswood, walnut, cherry and beech; (2) lowland forests of elm, red maple, black ash, sycamore willow, gums, etc. The region is predominantly agricultural, and, for the most part, the forest is found in small detached parcels. Much planting for production of fence posts has been done successfully. The chief species planted have been catalpa, locust and Osage orange. This planting has been profitable, yielding good returns in a short period of years. Climatic conditions are more favorable for growth than in similar operations in the prairie region of the West. Values of land are high, and hence but small areas on farms in the best agricultural sections can be devoted to such planting. Interest in quick-growing species has been stimulated by co-operative assistance of the Agricultural Experiment Station. This has been done with the purpose of creating an interest in the planting of long-lived species for timber production and of encouraging care of woodlots. : t The following table gives the average returns from 12 catalpa plantations in 4 counties in Ohio, spacing and site conditions varying much. Their ages ranged from 18 to 28 years. Number of posts per acre-_.._-_------_--- 2,710 Per cent first-class posts____.--__ pA St IIe 70 Per cent second-class posts___.__---------- 30 Valite per acrév 3 ee ete sae $198.59 Average annual increase in value per acre___ 8.54 * Bull. 82, Report on Forest Conditions in Delaware. Delaware College Agricultural Experiment Station, Newark, Del., 1908. ; + Report of the Maryland State Board of Forestry, 1910-11. + Bull. 204, Forest Conditions in Ohio.. Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Wooster, Ohio, 1909. 64 REPORT OF THE FOREST COMMITTEE The greatest production was 4,780 posts per acre, value $412.80; average - annual increase in value, $18.76. The lowest was 1,134 posts, value $97.24; average annual increase, $4.86. The ages of these stands were 22 and 20, respectively. In southeastern and southern Ohio the topography is more hilly and much waste land is to be found. Planting can be done for commercial production and to hinder erosion on steep hillsides. Southwestern Pennsylvania, southeastern Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee are underlain in part by bituminous coal. In the localities of the coal mining, the demand for mine props is great, and the local supply is diminishing rapidly in eastern Ohio and southwestern Penn- sylvania. Planting of hardwoods, both rapid-growing and longer-lived, together with improved treatment of woodland, is essential to meet future demands. Some expermental planting indicates its commercial value. Conditions found in southern Indiana are quite similar to those in the southern counties of Ohio. Woodlot management should be encouraged and planting confined to barren hillsides. The Forestry Department of the Ohio Experiment Station is furnishing planting stock for reforestation. The principal species in the Station nursery are white pine, red pine, Norway spruce, bald cypress, red oak, white ash and tulip poplar. KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE HE plateaux and mountains of the eastern portion of these two States have | extensive forests, and the problem is one of conservative management. All of our principal hardwood species are to be found in the region. To the west is the central highland region, in which the timber consists of woodlots, wooded slopes and ridges and woodland along streams.* According to R. C. Hall, 32 per cent of the area in this portion of Kentucky and Tennessee is wooded, the chief species being oaks, yellow poplar, beech, chestnut, hickory and red gum. He says: “Forest planting may sometimes be profitable in the central highland region, either to start a new stand or to replace one that has been ruined by heavy logging and repeated fires, or perhaps to utilize old fields and washed lands. On all typical old fields, except those with poorly drained or acid soils, white ash, red oak, and yellow poplar will be found the best trees to plant. On rich, fresh, and moist soil hardy catalpa will do well, and will also furnish a very durable wood. On poor, thin soils black locust is the only tree producing durable wood that will thrive.” The Nashville Basin and the Blue Grass region have 10 to 15 per cent of woodland. No commercial planting is required. The Mississippi Valley region of Kentucky and Tennessee contains large bodies of forest, but the soils are mainly agricultural, and forest planting will never have much place in the development of this portion of the two States. OTHER STATES The hardwood region of the Lake States is agricultural in character. Like Ohio, it is a region of woodlots attached to farms. Reproduction is fair and * AMERICAN Forestry, Vol. XIX, No. 8, pp. 533-543, FIFTH NATIONAL, CONSERVATION CONGRESS 65 well-managed woodland is a profitable adjunct to the farm. Planting is chiefly applicable to inferior lands, less valuable or unsuited for agriculture. As a State problem it is minor when contrasted with extensive areas in the northern forest tegion of the Lake States. Little planting has been done. Both conifers and hardwoods may be utilized. Experimental planting has been done both at the Michigan Agricultural College and at the University of Michigan. Conditions in southern Illinois are like those of southern Indiana and Ohio, the problem of planting being the same. At present there is no opportunity for. commercial planting in that portion of Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas occupied by hardwood forest. SOUTHERN FOREST REGION HE problem of forest planting in the South can best be considered under the heads of (1) the upland or Piedmont region; (2) the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, and (3) the semi-tropical region. UPLAND OR PIEDMONT REGION The conditions of the upper, or Piedmont, country extending from Virginia to northern Georgia and westward to the Mississippi River are in several essential, points different from those of the coastal plain, comprising a strip approximately 100 miles wide along the shore of the Atlantic and Gulf. The region is characterized by short-leaf pine forests mixed with oak and hickory, in contrast to the forests of the lower or coastal region, which are essen- tially of long-leaf and Cuban pine, with a mixture of loblolly pine. This difference is due mainly to climatic and soil conditions, which are dissimilar in the two regions. The Piedmont, or short-leaf pine, belt comprises the tobacco lands of Vir- ginia and the great cotton-producing region to the south. Throughout this whole region a marked change has taken place in the past 50 years in respect to natural seed regeneration. In former times abandoned fields seeded up fully and rapidly from adjacent seed trees, whereas at present practically all of the first or virgin stand has been cut and the second growth is too young or dense to produce normal seed crops. Abandoned fields are frequently overrun by grass, briars, or under- brush before sufficient pine seed enters. Natural reproductiori is consequently much poorer than it was 20 to 50 years ago. The region is everywhere hilly, and soil erosion due to surface run-off is often excessive and very destructive of the higher valued soils. Natural reforesta- tion of pine, which would otherwise occur, is thus often prevented owing to the lightness of the seed. As a result, tracts of land are not infrequently taken by slow-growing hardwoods of slight or no commercial value. A real forestation problem in preventing excessive soil denudation is present. Furthermore, second- growth pine timber has had practically no stumpage value until within the past five or eight years, hence there was no financial incentive. Protection to navigable stream courses and conservation of the soil on eroding slopes can best be accomplished by planting the native pines and other 66 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE commercially valuable forest spécies. The planting of several species of native pines and hardwoods on deforested and denuded tracts has been very successful during the past 20 years on the Vanderbilt estate near Biltmore, North Carolina. These trees have made vigorous growth and constitute the best proof of the feasibility of forest planting in the South. White pine and short-leaf pine, hard maple, red oak, cherry and other species have been planted either pure or in mixture. The Biltmore estate has approximately 4,000 acres planted with conifers, and 800 acres with hardwoods, a total of 4,800 acres. Planting has been very successful in soil protection, but financial results are yet to be determined. Lands needing reforestation are not large in the aggregate. Planting is prac- tical and being urged by the State Forester of North Carolina (Holmes) for: (1) Utilizing abandoned fields, particularly reclaiming eroded fields. The latter is of considerable importance in the hilly uplands of central western parts of the Carolinas. (2) Protection of watersheds supplying water for towns and cities. The results to be obtained by such planting are: 1. Production of readily marketable timber, such as pulp wood, or even small saw timber, and material necessary for domestic use, such as fence ° posts and fire wood. 2. Utilization of otherwise unproductive land. 3. The improvement of land by the prevention of erosion and by the addition of plant food as by planting locust. 4. The protection of the headwaters of streams which are to be used for city water supplies. There is really an incentive for private planting under these conditions. Short-leaf pine is the one species to be recommended for this region. It is readily handled by direct seed sowing, at a cost of about $4 per acre. ~ Old field stands in North Carolina yield 10,000 board feet in 30 to 40 years, and 20,000 feet in 45 to 55 years. On average quality sites a conservative calcula- tion shows financial yields of 5 per cent gross, or 4 per cent net profit from plantations. Secondly, the planting of black locust for fence posts on idle or waste lands is practicable. Private planting will probably not be on an intensive scale as in New England for at least 30 years or more. The State of North Carolina is furnishing advice to private owners in planting, in reference to suitable species, plant material, methods of planting and probable returns. CoasTaL PLAIN A large per cent of the Coastal Plain is forested, although there is very little virgin timber left and second growth mainly composes the forest cover. Owing to the highly siliceous nature of the soil and lack of mineral plant food, the greater part of the land in the Coastal Plain is more valuable for timber production ‘at the present time than for agricultural purposes. Natural reproduction is prolific, and when fires are excluded for a few years, the young trees reach a height out of danger of further fires. The region is characterized FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 67 by the long-leaf and loblolly pine flats and hardwood and cypress swamps. The forest problem is chiefly that of protection against fire. In some instances where close logging and severe fires have left very few seed trees, if any, large tracts may have to be reforested. Loblolly pine grows vigorously throughout this coastal belt and appears to be very successful from direct seeding. The cost of restocking by direct seeding, exclusive of protection, will probably average about $4 per acre. Co-operative experiments started in March, 1912, indicate good results from loblolly and from maritime pines, although the warm winter of 1912-13 was not a satisfactory test for the latter species. Sufficient time has not elapsed to enable definite conélusions to be drawn from these reforesting experiments. The Forest Service has shown that maritime pine (Pinus maritima), the pine of the Landes of the western coast of France, is well adapted to central and northern Florida. Experiments are now being conducted to test its adaptability to the Atlantic Coastal Plain in South Carolina and in New Jersey. 2 Very little indeed is being done by the States, except the co-operative experi- ment by. South Carolina, and general advice to private owners by North Carolina. Tuer Semi-Tropica, REGION The semi-tropical region actually includes only the southern half of the peninsula of Florida, but, in its broader meaning, as used here, practically the whole State is included. The original forest cover included. chiefly Cuban and long-leaf pines among its commercial species, and mafy small evergreen species of both broad leaf and conifers. Excessive cutting followed by fires, repeated almost annually, have largely reduced the forest cover on large areas to low brush with scattering trees. The soil is characteristically sandy and generally low in humus. There is great need of reforesting, but the problem at present is the imme- diate need of adequate protection against fires. The climate is sub-tropical, and some of the more exotic tree species of value commercially are well adapted to this climate. The cork oak (Quercus suber), yielding the commercial cork, the camphor tree (Camphor officinalis), and a considerable number of species of eucalyptus rank first in importance of the valuable exotic trees which have been found by test to thrive well in this region. Eucalypts and camphor have been widely planted by private owners during the past quarter century for ornamental or shade purposes, although no commercial plantations are known to have been attempted prior to 1907.* At the present time (1913) there is a very general interest among «the settlers in central Florida as far south as Tampa in the forest planting of eucalypts as a present asset to their property from a landscape standpoint, and for future returns in wood of durable and useful qualities. It is impossible to estimate what financial returns may reasonably be expected owing to uncertainty of con- ditions, particularly market. There can hardly be any such local need of a heavy, * Forest Service Bull. 87, “Eucalypts in Florida,” by R. Zon. U. S. Department of Agriculture. 68 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE durable wood as exists in southern California, because of the favorable conditions in Florida for native forests of pine, oak, and cypress timber. Eucalypts of many of the hardier species thrive well over all of the Florida peninsula, or north to about the parallel of 30° latitude. Growth is rapid and plantations will furnish large yields of durable wood suitable for ties and posts and of high heating value for fuel. Blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus), which is extensively planted in southern California, is not adapted to Florida, except the extreme southern end, on account of its susceptibility to the hard frosts which occur every few years. The most hardly and promising species for Florida are red-gum, gray gum, manna gum, red mahogany, red gum tree, and swamp gum. The camphor tree (Camphor officinalis) thrives on the better classes of land in all parts of Florida. If conservative methods of securing the resin for com- mercial purposes are used, the tree should be planted closely in hedge rows clipped for the by-product. If, however, the custom at present prevailing in Japan is followed, of utilizing the entire tree, the camphor may be shown to be suitable for extensive reforestation of badly denuded tracts. The introduction of cork oak into Florida dates back many years,-but the Forest Service in January, 1911, on the Florida National Forest near Pensacola, established the first forest plantation of cork oak in the State. The trees in two seasons from the acorn have reached an average height of 5 to 8 feet, outstripping the rate of growth of all aative American oaks. In the unique properties of the bark and much wider climatic range, the cork oak probably has a much greater future commercially than the eucalypts. An experiment in reforesting the higher soils of the coastal plain of South Carolina is under progress by the State in co-operation with the Forest Service’ The trees wintered well in 1912-13, and may be found to thrive that far north. Maritime pine (Pinus maritima), the turpentine-producing pine, which the French successfully used in afforesting the sand dunes of the Landes in western France, grows thriftily in nearly all parts of Florida. The oldest plantations were started on the Florida National Forest in the spring of 1910, and the Forest Service now has between 150 and 200 acres of young forest of this pine. It is proposed to increase this acreage during the next two years to about 600 acres in order to make a thorough test of the rate and character of the growth during the first five or ten years, and of the practicability of extensive reforestation with this species. Several thousand acres of burns in the scrub pine forest region on the National Forest in eastern Florida could be converted from a waste area into forest producing high yields of turpentine. The Landes of France in 30 years rose from a value of less than $2 per acre to an average of about $200 per acre by the planting of maritime pine. The original cost of reforesting with maritime pine is probably the lowest in the United States, because of the very small cost of the seed, cheap labor, and the loose sandy character of the soil. In France pine stands are tapped at 25 to 40 years of age, and during the next 20 to 50 years of intermittent cupping yield large net revenues from turpentine and resin. After- wards, the timber is logged and manufactured, The rapid, vigorous growth of the maritime pine and high resin productivity give it great superiority over the rative long-leaf pine for use in artificial reforestation. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 69 THE PRAIRIE REGION HERE are better opportunities for commercial forest planting in the prairie | region than in any other section of the United States except, possibly, New England. This is due, primarily, to the excellent market for fence posts, telephone poles, cordwood and other products. In most portions of the prairie region suitable sites can be found and there are a number of species which are hardy and of rapid growth, and well adapted to be grown on a short rotation for the products chiefly in demand in the region. There are two general types of planting sites in the prairie region, namely, the Uplands, consisting of exposed, rolling prairies or plains, and the Lowlands, or the bottom lands and slopes of the valleys. The opportunity for commercial planting on the Uplands throughout the region is practically limited to wind- breaks and small groves around the farm-stead. In general, the land is well adapted to farming and is too costly for profitable timber production, except where wind-break protection increases agricultural yields sufficiently to pay for narrow strips of land devoted to shelter belts. Single wind-breaks are less effective and less profitable than belts of deciduous trees 75 to 150 feet wide, or of conifers 50 to 75 feet wide. The direct financial returns from the products of wind-breaks and shelter belts vary widely, according to climatic and soil conditions, the species planted and the care given the planta- tion, especially during its earlier years. Recent investigations in Nebraska showed that wind-break protection from south winds increased the yield equal in amount to the yield of a strip from an area as long as the wind-break and twice as wide as the height of the trees. The trees in this case were 38 feet high; therefore, a strip of land 75 feet wide could be dévoted to a shelter belt at no cost for the land, and the yield of timber from the area would be clear profit, which, in this instance, was $5.39 per acre per year. In the Lowlands, the better conditions of soil moisture are more favorable to commercial planting than on the Uplands, except where the soil is extremely alkaline through seepage. Frequently there are areas in the Lowlands of con- siderable size which are not adapted to agriculture and are, consequently, low in price—as, for instance, steep bluffs and bottoms subject to frequent overflow. Accordingly, it is in the bottoms that we find the best opportunities for com- mercial forest planting on a large scale. The species recommended for planting, the care of plantations and the returns differ considerably in various portions of the region. Details can be obtained for a particular region through numerous publications issued by the U. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture, or by the Agricultural Experiment Stations of the several States. Briefly, the Prairie Region consists of three principal divisions, viz: The Northern Prairie Region, including eastern Montana, the Dakotas, southern and western Minnesota, and northern Iowa. The Middle-West, including southeastern South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, eastern Colorado, and western Illinois. The Southern Plains, including western Oklahoma, southwestern Kansas, northwestern Texas, and eastern New Mexico. “10 REPORT OF THIE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Tur NorTHERN PRAIRIE REGION On the Uplands in the Northern Prairie Region there should be a shelter belt along the northern border of every 160-acre farm, another along the western border and two extending from north to south at intervals of 60 rods from the west side. The species recommended for the best soils are European larch, cottonwood, white willow, Scotch pine and western yellow pine. On poor soils or in very exposed situations, western yellow pine, Scotch pine, white spruce, green ash, white elm, hackberry, and box elder are the most desirable. Under-planting with Black Hill spruce or Colorado blue spruce 15 years after the shelter belt is established will be profitable, principally because it increases the efficiency of the wind-break. Mixed planting is recommended, although it must be done with caution; for pure planting, the use of conifers is advised. A spacing of 4x4 or 3x6 feet for conifers, 5x5 or 4x6 for the slower growing deciduous trees, and 6x6 feet for cottonwood is recommended. Thorough cultivation is necessary until the ground is entirely shaded. Every four or five years after the sixth or seventh year, the smaller and less promising trees should be cut out, but such thinnings should be very light, to prevent the growth of grass and weeds. ‘The trees in the shelter belts will not seriously encroach on the adjoining cultivated land until they are 35 to 40 years old. At this time they will yield a large amount of material suitable for box boards, rough construction lumber, telephone poles, fence posts (for creosoting) and fuel. If the value of the land is not charged against the plantation, the annual return per acre will range from $5 to $15 per acre per year. The Lowlands of the Northern Prairie Region offer excellent opportunities for forest planting for the production of fuel on account of the severe climate and the high price of fuels transported into the region. The deep porous soils of the Lowlands are well adapted to all of the species recommended for the Uplands. The best species for commercial planting in the Lowlands of the Northern Prairie Region are: cottonwood, European larch, Scotch pine, silver maple, white willow, Austrian pine and white pine. Cottonwood, on account of its rapid growth, high yield and great variety of uses is undoubtedly the tree best adapted to bottom lands, particularly overflow lands. On a rotation of 35 years cottonwood should yield at least 25,000 feet, board measure, per acre and, in addition, a considerable quantity of cordwood. A good quality.of overflow land can be purchased at from $5 to $10 per acre; at this figure, the returns from planting cottonwood should be from 5 to 7 per cent, according to conditions. White willow and silver maple are also adapted to planting on overflow lands and will yield good returns if managed on 15 to 20 year rotation for fuel and fence posts. The average annual net return from eight groves of white willow for fence posts and fuel was $24 per acre, no interest on the investment being calculated. On the same basis, European larch and Scotch pine produce, respectively, a net annual return per acre of $11.93 and $13.35. For the production of fuel and fence posts for creosoting, a spacing of 4x4 to 5x5 feet is best. For cottonwood a spacing of 6x6 feet is recommended. Cultivation must be given until the ground is well shaded, except in particularly favorable locations on overflow lands when FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 71 it is sometimes not absolutely necessary, although at all times desirable. Thin- nings should begin early and should be much heavier than on the Uplands. Tue MippLe WEs'. The best opportunities for commercial planting in the Prairie Region is in the eastern portion of the Middle West, on account of favorable climatic con- ditions and excellent markets. As, in other portions of the Prairie Region, windbreaks and shelter belts will prove commercially profitable on practically every Upland farm because of greater agricultural yields. The best field for strictly commercial planting is offered in the production of fence posts and fuel, although low-priced, fertile bottom land can be used profitably for the production of ties, telephone poles and lumber. . The Uplands. Dual purpose trees for shelter and the production of fence posts and fuel recommended for the most fertile Upland soils of the eastern two-thirds of this region are hardy catalpa, European larch, cottonwood, Osage orange, while pine and white willow. Osage orange and hardy catalpa are not recommended for use north of Central Iowa. With the exception of Osage orange and hardy catalpa, fence posts of the species recommended for commercial planting will have to be creosoted. For sandy lands in the western part of the region the species recommended are Jack pine, Scotch pine, Western yellow pine and red cedar. On better soils in the extreme western part of the region honey locust, Russian mulberry, Osage orange, red cedar, western yellow pine, Austrian pine, Scotch pine, green ash and while elm are recommended. ' In the Nebraska national forests western yellow pine has proved the best for the ridge and bottom types; Jack pine for south slopes and Scotch pine for north slopes. Austrian pine for ridges, south slopes and bottoms, and Norway pine for north shopes are still under test. On the Kansas national forest yellow pine is the most promising conifer for all sites with red fir and Jack pine not thoroughly proved, and Austrian pine under test. Of the hardwoods, green ash and cottonwood are the most hardy tried. Honey locust holds more promise than the black locust, Osage orange or walnut. Lowlands. Throughout practically the entire region (except northern Iowa) hardy catalpa and Osage orange will prove profitable when grown for fence posts on well-drained, fertile bottomlands. For lumber, pulp-wood, box boards, staves, fence posts (creosoted) and fuel, the most profitable species is un- doubtedly cottonwood; for fuel alone, white willow and silver maple. The three last named species will do well on overflow lands not adapted to agriculture. The returns from commercial planting of cottonwood for lumber from bottom- land valued at $5 per acre is estimated at 7 per cent pet annum.* *“Cottonwood in the Mississippi Valley,” Bulletin of the U. S. Department of Agri- culture, No. 24. 72 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Estimate oF ReTuRNS From a Cortonwoop PLANTATION. Rotation 35 years. Yield per acre 29,000 ft. B. M. Expenses Per Acre. Interest on investment in land, 7% on $5__s----------------- $48.38 Taxes, 2c on dollar, 0 first, $4 second, and $5 third decade_--_ 10.31 Preparation of site and cultivation of plantation $4.25, 35 years OC pga ie Se ee ah cca eae 45.60 Planting stock and planting $4, 35 years @ 7% _------------- 42.71 OtalisCOs tsa eee ee ae ee eee ee $147.00 Returns—29,400 ft. B. M. @ $5 per M______---___---___--- $147.00 A recent study shows that the greatest returns from cottonwood for lumber production is obtained at the age of 35 years. Cottonwood is coming into favor for the manufacture of paper pulp. The greatest yield of peeled pulp wood per acre is at 13 years, when an average of 3.6 cords per acre per year may be expected, or a total of 47 cords. At 6% the returns from a cottonwood planta- tion on 13 years rotation for pulpwood are estimated as follows: EstiMATE oF Returns From a CoTtonwoop PLANTATION. Expenses Per Acre. Compound Interest on land, $50 per acre, 12 years, @ 6%--.. _$50.60 Intial outlay (preparation of soil $2, stock $150, planting $2.50) Ms At HERES EE Bi a ck i ptr 12.07 Cultivation and pruning $4 per year (for 2 years) $8 @ 6%____ 15.62 Thinning 8 years $2, 4 years @ 6%-___---______._____________ 2.52 Taxes 2% on one-half value, 50c per year, 12 years 6%__.__--_ 8.48 Ota COS ti Pa ee hg Ns mem oes ae ee Oe $89.24 Returns 47 cords pulp wood at $2 per cord (stumpage)________ $94.00 European larch, while pine, black walnut and black cherry, and in the south- ern portion of the region, Russian mulberry, may prove profitable in commercial plantations in the valleys. It is doubtful, however, whether any species but the cottonwood can be profitably grown on a long rotation for lumber production. In forming plantations cultivation is essential during the first two to four years after planting. Spacing, in general, should not exceed a distance of 6x6 feet and should not be closer than 4 x 6 feet, according to the species used and the site conditions. Thinning should begin early and should be made every five years or oftener. While the conditions in the Middle West are much more favorable than in either the northern or the southern prairie region, the profits in planting will depend very largely on the selection of the species, and the care which is given the plantation. The cost of establishing a plantation is secondary to choosing the right species and the proper site, since the success of the venture depends largely upon the rapidity of growth. It is evident, however, that the rental of FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 3 the land and the cost of planting must be kept within reasonable bounds, de- pending somewhat on the advantages which the site possesses in relation to transportation and market conditions. THE SouTHERN PLAINS. In the southern portion of the Prairie Region, the annual precipitation is so unevenly distributed, and wide areas suffer so frequently from prolonged drouth, that commercial forest planting is limited to favorable sites in the Lowlands. Great care must be exercised in the selection of planting sites and in the choice of species. Protective plantings are even more desirable than in the Northern regions, and will prove highly profitable from the protective standpoint alone. In this region there is practically no native timber to draw upon, and successful plantations for fuel and fence posts have proved to be highly profitable, although the returns varied greatly according to the conditions. Successful forest planting in this region where rainfall is light and irregular and evaporation great, depends very largely upon the proper tillage of the soil. The Uplands. The southern and western sides of each quarter section should be protected by shelter belts from the dry southwest winds, with belts running east and west at intervals of from thirty to forty rods. Where very low wind- breaks are used the distance between the hedges should be reduced. In the more humid eastern portion of the region cottonwood, green ash, Russian mulberry, Osage orange and white elm will thrive. In certain sections the black locust is practically free from the destructive borers and makes an excellent growth on uplands, and is highly profitable for fence posts. It must be planted with caution, however. In the very dry western portion of the region there are no species that can be depended upon to survive the occasional prolonged drouths, although dry farming methods of cultivation will do much to assure success. Osage orange appears to be a desirable species for this region, although it should be planted with caution until its adaptation to the particular planting site is determined. Trees of less commercial value which may be planted with a reasonable prospect of successful growth are green ash, red cedar, white elm, black locust, honey locust, Russian mulberry and western yellow pine. The Lowlands. Better conditions of soil moisture are more favorable to commercial planting in the lowlands, except where the soil is extremely alkaline through seepage. Throughout the region, thorough cultivation for a long period is absolutely essestial to profitable growth, and the products from commercial plantations are apparently limited to fence posts and fuel, since lumber can be transported into the region more cheaply than it can be grown. The most valuable species for plantations in the Lowlands of this region are hardy catalpa, Osage orange, black locust (in certain regions) and Russian mulberry. The prices of fence posts of these durable woods are such that net profits of from $20 to $25 per acre per year (not reckoning interest on invest- ment) may be expected where the proper sites are chosen. However, with the success of creosoting assured there is a possibility that more rapid growing 74 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE species of woods adapted to the creosote treatment will prove more profitable. The species best suited for this purpose is cottonwood. A mixture of species is advisable although with thorough cultivation this is not absolutely essential. The trees should be pruned during the first five years “after the plantation is formed. A rotation of 20 years, with thinnings every three to five years, after the seventh or eighth year, appears advisable. On account of greater expense for cultivation, plantations in this region, under the best conditions, cannot be expected to pay over 5 per cent on the investment, if all items of cost are figured at compound interest. THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION r | \ HE Rocky Mountain region includes a large portion, or all, of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. In the valleys precipitation is insufficient to maintain forest growth. Under dry farming methods, wind-breaks may be grown in some of the wider non-irrigated valleys, where they are needed. This will be a distinct aid to agriculture, but cannot be regarded in any sense as a commercial venture. The irrigated lands are too valuable to be devoted to forest growth except to a very limited extent for shade and shelter. There is an abundance of low-priced land in the mountains, not well adapted to grazing, that can be profitably used only for the production of forests. How- ever, stumpage prices have not advanced sufficiently to warrant private capital engaging in commercial planting, particularly as planting methods are not yet sufficiently worked out to be certain of results, and the cost of planting is at present prohibitive. The large supply of easily accessible virgin timber means a slow advance in stumpage values, and in the future, government forests will undoubtedly help to maintain stumpage prices at figures too low to be considered by the ordinary investor as offering sufficient returns from planting. There are many deforested watersheds near the larger centers of popula- tion in this region that should be reforested, on account of the necessity of con- serving the water supplies and also because these waste lands should be pro- ducing revenue. All of the species adapted to planting in the region are of such slow growth, however,—requiring from 125 to 200 years or more for the pro- duction of saw timber,—that the returns from reforestation can be expected to pay only a very low per cent on the investment. Even under the best conditions it is not likely that more than 3 per cent on the investment can be obtained on any planting done at the present time, and under adverse conditions planting will be done at a loss. It is therefore a function of the government, both State and National, to finance planting enterprises in the Rocky Mountain region until such time as cheap and satisfactory planting methods have been developed and data is obtained that will justify private capital in investing. On watersheds close to large cities where the transportation facilities are favorable and the markets for the products are the best, it will undoubtedly be profitable for municipalities to reforest the areas from which they draw their water supply. Municipalities can afford to have money invested for a long FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 75 period at a low rate, if direct financial returns are sure, and in addition the indirect value of the forest will make it a highly profitable form of investment to them. In planting watersheds the sites adapted for planting, in order of their desirability, are: (1) Recent Burns (non-restocking). (2) Old non-restocking burns. (3) Scrubby Aspen. (4) Brush areas, oak, maple, cherry, etc. (5) Sage brush. (6) Open grassland. X Owing to its mountainous character and the variation in climatic conditions, it is advisable to consider the broad forest types of the region rather than geographic sub-divisions. The principal forest types in the Rocky Mountain region may be classified as (1) Alpine, (2) sub-Alpine, (3) Lodgepole pine, (4) Red fir, and (5) Yellow pine. The Alpine type comprises the timber line forest at the upper extremity of tree growth. The forests of this type have little or no value except for protection purposes. The sub-Alpine:type is the uppermost zone of merchantable timber growth. The chief tree is Engelmann spruce. Growth is so very slow in this type that the returns from forest manage- ment are necessarily extremely low. Therefore, like the Alpine type the chief value is for protective purposes, and cannot be considered from the strictly commercial standpoint, since it is the duty of the government to manage such forests for the general welfare, even at a loss. The Lodgepole pine type occupies chiefly the middle altitudinal zone. Lodge- pole pine grows with fair rapidity and scientific management in this type will probably yield a small profit in localities close to good markets. The strip system appears to meet the silvical requirements in this type, although the ease with which natural regeneration is secured makes it practical to use the clear cutting system in many localities. Since “180 years may be regarded as an average rotation for the Lodgepole pine, even natural regeneration under the best conditions, offers little inducement to the average investor. The Red fir type occupies the lower zone of timber growth in the Rockies, in association with the Yellow pine type, although extending to a somewhat higher altitude. Red fir is a tolerant tree and makes excellent growth on north- ern exposures, even near the lower limit of tree growth where the precipitation is very light. The wood is durable and has a wide range of uses for posts, mine timbers, ties, lumber, etc. Red fir grows more rapidly than Lodgepole pine and responds more quickly to management. It has been planted successfully by the Forest Service, and on the more favorable sites the seed has been sown successfully. For lumber purposes the red fir requires .a rotation of about 150 to 200 years; for railroad ties and fence posts a rotation of 75 to 150 years is required. Near a good market and under exceptionally favorable conditions on a low-priced site, the planting of red fir on a short rotation may appeal to the investor, in the not distant future. However, at the present time, natural re- 76 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE generation of red fir, by either the selection system of management, or the single seed-tree method, is cheaper than planting, and secures satisfactory results. The cost of various methods of securing adequate reproduction of red fir is estimated as follows: Planting, $10.25 per acre. Seed spot sowing, $4.25 per acre. Single seed tree method, $4.25 per acre. The yellow pine type, next to the lodgepole, is the most extensive type in the Rocky Mountain region. Commercially, yellow pine is the most important lumber-producing tree of the Rocky Mountains. This species grows naturally under more unfavorable conditions of soil moisture than any other commercial species of the region. It is of fairly rapid growth and does well in plantations, and under very favorable conditions is successfully established by artificial seed. ing. However, it does not offer the possibilities for commercial planting in this region that are offered by red fir, and therefore its planting on a strictly com- mercial basis can only be done by the government. It is possible that the planting of Western white pine in the northern Rocky Mountain region can be considered as a strictly commercial proposition on a par with other forms of long time investment. Commercial planting of white pine is restricted to a very small portion of the Rocky Mountain region, and it is only on very carefully selected sites and under exceptionally favorable conditions which have been fully determined by preliminary investigations that planting of even this species can be considered by any but governmental agencies. It is believed that a mixture of western white pine and western cedar will pay best in the white pine region, although the soil of the region,—owing to the greater annual precipitation in the northern Rocky Mountain region—is very productive and will produce high yields of any of the species which will grow there, including Douglas fir, larch, spruce, yellow pine and lodgepole. Protective plantings, as such, are scarcely needed in the white pine region, which is already well for- ested. The same is true of the fir-larch region. In the lodgepole region of Mon- tana, however, watershed protection is desirable; for this purpose lodgepole pine is recommended. The possibility of artificial reproduction in the white pine region is shown in the following estimates, based on data collected by the Forest Service, and com- piled by Mr. D. T. Mason. TABLE Financial Aspects of Artificial Forestation. The Lodgepole Region Compared with Other Regions. Part 1. eee ana At on | oskteaeencas. [iene M2. M.| Prevent wamoage | Reteotintre pistectian Acts crowing average site per M. B. M. earned Montana— Lodgepole ..-_---- 5¢ $9.00 10.9 $3.00 1 % Arizona— t Yellow pine-------- 3¢ 10.00 6.0 3.00 | 4 % Idaho— White pine_--_---- 10¢ 7.00 60.0 5.00 314% \ FIFTH NATIONAL, CONSERVATION CONGRESS ey Part 2. Figure a which : stumpage must REGION interest ieeenon bee seat, per| Gross Money “Yield per etoat hse advance to rate acre M. B. M. Yield acre can afford to | earn interest spend to plant| rate stated in Column 1 Montana— Lodgepole ~.--- 2% 80.80 742 32.70 48.10 2.36 7.42 3% 203.20 18.62 32.70 170.50 -12 18.62 Arizona— Yellow pine____ 2% 81.76 13.62 18.00 63.76 1,19 13.63 3% 210.20 35.03 18.00 192.20 0.00 35.03 {daho— _ White pine_---- 2% 81.80 1.36 300.00 218.10 37.20 1.36 3% 194.90 3.25 300.00 105.10 12.45 3.25 Part 3. Results on a Million Acre Forest under above Conditions. Rotation 100 years. Annually cut and reforest 10,000 acres. Total annual 1 TYPE NATIONAL cost adminis- Total annual Grand total Gross annual Net annual Net annual FOREST tration and cost planting annual cost revenue revenue revenue per: protection acre Montana— Lodgepole ---- $50,000 $90,000 $140,000 $327,000 $187,000 18.7¢ Atizona— : ar pine... 30,000 100,000 130,000 180,000 50,000 5¢ Tdaho— White pine____ 100,000 70,000 170,000 3,000,000 2,830,000 2.83 In the planting work conducted by the Forest Service it has been found that it is not profitable to plant trees less than 3 years old, one year transplanted. The trees are closely spaced. The planting is done either in holes or by the “slit” method. After planting the trees receive no further care until thinning is re- quired, except that sheep and other grazing animals are excluded from the areas and fires kept out. The cost of planting varies from $7 to $12 per acre for the large projects; on smaller ones it may be much greater. In some sections excellent results have followed direct seeding, but success by this method is very variable. In the Rocky Mountain region wherever there are seed trees present, natural regeneration is cheaper than artificial regenera- tion. The only exception to this rule is in the lower forest zone where precipita- tion is very light, and it is extremely difficult to get adequate reproduction. This applies especially to the yellow pine type in the southern Rocky Mountains. THE PACIFIC COAST REGION Douctas Fir Type ) RACTICALLY all of the territory west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington—the Coast Range, the bottom lands, the foot- . hills, and lower western slopes of the Cascade Mountains—belongs to this type. It was originally, and much of it is still, covered with a solid and very dense forest consisting largely of Douglas fir. With it in greater or less 78 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE abundance are associated such commercially important species as western hem- lock, western red cedar, Sitka sprucé, amabilis fir, and grand fir. These species will occupy a minor place, and the management of Douglas fir receive first atten- tion from the forester. This type is now being exploited by lumbermen more than any other type, and is sure to be for many years the most active lumber manufacturing district in the country. A good deal of the land originally occupied by the heavy forests of this type has been cleared for agricultural use, and still more will be. But there yet remains an enormous area, possibly 10,000,000 acres, in western Oregon and Washington, which is ultimate forest land, i. e., it is too steep, or too stony, to be worth clearing. This area has tremendous possibilities for timber producton, and it is a most important public duty to see that this ultimate forest land be kept perpetually at, its maximum degree of forest productivity. About a third of the ultimate forest land of this type is under the control of the Federal Government and the balance is in the ownership of lumber com- panies, both large and small, railroads, and individuals. The future of this great region, therefore, devolves quite largely upon the private owner. It is to be expected that the area controlled by the Federal Government will be kept for- ested so as to produce the maximum amount of forest crops perpetually. In this region there is an abundance of wood for domestic uses on farms; there is no particular occasion for artificial wind-breaks and shelter belts, and there is no afforestation of naturally treeless land to do. The problem, there- fore, is merely to reforest in the best possible fashion the ultimate forest land, as fast as the virgin timber is removed by fire or logging, with a view solely to timber production. The exigencies of logging with donkey engines in the Douglas fir type are such that some form of clean cutting is quite essential, and this system fits in well with the requirements of the species for an opportunity to germinate in the open on a mineral seed bed, and to develop a pure, even-aged stand. Clean cut- ting is practiced, therefore, in cutting in this type and usually the slash is burned afterward. On the private lands now being logged no atterition is paid to securing a second crop, and the land is usually abandoned to fire and brush. Sometimes it becomes reforested from solitary cull trees which were left standing, or from adjacent green timber; often it is run over by a second or third fire which effectually prevents it from restocking. On the National Forests this type is so cut as to assure its reforestation by natural means. All things considered, natural regeneration seems to be preferable to arti- ficial, wherever it can be practiced. Under the following conditions, however, it cannot be used successfully and artificial methods are indicated. “1. In very decadent stands, where the Douglas fir is past the seed-bearing age and the forest is given over to hemlock, grand fir, and other secondary species not desired in the next crop, artificial methods must be resorted to in order to secure a second crop of the desired species, Douglas fr. A good many such stands exist in western Washington. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS V9 “2, In areas where seed trees are very liable to be wind-thrown if left soli- tary, it is wisdom to artificially reforest rather than to run a large risk of losing the seed trees before they have seeded up the area. Such areas are not common, but they do occur on-certain kinds of soil and in certain exposed situations. “3. Where all the trees in the stand are sound and high grade, and where every tree has a high merchantable value, it may be economically more profitable to log every tree and artificially restock the areas than to leave trees of high mer- chantable value as seed trees. Such a condition as this is rare in the Northwest. “4, Where it. is important to secure a cover at once and it is not policy to wait even a year for the natural reproduction, as on a city watershed, or where the competition of brush is feared, or where erosion is to be guarded against, some method of artificial reforestation, preferably planting, must be resorted to.’’* Although reforestation may be accomplished by seed sowing in spots at an average cost of $4.25 per acre, planting is a much surer method. Direct seeding is uncertain and chances for failure are great. Planting can be done in the most favorably situated localities in such a way as to be successful for $8.50 per acre, but the cost will be greater when the trans- portation charges for plants and labor are high. The cost per acre on an average accessible tract in this locality will be about as follows, assuming that 681 trees are planted per acre—i. e., that they are spaced 8 feet by 8 feet, the spacing now used on the National Forests: . Per thousand Per acre plants . 8x8 feet Nursery-grown 1-1 transplants ready for shipment------------------ $4.00 $2.72 Transportation, nursery to planting site--_..-__--.--------__---------- 75 51 Labor of planting-----------------------------~---------------------- 7.00 4.77 Supervision -------------------------------------------------------- 1.25 85 MOtal 222 scenes SoS SS os ah ea ee a se See ee $13.00 $8.85 “The practicability of planting is, of course, contingent upon the possibility of securing plants. For large operators or for the Forest Service, which raises its own trees, the cost of the trees is lower than it would be for the small operator who has but a small tract to reforest each year and must buy his planting stock of a commercial nursery, and must run the risk of not being able to get any locally grown nursery stock when he wants it.’’* Douglas fir will ordinarily be used pure, except in special cases where it is desirable to use some red cedar, Sitka spruce, white pine or noble fir with it. In addition to the cut-over areas that require artificial reforestation, there are burns in this type, denuded by severe crown fires, that need artificial treat- ment. Douglas fir shows a remarkable ability to re-establish a stand after fire, but it is chiefly the second or third fire at short intervals on the same ground that makes artificial planting necessary. The burns will be reforested in the same method that is applicable on cut-over land. It is usually best to plant up a burn *“Natural vs. Artificial Regeneration in the Douglas Fir Region of the Pacific Coast,” by Thornton T. Munger. ‘Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters,” VII, 2. 80 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE as soon as possible, before the brush, which might be a handicap to the plants and to the planting operations, becomes rank. Though there seems to be a well-nigh inexhaustible supply of virgin timber in the Douglas fir region, and present stumpage prices are very low, yet the field is very attractive to the forester and commercial planting will undoubtedly be profitable, provided a reasonable rise in the value of stumpage is assumed. The following tablet indicates the yields of merchantable material that can be ex- pected from the better classes of forest soil in this region (only trees over 12 inches in diameter being included. Age, Years. Feet B. M. per acre. 50 28,000 60 41,000 70 51,700 80 61,100 90 70,300 100. 79,800 110 90,300 120 101,500 130 113,000 A rotation of 60 to 100 years should produce timber of fair size for general purposes, and an even shorter rotation will give good round timber in abundance. The longer rotation would probably be used by the government, while the shortest practicable period would be chosen by the private owner. Periodic thinnings are possible and practicable, provided market conditions are satisfactory, in Douglas fir stands from the time they are 35 or 40 years old. The following tatle, quoted from “Practical Forestry in the Pacific North- west,” by Mr. E. T. Allen, is a useful guide in determining the profits from the growing of Douglas fir. It is prepared from the yield table above allowing five extra years, to make it conservative, for the stand to become established: Cost per M of growing Douglas fir resulting| Cost per M of growing Douglas fir resul- from every $1 per acre originally invested} ting from every 1 cent per acre of annual carrying charge At the end of At the end of 60 years 80 years 60 years 80 years $0.3 $0.41 $0.068 $0.098 53 88 101 172 94 1.87 -152 .309 If the original investment is $10.00 per acre ($7.50 for the planting and $2.50 for the land), and the annual carrying charges are 10 cents an acre, this plantation would have cost its owner at the end of 60 years $6.31 per M feet if he figures his investment at 5% ($ .53x10+$ .101x10). Hence if he can sell his crop at the end of 60 years, and there is no doubt that he could, for $6.31 per thousand, he would make 5% on his investment, and in addition have the land and the returns from the periodic thinnings. + From Forest Service Circular 175. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 81 Tue Sucar Ping Type This is the characteristic type of central and northern California and extreme southern Oregon on the Sierra Mountains, on the Coast Range, and on the cross ranges, and comprises the important timber zone where the moisture and tem- perature are favorable to a coniferous forest. Not excepting the redwood type it is the timber type of California. Its distinctive component is sugar pine, which occupies from 15% to 50% of the stand. With the sugar pine are found in an exceedingly irregular mixture, western yellow pine, Jeffrey pine, incense cedar, Douglas fir, white fir, and several other species. Its forests are usually uneven-aged, rather open, and rather brushy. Except for a somewhat different exterior appearance due to the prevalence of sugar pine and incense cedar, the forest resembles strongly the yellow pine type in its silvical characteristics and requirements, and at its geographic limits and on all dry situations within its range it grades into this type imperceptibly. A considerable proportion of this type, certainly a half of it, lies within the National Forests. The remainder is under private control. The silvicultural management of the sugar pine type will be very similar to that used for the yellow pine type, i. e., a selection method of cutting with natural reproduction. Ordinarily artificial reforestation will not be necessary in the man- agement of this type, even as an auxiliary to Nature, except on badly deforested burns. The burns, which are the only field for artificial reforestation in this type, present a difficult problem to the forester on account of the brush or -“mock- chaparral” with which they are covered. The brush fields, of which there are in need of reclamation in northern California and southern Oregon, certainly 200,000 acres, are the result of repeated fires which have successively decreased the chances of natural reproduction and increased the density of the brush. There are so many difficulties in reforesting this type that the only method which prom- ises real success is the planting of nursery-grown stock. This is rather a slow-growing type, probably not exceeding at best 250 board feet per acre per year, Planting, therefore, for the purpose of growing timber. would not be a profitable investment for private capital under present economic conditions; artificial reforestation in this type will be practiced only by the gov- ernment in order to restore waste areas to productivity. WESTERN YELLOW PINE TYPE This is one of the most widespread timber types in the country, and in addi- tion to being found in the drier Pacific Coast forests it occurs throughout the Rocky Mountain States. In the Pacific Coast region proper it occurs on the east slopes of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington, on the interior mountain ranges of these States,on the drier exposures within the white pine region of northern Idaho, and on the California mountains on situations too hot and dry for the sugar pine type. On the east slope of the Cascades it forms a solid belt of timber with an altitudinal breadth of 1,500 feet or so, extending 82 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE from the desert, or “dry timber line” to the upper slopes, where it gives way to the fir type. This yellow pine type is the important commercial type within its range, for yellow pine is one of the most useful of the western conifers. In places the stand is practically pure western yellow pine over large areas; in other places there is a varying amount of Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, white fir, grand fir, western larch, and incense cedar. Usually the forest is very uneven-aged, and an abundance of seedlings and saplings, in groups, fills up the gaps in the loose canopy of the older trees. This type occupies a region in which the climate is unfavorable to most tree species and in which growth is ordinarily slow even for yellow pine. ‘ ; Some of the land within this type is agricultural, but the majority of it is so dry or so cold, or so rocky, or so steep that it should remain forested perpetually and be one of the Nation’s sources of lumber. Possibly a half of this type in the Paeific Coast region is within public ownership in the National Forests and Indian Reservations. Most of the rest is held by large lumber companies, and a little is held as a part of ranches or woodlots. The method of silviculture which is indicated for this yellow pine type, and which is now being put into practice with good success on the National Forests, is a selection method of cutting. As in the sugar pine type, there is practically no occasion to use any method of artificial reforestation in the yellow pine type proper, for the selection method of cutting meets so nicely the silvical require- ments of the tree. This type, moreover, is singularly free from disastrous fires, so that seldom is so large an area devasted that it does not become reforested naturally. LAND BorDERING THE YELLOW PINE TYPE In the naturally treeless land of central Washington and Oregon, bordering the yellow pine belt, is a ranching region. Here small blocks of trees are very desirable to supply fuel, posts, etc., for local use, to act as wind-breaks, and for their scenic effect. These shelter belts, or woodlots, must be located where they may be irrigated or sub-irrigated, for the climate is usually too dry to grow trees without artificial help. Severe winters and occasional late frosts compel the use of fairly hardy trees. The only practicable method of starting these planta- tions is by planting nursery-grown stock (or cuttings, in the case of poplars and willows). The spacing will, of course, depend upon the object of the owner and the species to be used. For wind-breaks it would not be wider than 4x4 feet, while for fuel purposes with rapid-growing species it might be as wide as 7x7 feet. The climate is so variable in this region that the choice of species must be decided locally. In general, frost-hardy, drought-resistant, rapid-growing hard- woods only are desirable. The following seem to meet the requirements of the region—if they can be watered enough to get a start—green ash, box-elder, various species of poplars, black cherry, white willow, white elm, and red oak. In the warmer parts of the Pacific Coast region in southern California, eucalyptus will be used. The usefulness of such planting is very evident, but the profit can- not be estimated. Returns will depend greatly upon local site conditions. FIFTH NATIONAL, CONSERVATION CONGRESS 83 8 REDwoop TyPs Though geographically a small and local type, the redwood forest must be considered separately, for it is economically very important and silvically is un- like any of the other types of the country. It occupies a narrow strip along the California coast north of Monterey County and within the “fog belt,” i. e., within 25 miles or so of the shore line. Redwood trees which reach a diameter of 5 to 15 feet and sometimes a height of over 300 feet, dominate the stand, though on slopes particularly such species as tanbark oak, white fir, Douglas fir, and western hem- lock are numerous. . Redwood produces a good all-purpose wood of ready merchantability. Its stands are extremely heavy and offer an attractive field for the lumberman in spite of the difficulties of handling the giant trees. Logging has been in progress in this type for many years and quite a proportion of the virgin forest has been cut over. A good deal of the original forest land in this type is suitable for farming and will in time be cleared for cultivation or pasturage, but much of it is too steep for agricultural use and should be kept forested. Practically all of the redwood type is in private ownership and most of it is in the hands of large lumber companies. The future of this type, therefore, depends upon the care given it by these private owners. The customary method of logging redwood is extremely destructive of the forest and leaves it in very bad condition for natural regeneration. After the trees are all felled, the area is burned over by a hot slash fire. The logs are then bucked and hauled out by donkey engines. This process kills most of the young trees, and subsequent uncontrolled slash fires are apt to kill any reproduction that might start later. A very few companies are cutting their timber con- servatively and protecting the cut-over land with a view to securing subsequent crops of timber. Redwood is one of the few conifers that coppice from the stump, and Jits sprouts are vigorous and will mature into good trees. This characteristic is the key to the forester’s management of this type. If logging methods can be modi- fied and fires controlled, the regeneration of the forest after logging can be secured in this way by natural means at low cost. In some stands, however, the original redwood trees are so scattered that the sprouts would be too wide spaced to make a good quality of second growth. Artificial means, therefore, are in such cases necessary to fill in the gaps. This will be done by planting nursery-grown trees. Redwood is probably the most desirable of any of the native trees for this purpose; one lumber company is using eucalyptus. The number of trees to be planted and the cost of the work will depend wholly upon the number of sprouts already present. There are also cut-over areas within the redwood type which have been so completely denuded by logging and fire that they must be reforested artificially in order to bring them back to productive condition. Eucalyptus is suggested for this purpose, but it cannot be said yet whether it will be ultimately successful or not. In “Practical Forestry in the Pacific Northwest,” Mr. E. T. Allen says of the 84 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE redwood type: “Government studies on the northern California coast prove con- clusively, however, that this is our most rapid growing native commercial tree. In thirty years, on fair soil, it will produce a tree 16 inches in diameter, 80 feet high, and some 45-year-old stands run 20 to 30 inches on the stump, and about 100 feet high. There is little question of the profit of growing redwood provided the difficulties described elsewhere of getting a dense crop started are overcome.” Conservative forest management in this type by any reasonably cheap method of natural or artificial reforestation should be financially profitable to the private owner assuming that the value of stumpage will constantly increase. Second crops of redwood should be of good size for the sawmill in 50 years, and if eucalyptus can be successfully grown on these lands the new forest would be merchantable in even shorter time. WESTERN WHITE PINE TYPE. Most of northern Idaho and adjoining small portions of the States of Wash- ington and Montana on the west side of the Continental Divide are occupied by the white pine forest region, and about a half of this area belongs to the white pine type. This forest type occupies the lower slopes of the mountains, which, with its humid and rather mild climate, is pre-eminently adapted to the growth of western white pine. This tree is perhaps the most valuable of the important western conifers, and its propagation will therefore control the forest manage- ment in this region. It forms in the virgin woods at least 50% of the stand over large areas, though it is by no means everywhere the dominant tree. Douglas fir, western larch, western red cedar, Engelmann spruce, western hemlock, lodge- pole pine, and western yellow pine all occur in greater or less abundance in this region, and on the drier sites a mixture of larch, yellow pine, and Douglas fir takes the place of the white pine type proper. The white pine forests are usually rather dense, rather uneven-aged, and are composed of trees of medium size. The climate is favorable, and hence growth is rapid, as in the Douglas fir type west of the Cascades. Quite a large proportion of this type is on land which will eventually be cleared for agricultural use, but a good deal of it, especially most of that within the National Forests, is ultimate forest land. Probably over half of it falls within the National Forests, and the rest is privately owned, except for a few hundred thousand acres within an Idaho State Forest. This region is now the scene of very active logging operations, and it will undoubtedly always be an important timber producing district. This region has the capacity to produce such a large quantity of high value timber that here intensive forest management should be profitable to the individual owner (i. e., the large, stable companies that are in business for an indefinite time), as well as to the government. Artificial reforestation should be used to supplement natural, and is required for burned lands of which there is a considerable area. The method of artificial reforestation recommended for white pine is like that for the Pacific Coast types—planting of nursery-grown stock. Direct seeding has been so unsuccessful as not to be advisable, and one of the chief causes for its failure seems to be the high mortality the first year during the hot, dry weather. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 85 White pine is the species recommended for general use wherever it naturally reaches good development. With it should be planted a 25% to 50% mixture of other trees as fillers and for an understory—western larch, Engelmann spruces, and western red cedar—since white pine is too intolerant to do well in an abso- lutely pure stand. The white pine and larch stock should be either 1—2 or 2—1 transplants, while the Engelmann spruce and red cedar should be 2—1. A spac- ing of 8x8 feet is probably ideal for this type when both cost and silvicultural results are considered. If 60% of the plants are white pine and ‘the balance of the other species there would be 408 white pines per acre. An estimate of the cost of establishing such a plantation of mixed species is as follows: Per thousand Per acre plants 8x8 feet Nursery stock ready for shipment, mixed species_---------_---- efies $4.25 $2.89 Transportation, nursery to planting site-__-____-_----__-_------__---. .50 34 Labor of planting. ieee s ey eo ee en en 6.50 4.42 SUPELVISION S222 seo ee eee eee 1.25 85 Miata Soe PNP 0 ENED es RT eee oe a lees $12.50 $8.50 It is estimated that this white pine land is capable of producing at least 600 board feet per acre per year. The length of rotation necessary to give timber of a fair commercial size is 120 years, so that plantations made now should yield 75,000 board feet after 120 years. Thinnings would, of course, yield returns somewhat sooner. But even at the relatively large initial cost of planting, the planting of white pine on ultimate forest land is a profitable investment for a long-term concern, when it is considered that its stumpage is steadily and rapidly rising in value. This is one of the few forest types of the West of which this may be said. The volume growth of white pine stands is probably somewhat less than that _ in the Douglas fir type, but its wood is of higher value. Therefore the monetary yield from the white pine type should be comparable with that from the Douglas fir type. The tables showing the cost of growing Douglas fir may be used also to determine the profit in growing white pine. Fir Types The upper slopes of both sides of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington, the upper slopes of the Sierra Mountains of California above the zonal ranges of the commercial sugar pine forests, and the upper slopes of the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon, are occupied by a forest which may be called the fir type, because it consists largely of various ‘species of Abies—A. nobilis, amabilis, concolor, lasiocarpa, shastensis, and magnifica. Practically all the land embraced within the exterior limits of this type was originally and still is forested. Since the most of it lies above the highest cli- matic contour at which agriculture can be practiced successfully, this type is prac- tically all ultimate forest land. For this reason it is of the greatest economic im- portance. 86 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Denuded burned lands require reforestation and planting may be occasionally practicable after logging in the place of natural reproduction. Growth is slow in this type and initial cost of reforestation large, hence planting cannot be con- sidered financially profitable. Its chief importance rests upon the necessity of protecting the flow of important streams. Sus-ALPINE TYPE There is no commercial forest planting in this type. It is purely a protective forest composed principally of lodgepole pine, Alpine fir, mountain hemlock and white bark pine. It occurs on the high mountains throughout the Pacific Coast region above the fir type and the zone of timber of commercial size. AFFORESTATION OF TREELESS LAND WITH EUCALYPTS Most of southern California and a considerable proportion of the low- altitude valleys of northern California are naturally treeless, yet these regions, particularly southern California, are very much in need of trees for several pur- poses—for timber, for fuel, posts, poles, ties, and lumber; for watershed pro- tection on the mountain sides, for wind-breaks, and for scenic effects about ranches. The problem here, therefore, is the afforestation of desert lands, and it is a problem which has baffled foresters for a number of years and which is still far from being satisfactorily settled. There are several types of treeless land in this great region—chaparral-covered mountain sides at both high and low altitudes, almost vegetationless desert plateaux, and deep-soiled valley land, both irrigable and non-irrigable. No one method of afforestation is, of course, applicable to all these types of land, and care must be exercised to apply the proper treatment on each tract. The small annual precipitation, its great irregularity; the heat and dryness of the atmosphere, all combine to make the operation of afforestation extremely difficult here. To attain success good judgment in the choice of species and meth- ods and care in the selection of the planting stock are essential. Eucalyptus has been the favorite genus to use in this region in the past few years, and its merits have been advertised widely by commercial real estate and nursery companies. Phenomenal yields have been ascribed to it, and its hardiness and adaptability have been much exaggerated. At low altitudes throughout California, various species of eucalyptus are planted for shade and ornament, and in southern California are a good many thousand acres of commercial woodlots and of wind-breaks, chiefly of blue gum (4. globulus). Eucalyptus planting in California is therefore by no means wholly in the experimental stage. The question is on what sites and under what con- ditions is it practicable and profitable, and what methods should be used. First, it may be said that eucalyptus should not be planted where a tem- perature below 26° F. is experienced, or, to be still safer, where 30° F. is the minimum. Eucalyptus is really successfully planted only where it can be culti- vated or irrigated at the start, except possibly in the humid coastal belt or in sub- irrigated valleys. Where it is not irrigated, the water table must be within 12 FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 87 feet of the surface. This limits the range for commercial planting in arid regions practically to agricultural or semi-agricultural areas. It is a mistake to believe that successful plantations can be established on dry rocky mountain sides. The planting of such sites and of the chaparral-covered slopes has usually met with failure, after repeated attempts with a variety of species. Even after a favorable site for planting is found, the establishment of the plantation requires more skill and money and consequent care than an ordinary coniferous plantation in a forested region. Methods: ‘The only method of establishing a plantation is by planting nur- sery-grown stock. Direct seeding is entirely out of the question. Since many species of eucalypts are good sprouters, subsequent crops will start from the coppice sprouts, so that a plantation, once established, may be kept forested indefinitely. It is best to grow the plants in seed boxes or flats for a few weeks until they are about two inches tall, then transplant them to individual pots in which they are left for a few months more. They will then be 5 to 7 inches tall, but may be set out in the planting site without disturbing their root systems. This method of pot planting implies that the nursery is close to the planting site. Where it is not, the plants will be transplanted in the nursery in the usual manner. A year before the field planting is done, it is very desirable to plow the area to get the soil in good condition for the plants. The setting of the trees is done in the usual manner after danger of frost is over and when the ground is moist between January and April. A spacing of 8 x 8 feet is usual for woodlot planting, and 4x 4 feet in a double row for wind-breaks. The plantation should be culti- vated during its first year, as any agricultural crop is, so that it may survive until the roots reach subsoil moisture, and so that it may not be handicapped by weeds. In woodlot plantations Monterey cypress is often used with eucalyptus with good success ; otherwise the plantations are usually pure. i Species: There are hundreds of species of eucalypts, but of these five are particularly worthy of attention by the forester in this region—the blue gum (E. globulus), sugar gum (E. corynocalyx), red gum (E. rostrata), grey gum (E. tereticornus), and manna gum (£. viminalis). “Whenever the selection of species lies between blue and sugar gum, the kind of product desired and the amount of soil moisture present must determine the choice. If firewood, piles, or dimension stuff is desired, the blue gum should be selected, especially if there is no marked deficiency of soil moisture. If poles, ties, or a wood of unusual durability and strength is desired, the sugar gum should be chosen, particularly if the situation is rather arid. The sugar gum is the more drought-resistant, but the blue gum is the more rapid growing. Outside the planting range of the blue and sugar gums, the red gum commends itself, owing to its frost hardiness and the durability of its timber. In frosty or swampy locations it should receive first preference. The uses of its product are limited, however, by the fact that it is inclined to a crooked, brushy form. It is of rapid growth, and furnishes a product which is very durable in contact with the soil. The grey gum is equally rapid in growth, but is somewhat less frost hardy than the red. It grows in good 88 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE form, especially in plantations, and furnishes a very durable timber. Manna gum grows very rapidly, but it is hardly worthy of consideration, since it is but slightly more frost hardy than the sugar and blue gums, while its timber is inferior te that of either species.”* ; Vields and Returns: On proper sites there can be no doubt of the profitable- ness of commercial eucalyptus planting, contingent, of course, upon a reasonable initial investment for land and planting, intelligent management, and accessibility to market. Areas suitable for eucalyptus planting, that is, near transportation and where the minimum temperature is not less than 24° F., can be purchased for about $30 per acre. The cost of preparing an acre of ground for planting does not ordinarily exceed $6. Seedlings can be purchased for $6 per thousand. The planting of 1,000 trees (enough for an acre) costs about $4. The cost of culti- vating and caring for a plantation for two years does not usually exceed $7 per acre, including the purchase of trees to fill blanks in the plantation. Any thin- nings made up to the time of the first cutting should pay for themselves. The cost of establishing a plantation and carrying it through the first two years, excluding the cost of land, is therefore about $23 per acre. Taxes on the class of land used for growing blue gum amount to about 30 cents per acre per year. Ten cents per acre per year should be expended in pro- tection from fire. These two items represent a fixed annual charge per acre for the 10-year period before the first cutting. Discounted at 4 per cent, this amounts to a present investment of about $3.25 per acre. The total investment involved in establishing 1 acre of plantation is, therefore, about $56.25. Actual measurements show that an average yield of about 6.4 standard cords, or 8.5 California cords, per acre is produced by the best blue gum groves in the State. Individual groves have occasionally done better. One grove was found which produced 185.9 standard cords in 25 years, or about 7.4 cords per year. Another produced over 59 cords in nine years, or nearly 6.6 cords per year. On the other hand, three groves under average conditions, with fair soil and the water table not more than 25 feet from the surface, show an annual growth per acre of only 4.05, 3.9, and 3.7% cords, respectively. Under unfavorable condi- tions, with a deep water table or with hardpan near the surface, the annual growth in two cases has been as low as 1.6 cords and 1.1 cords per acre. An annual yield of 6.4 cords per acre, or 64 cords per acre in 10 years, may therefore be accepted as a fair estimate of what may be obtained upon the best sites under the methods of management heretofore used. Assuming a stumpage price of $2.50 per standard cord, this yield would return $160 in 10 years from the wood alone. This represents nearly 13% com- pound interest on the original investment of $56.25. Out of that amount $30, the cost of the land, may be considered as restored to the investor with the harvesting of the crop, and is, in effect, an additional return. Since blue gum sprouts rapidly, the same return of .64 cords, worth $160, should be obtained periodically at the end of every 10 years for at least several * “Handbook for Eucalyptus Planters,” by G. B. Lull, Circular 2, California State Board of Forestry. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 89 rotations. In this case, however, no additional expenditure is necessary for establishing or caring for the plantation. The amount invested is, therefore, $33.25 ($30 for land and $3.25 for capitalized taxes and protection). A return of slightly more than 19% would thus be realized in growing each of the sprout crops following the first, or planted, crop. This is assuming that the value of the land remains unchanged and that this amount is re-invested periodically after each crop is harvested. In the figures just given it is assumed also that the operation is handled by the individual investor on an area large enough to be managed economically. This should be not less than 50 acres.* Eucalyptus planting has not solved the problem of the afforestation of the treeless southern California hills, as the more optimistic hoped it would. No tree is superior to the eucalypts for the better class of arid land. The unfavorable chapparal-covered hillsides, however, which have so far resisted all attempts to reforest them with eucalypts and with conifers must probably long remain forestless. THE DISCUSSION ON THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FOREST PLANTING HE Chairman: The very admirable report presents an exceedingly impor- | tant question, analyzing, as it does, the situation and making it clear that forestry is not all planting as it used to be thought. Professor J. W. Toumey, of Connecticut: What has interested me the most in recent years has been the growing tendency for the artificial establishment of forests by corporations and municipal organizations, where I think there is a great outlook in the future. Even in the State of Connecticut, a public corpora- tion, the New Haven Water Committee, has nearly 10,000 acres of land, and that company is planting some 3,000 trees a year. The whole forest is organized, and it is a sufficiently large body of land that it can be maintained as a working circle and handled progressively with somebody in charge of it. The Hartford Water Company has a forest which protects its water shed, which is an admirable illus- tration of what can be done in the artificial establishment of forests. The water company of the’ city of Bridgeport has several thousand acres. In the aggregate, these public corporations, water companies and municipal organizations which control the water sheds.from which they derive their water, are going to be, in the near future, an enormous factor in the East, and it is going to extend elsewhere. Those are the people who will promote the regeneration of forests, and it seems to me almost better than any other body of men, except where it is done by the State and by the nation. Furthermore, as expressed in the report, there is a great need for the different States to undertake systematic reforestation of certain portions of those States that are absolutely non-productive at the present time. For instance, where a State like Connecticut, I am bringing these things down to the specific cases, can put up a million dollars to build good roads, it can put up some money to improve waste lands, and where Connecticut will now put up $1,000,000 to build State roads and only $2,000 to improve her forests, that is entirely out of proportion. What Connecticut ought to do and what the other Eastern States ought to do is to put up money, not by $2,000 and $1,000 and $3,000 amounts, but by $50,009 *“Vield and Return of Blue Gum in California,” by T. D. Woodbury. Forest Service Circular 210. 90 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE and $100,000 amounts. The thing that we want at the present time is these East- ern States particularly is to have a definite notion in each State of what is potential forest land and what is potential agricultural land. ‘ Mr. Alfred Gaskill, of New Jersey: It is literally a crying shame that we cannot develop, whether through plantations or through remnants-—I prefer the latter in most cases—the maintenance of forest remnants as parks to serve our cities and communities. I might go a step farther and ask Professor Toumey if he would seriously advocate any organization unit in this country deliberately spending money, raising it by bond issue or in whatever way you please, for the establishment of a forest plantation or even any investment in a discarded forest property. To my mind, municipal financing to invest public money in such a project would be very questionable. Lots of people would come back to us and say this: You say, by your admission, you cannot make two or three per cent on that and we can put our money in plenty of things. That is only by way of a little illustration, but there is something behind it. The thing that I really have in mind is the application of this planting idea to specific conditions. I feel pretty strongly that in a large part of our forestry work it is a good thing and will apply generally, but when it comes to a question of forest planting, I want to know specifically whether—I do not care whether it is a public corporation or private individual—there is enough behind it that is material, or whether it is purely sentimental, to justify the undertaking; if there is, go ahead. If it is simply a question of forest planting, I do not think we have made quite enough discrimination with respect to the kinds of trees to be planted, having in mind our local conditions and our market. I think there is a disposi- tion amongst all of us to fly to what is natural, to put in more and more things ‘that are thoroughly at home, or else to fly to the other extreme and try experi- ments. Mr. Elwood Wilson, of Canada: Mr. Chairman, for the last eight years I have been face to face with this problem of whether commercial reforestation was a profitable thing, and there is at least one branch of industry using wood as a raw material which must come around to the point of view of reforestation and that is the pulp and paper industry. The quantities used are so large, and the areas which are covered in order to get the necessary amount of raw material are so immense, that the time will inevitably come when the mere harvesting and de- livery of the crop to the mill will be more than the product will justify. After very careful consideration, and some experimenting, I am convinced that it will pay the paper companies and pulp companies to plant up their own forests, and, briefly, for these reasons: In the first place, those companies are always situated where water power is cheap; they are generally in an out of the way place where surrounding lands can be picked up at small prices. The result is that by careful planting and laying out plantations, a great many things can be taken care of which will ultimately lessen the cost of the product. For instance, if vou buy lands reasonably near your mill, you decrease wonderfully your drive costs, the cost of getting your material to the mill, you decrease the cost of floor products you decrease the cost of administration and you decrease the cost of lumbering, because you do not have to carry your provisions so far, you do not have to de- pend on any specific time of the year for your cutting and you are much more able to easily get labor. We have undertaken—of course it is only in embryo as yet— to lay out sections of land and plant them, with the specific idea of harvesting crops in the future. We are planting so as to be near the mill, planting so as to be near the streams where it is necessary, and I am fully convinced that as the prices of timber rise, and the need for wood becomes more and more acute. that all of the pulp and paper companies will be driven or forced into planting for their own protection. They have large investments in wood, it is the only thing FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 91 they use, and in all probability it will be the only thing they will use for years, and they will have to plant up waste lands for those purposes. Mr. Philip W. Ayres, of New Hampshire: Mr. Chairman, before we adjourn I want to make one spontaneous suggestion. It seems to me that we represent the forestry industries of the various States throughout the United States, and we have our Canadian friends with us. We are happy in having this meeting presided over by you, and we are glad we are here with you, as we feel you are doing a great big work, that you are not afraid of things because they are big and that you are not afraid of them when they do not yield return, and in dis- couraging times we want you to feel that we are with you. (Applause.) Others who participated in the discussion of this report were: Mr. S. B. Elliott, of Pennsylvania; Professor William R. Lazenby, of Ohio; Mr. N. P. Wheeler, of Pennsylvania. ESTABLISHING PRINCIPLES OF FRAMING, PASSING AND ENFORCING A STATE FOREST LAW By THE Sus-CoMMITTEE ON State Forest Poricy. Chairman, Wiu1am T. Cox, St. Paul, Minn. F. A. Exuiorr, Salem, Ore. H. H. Cuoapman, New Haven, Conn. C.R. Pettis, Albany, N.Y. J. E. Ruoves, Chicago, Ill. Presented by Mr. William T. Cox, Monday Afternoon, November 17, 1913. what different lines, in order that it may meet the criticisms made and perhaps furnish a broader working basis. Most of the criticisms were based on legal construction, or on methods. To avoid debate on such matters, which necessarily differ for different States, it has been deemed advisable to treat the subject in three parts or divisions, setting forth the principles involved in each part, and showing by a brief discussion, the relation of these principles one to another. The model State forest law contains much detailed information that should be of valuable assistance in actually framing a law, and it is submitted as an appendix to this report. r | \HE preliminary report of your committee has been recast along some- Parr J, FRAMING A FOREST LAW HE established principles in framing a law naturally fall under three head- | ings: The principles on which a forest law should be based, the principles determining the form of organization, and the principles determining the effectiveness of the law and organization. PRINCIPLES ON WuicH A Forest Law SHoutp Br BASED. The State is interested in all forests, public or private, and should have a voice in the matter of handling even private forest lands, because the forest is a limited natural resource which must be cared for and maintained continuously for the public welfare, and because the individual has but a passing interest in it. 92 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Protection of Forests. The first thought of a forester is for the protection of existing forests, and under the heading of protection we can properly group the measures which may be taken to insure against direct loss the mature forests and such timber resources as are being provided through natural conditions. Protection from fire is of chief importance, and second comes protection from attacks of insects and fungi. There are other phases of forestry work, protective, in a certain sense, but logically, and for the sake of convenience, they can be grouped under the head of maintenance of timber supply. The first basic principle of a forest law is forest protection. Maintenance of Timber Supply. The second principle is to establish a timber supply on a permanent basis. To accomplish this purpose, work must naturally begin with a classification of the land, determining as closely as possible what lands are agricultural in character and what lands are non-agricultural and should therefore be devoted to the grow- ing of timber. This classification should be carried out by the State irrespective of the ownership of the land classified. Theoretically, this work should precede attempts at reforestation, afforestation, application of silvicultural methods of cutting, attempts to equalize the tax on timber and timberlands, or State owner- ship of lands used for forestry purposes. However, in practice it has been found expedient to develop forestry work along such of these lines as the public under- stands and is ready to accept. Nevertheless, non-agricultural lands must be determined, and the classification agreed to by the people, before one can consider forestry as established on a permanent footing in the State. Reforestation should be carried on by the State not only on its own lands devoted to forestry purposes, but also in cooperation with private owners. The part which the State should play in its cooperation should be commensurate with the interest which the State has in maintaining the timber supply. The same may also be said of afforestation, but in the majority of cases this work will be State cooperation in woodlot and windbreak planting. The application of silvicultural methods to logging operations is one of the chief factors in establishing and maintaining the greatest timber supply. The proper method of brush disposal approaches in a degree to a silvicultural method, although such disposal may be considered chiefly as a fire protective measure. This has been practically accepted as a regular part of logging throughout the northern half of the United States; and it is but a small step in advance on the part of the State to require the leaving of a certain number of sturdy, thrifty seed trees on every acre of non-agricultural land logged, or, where this method is not practicable, the State might require the timber to be removed in a series of two or three cuttings, so as to insure the renewal of a forest on lands which can be used only for tree growth. Or, for some States, the best cutting method might be to require the logger to replace the trees cut, by planting an equal or larger number of desirable species. The State’s interest in the forest is para- mount to the interest of all others, and if it is to properly guard the public welfare some such means of perpetuating the timber supply must be used. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 93 Under the system of taxation of timber and timber lands which is in practice in most of the States at the present time, the application of silvicultural methods to logging would undoubtedly work somewhat of a hardship on the lumbermen. The tax is not equitable, and no forest law is complete unless it makes some pro- vision for correcting the plan of taxation which is used in most of the States. On account of the long time involved in growing a timber crop on forest land, the tax is really on the annual increment of the forest, but the amount of the tax is based on the entire stand. The law should provide for taxing the timber crop on the basis of its value when cut, and there should be a tax also, as a matter of expediency, on the forest land itself. The purchase of non-agricultural land by the State naturally follows as a means of utilizing such forest lands as probably will not be handled by private corporations, by protecting the headwaters of navigable streams, by providing public recreation grounds, and by putting into practice the forestry methods which it advocates. Princip.eEs DETERMINING THE Form oF ORGANIZATION FOR ForEStRY Work. The form of administrative departments of the several States is based on principles derived from the English or French systems of government, or from our own Federal system. For use in State administration these principles are modified in various ways, often to such an extent that their original purpose may be lost. In framing a law, the form of organization should provide for accurate. skillful, economical and efficient consummation of the principles which are the purposes of the law. The Governing Body to be Removed from Direct Responsibility to Political Parties. To carry out the basic principles for which forestry stands, the organization must be free from direct responsibility to political parties. More-than any other administrative department of the State, the forestry work should be free from interruption and disorganization arising from the change in political and personal administration of the State. While it is, perhaps, necessary that the administra- tion of forestry matters should be responsive to the will of the people, it is very essential that they should not be subject to the whims and ill-advised action which is sometimes taken by a State Legislature. No continuous and progressive forest policy can be carried out in a State where such interference may arise, and it would be far better if the organization of the forestry department were almost entirely removed from responsibility to the will of the people, as is the case with our judiciary at the present time. Civil Service. To further safeguard the continuity of the forest policy, civil service regula- tions should govern in the employment of practically all grades of officers in the forestry department. The advantages of having civil service requirements are obvious. 94 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Representation of Groups of Industries Directly and Indirectly Concerned with Forestry. (Ex-officio.) It has been the custom to assign the administration of forestry matters in the State to a board or commission. It frequently happens that the men who are appointed to these boards or commissions have little or no knowledge of the work which is assigned to their care, and often. the appointment is conferred on them for political or personal favors:' As a result, the executive in charge of the real work of the department may be hampered by their periodic attempts to grasp the details of the work and to-prescribe the course of procedure. The law should provide for a board or commission, the members of which are directly concerned with the welfare of the forests. These men should be ex-officio members of the forestry board or commission. To illustrate, it should consist of the head of the forest school, if there is one in the State, the head of the agricultural college, and- the secertary or similar officer of the State lumbermen’s associations. These officers represent the main considerations in forestry, but there might be additional members, representing the fish and game protective association, and the agricul- tural, forestry and water power associations. ‘The membership of the board should not exceed: five in number. The executive head of the department, with such a board, would have the benefit of their advice on matters of policy. This method of making up the governing body will practically eliminate the risk of having the organization disrupted or the board’s policy radically changed by a legislature which may act hastily and without full consideration. Provision for an Executive Head Who is Fitted by Training and Experience. Having provided for the make-up and personnel of the governing body or commission, the next step is to require the board to select an executive head who is fitted by training and experience for handling the State forestry work. Provision for Ample Discretionary Power. The law should give the executive head or forester ample discretionary power. It is important that this power should be in the hands of the forester, because of the practical impossibility of framing into law the detailed forms and methods of administrative procedure. The State legislatures invariably attempt to eliminate discretionary power in the administrative offices by piling up legisla- tive provisions and enactments covering all phases of all lines of work. We all know of cases where this tendency has resulted in seriously handicapping effective administrative work. In the framing of a new law and the organization of a new department, it is very essential that details should be left to the executive. and after he has had time and opportunity to prepare and work out the methods of procedure they can, if necessary, be readily incorporated as part of the law. Provision for Delegating Discretionary Power. For the same reason that legislatures do not commonly delegate discretionary power to the administrative officers of the State, the tendency is to limit the executive when it comes to delegating such power to subordinate officers. His authority to do this should not be limited, for obvious reasons. FIFTH NATIONAL, CONSERVATION CONGRESS 95 Provision for an Efficient Field Organization. An efficient field organization should be made possible by the law. This may be insured in part by the personnel of the forestry board, by the enactment of civil service requirements, and by the qualifications required in the State forester, upon whose judgment the selection of the right kind of men will rest. Provision for Settling Controversies as a Part of the Administrative Work. In all administrative work there are controversies arising over the interpreta- tion of certain provisions of the law, or the enforcement of regulations prescribed by the forester in pursuance with his authority under the law to prescribe such regulations, This is distinctly a judicial function, but nevertheless the function in such cases is subordinate to administration, and therefore comes in as one phase of administrative work. The law ghould provide that decisions by the forester or forestry board on matters which do not obviously come within the jurisdiction of the court should be final. This form of procedure is quite largely followed even now, although no direct reference to it may be found in the statutes. -The administrative officer will consult the office of the attorney general of the State when in doubt, and be guided by his advice. PRINCIPLES DETERMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ORGANIZATION. Having outlined in-the law the principles on which forestry work is based, and the form of organization to carry out these principles, its effectiveness will depend, in the first place, upon the funds which are appropriated for the work. Its effectiveness will also depend in a large degree on the efficiency of the force, the proper equipment of the force, and such permanent improvements as telephone lines, trails and canoe routes as it may be possible to provide. There must also be provision for the prompt punishment of violators of the law. Great care should be taken in wording such provisions, in order that action may be quickly taken and penalties duly administered. -The field officers of the department should have police power, in order not only that violators of the law may be brought to justice, but also that they may with due authority take steps*to prevent the loss or destruction of property in their care or within their jurisdiction. Summary oF Part I. Principles on Which a Forest Law Should Be Based. The State is interested in all forests, public or private, and should have a voice in the manner of handling even private forest land, because it is a limited natural resource which must be maintained continuously for the public welfare, and because the individual has but a passing interest in the forest. 1. Protection of forests. . ; Fire protection by State and by cooperation. Diseases and insects. 2. Maintenance of timber supply. Classification of land. Reforestation. 96 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Afforestation. Silvicultural methods. Taxation. State ownership. Principles Determining the Form of Organization for Forestry Work. 1. The governing body to be removed from direct responsibility to political parties. 2. Civil service. 3. Representation of groups of industries directly and indirectly concerned with forestry. (Ex-officio.) . Provision for an executive head who is fitted by training and experience. Provision for ample discretionary power. Provision for delegating discretionary power. Provision for an efficient field organization. Provision for settling controversies as a part of the administrative work. Go Se ue Principles Determining Effectiveness of the Organization. 1. An adequate fund. 2. An efficient force (Equipment and Permanent Improvements). 3. Prompt and effective penal provisions. 4. Police power. Part II. PASSING A FOREST LAW [T..\VERYBODY is interested one way or another in forestry. Despite this fact, it is not an easy matter to get a legislature to enact good forest laws. 4— Ina State where there is much forest there will be a lumbering industry. Through the representation coming from lumbering districts a great deal can be accomplished, for they want the timber protected from fire. Legislators repre- senting farming districts are interested in tree planting, and from that viewpoint may be induced to favor a comprehensive forest law. Sportsmen generally understand the importance of the forest in serving as game cover, and may be counted upon to lend their aid toward proper conservation of forests through enacting a suitable law. Women’s Federation Clubs and similar organizations. and all who have or want summer homes by wooded lakes, are natural friends of good forestry bills and may be enlisted in efforts to get proper legislative action. In conducting a campaign looking toward the passage of any forest law, the first essential is the proper advertising of the proposed legislation, setting forth in detail the results it proposes to obtain. As all laws are passed with a definite object in view, it is natural that any law pertaining to forestry will emanate from some person or persons who are interested in the preservation of the forests. This interest may be for different reasons, and this fact must be borne in mind and the several viewpoints giver careful consideration. The preparation of a forestry bill or any part of it should be performed by a committee composed, if possible, of the various interests affected, if such a bill should become a law. Therefore, the first step, and a very important one, FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 97 6 should be to call a meeting of interested persons and appoint from their number a live executive committee. Too much care cannot be given to the appointment of such a committee, as upon it will fall the framing, advertising and the represen- tation before legislative committees of the desired legislation. There should, if possible, be represented on this excutive committee, foresters, agriculturists, lumbermen, railroad officials and sportsmen, all of whom have a direct interest in their particular line in the preservation of the forests. Expert legal talent, the favorable expression of the press and the public, and the services of some person or persons familiar with legislative committee work, will all be necessary to secure the passage of a forest law. Before any proposed law is given publicity, its constitutionality should be given careful consideration. The principles which the law is to follow and the form of expressing these principles and methods to make them effective should be in quite definite form before presentation to the public. The power of the press, and the encouragement and formation of associations and societies whose object is the furtherance of a forest conservation policy, are factors that are of the highest importance and should be used to their fullest extent. Carefully written articles appearing in the newspapers will tend not only to give publicity, but will also call forth an expression of opinion which may be favorable or the reverse. Such an expression will show better, perhaps, than any other way, just how public opinion stands with regard to the proposed law. A classified list of individuals interested in one phase or another of forestry, provides a means of getting results from direct appeals to them. There is no better means for gauging the public sentiment and keeping its active support. In the compilation of any article or pamphlet pertaining to the desired legisla- tion, the writer should endeavor to cover his subject in all its phases. The fact that our lumber industry would be in some measure affected, would immediately arouse the interest of lumbermen. Sportsmen should be considered, as they realize better, perhaps, than any one else, the importance of a forest cover for the perpetuation of a game and fish supply. Women’s clubs and similar organiza- tions, and all who have or want summer homes by forest-sheltered lakes, are natural friends of good forestry bills, and they are always willing to do all they can to secure proper legislative action. The existence of a State forestry association or similar organization, offers an excellent opportunity to place the proposed legislation before the public and the legislators. The efforts of such an organization need not be confined to meetings or conventions only, but should be enlarged to cover such work as the issuance of a magazine devoted to forestry. If this forestry association is affiliated to some other society, numerically stronger, and arrangements are made for dual member- ship, a commensurate amount of support will be gained. In some States, sportsmen have founded what are known as Ganie Protective Associations, whose members, apart from the excitement of the hunt, are seeking the forests and streams for relaxation from business worries. These clubmen, as a rule, are broad-minded, and their support can always be depended on: when any good forestry measures are pending. 98 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE In States where a Forest Service is already in operation, the personnel com- prising it will affect new legislation to a marked degree. It is not intended to convey that their political associations will be responsible for this, but rather the results they have obtained by the forest law, the provisions of which it has been their duty to enforce. Advantage should be taken of any special days usually set aside by proclama- tion of the governor, such as Arbor and Fire Prevention Days. The issuance on these days of topical literature is advisable. This might take the form of pamphlets and be distributed in the schools. To reach the parents through the school children is one way, and a mighty convincing one, of getting the informa- tion where you need it. After all this preparatory work has been performed, the actual presentation and discussion of the bill by the legislative committees is in order. In all States, there is bound to be a majority of the members of the legisla- ture representing districts which will be directly affected by the proposed law. It should, therefore, be an easy matter to secure their attention, and, provided the measures proposed are right, their support. The presentation of actual facts and figures to legislators is necessary, if the desired law lends itself to that kind of demonstration. This matter should be handled by one whom, for the want of a better name, we shall call a “lobbyist.” He must be prepared to debate the measure, and must be thoroughly posted on forest statistics, if the bill is purely forestry, and, if prairie protection with a view to reforestation or the promotion of woodlots is contemplated, he must also be in a position to explain the requirements in that direction. The introduc- tion of statements by disinterested enthusiasts who might be recruited from such organizations as game protective associations will carry much weight. When the bill is to come before the legislature, it is a wise provision to circu- late information among the members, so that each and every one can be acquainted with the purposes of it. Having progressed thus far with the proposed law, it is up to the law-makers to do the rest, and, almost invariably, if the publicity and information work has been well done, the results are favorable. Part ITI. ENFORCING STATE FOREST LAW AVING provided by law for the general plan of organization, it remains to I determine in what way its various parts will operate. The formal char- acter of a law does not clearly show how its various parts will work out. Its real character is determined not only by the operation of these parts, but also by its operation in conjunction with laws with which it is supposed to act. These laws often have more influence than the parts of the law which are supposed to regulate its action. These are factors in splitting up the administration of a law into more or less separate and distinct branches. There is still another factor which has a tendency in the same direction, and this is the maintenance of the administrative organization in proper relation with the legislative body. . FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 99 In a broad sense, the principles of enforcing a law are administrative, and administration, naturally, separates into three methods of executing the will of the State. ‘These are: 1. Enforcing the law. 2. Reducing administrative processes to rules, which later may become or have the effect of statutes. 3. Deciding controversies. Enforcing the Law. The enforcing of the law has to do merely with the execution of the State will as expressed by the statute. The need for enforcing it arises when there is opposition, and in case of resistance, force must be met with force. The forest law or other laws provide the means, and the officers may follow the prescribed steps in handling the cases. If a law cannot be enforced, and if it represents the State’s will, sufficient local opposition must be won over by educative means so that the purpose of the law may be accomplished. Since the legislative body, which gives expression to the State will, must have control over the administrative body, and since this control should be extended only so far as is necessary to produce harmony between the making and enforce- ment of the law—that is, expression and execution of the State will—it is of great moment that the administrative body do its part to maintain harmony. If the legislative body extends its control too far, e. g., seeks to perpetuate the existence of a particular party organization, it really hinders instead of aids the expression of the public will, and hampers its execution. On the other hand, if the administrative body overrides the State will in the enforcement of a law in a too arbitrary and summary manner, then there is a counter-action which may at least restrict the administrative authority within narrow limits and hamper its efficiency. : To bring about the desired harmony, there must be the fullest cooperation between the administrative force and the public, because in the execution of the law the public passes final judgment on its expression; i. e., the people decide whether it is a good or a bad law. It is only when the public is in sympathy with a law that it can be enforced, and to enforce it arbitrarily against a community is certain to result in friction. This will ultimately have its effect on the legisla- tive body, and tend to bring about an extension of legislative control beyond what is desirable. Because our people know as little about forestry as yet, cooperation should at first be along educational lines. When a man has been shown just how the law benefits his own particular interests, as well as the interest of the State at large, he will be ready to assist in enforcing it. No individual, firm or corporation is without some direct interest in the perpetuation of the forest and the chief duty of the executive officer in enforcing a forest law is to show how this law will benefit the various industries. Having done this much, he must go beyond and develop means whereby their interest shall take the form of active cooperation. The importance of cooperation is clear. How far it can be attained depends upon’ the executive officer and the administrative force. : 100 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Reducing Administrative Processes to Rules. When first put upon the statute books, a forest law will seldom be specific enough for complete administration. The details or processes of executing the law must be left to the executive. This is particularly necessary in the case of a forest law, because conditions vary so widely, both as to the character of work to be done and the methods of doing it. These processes of administration which thus arise to supplement the established factors for executing the law, become in practice as effective as the law itself. Deciding Controversies. Settling controversies is a part of the executive work of increasing import- ance; but there is a wide difference in the different States in the matter of handling controversies, which are on the border-line between administrative and judicial functions. Since the forestry movement in this country is comparatively new, there is even more difficulty in determining to what extent the final settle- ment of controversies may be left to the excutive head. In its present state of development, therefore, it will be advisable to keep well within the limits of executive duties in the matter of settling or adjudicating controversies. The courts can be relied upon to handle the more complex problems and such viola- tions of the law or of regulations devised by the administrative authority by direction of the law as require summary or drastic action. APPENDIX MODEL FOR A STATE FOREST LAW S' 1. State Boarp oF Forestry.—(The advancement of forestry is im- possible unless this work is entirely free from political influence and in the hands of trained foresters. The experience of several states has indicated that this result may be attained in the following way): There shall be created a state board of forestry, composed of five members (not over seven). The president (or dean) of the state college of agriculture and the director of the state college (or department) of forestry (or the professor of forestry at the state college) shall be members ex officio. Of the other three (or five) members one shall be nominated by the Lumber Manufacturers’ Association (or most representative association of lumber interests), one by the states association (the asso- ciation best representing fish and game protection or park and forest protection) and one by the association (any other strong state association representing interests affected by forestry). Upon receiving the nominations of these associa- tions the governor shall appoint the said nominees as members of the State For- estry Commission, and in absence of authoritative nomination he shall never- theless make the appointments of the required number to complete the board. (On boards of seven men the governor may be allowed to appoint two or one member of his own choice.) The members shall serve for a term of four years * Owing to lack of time to print it a very full and complete model State Forest Law prepared by the Committee could not be used with this report and this shorter eid law prepared by two members of the Committee was substituted. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 101 (or longer) (and the law should provide, in case of nominated members, that the terms of the individual members overlap to prevent the replacement of more than one or two members at one time). The board shall serve without salary, but shall be allowed their traveling and office expenses in performance of their official duties. The board shall elect its own chairman and may, if deemed nec- essary, elect an executive committee and delegate to them such authority over administrative details as will facilitate the transaction of business. ‘The chair- man shall hold office for one year and until his successor is elected. Sec. 2. Meetincs.—The board shall meet at intervals of three months upon a day determined by them and at other times when called together by notice from the chairman or upon the request of ( ) members. . Sec. 8. APPOINTMENT OF STaTE ForEesTER.—The State Forestry Board shall appoint (or employ) a State Forester (the governor is, under no circumstances, to make this appointment), who shall act as secretary of the board (unless mul- tiplicity of work makes it advisable to employ a secretary in addition to the for- ester). (The State Forester shall not be a member of the board.) He shall be a technically trained forester, a graduate of a forest school which offers entire four years’ undergraduate or two years’ post-graduate course in forestry, and shall have had (at least two and preferably five) years’ experience in the prac- tice of forestry, lumbering, or other practical subjects. His salary shall be ($2,- 500 to $4,000) per year. The forester shall serve at the option of the State For- estry Board (since this board is free from political influence; experience has in- dicated that it is unnecessary to prescribe a term of office or other civil-service requirements for the State Forester). He shall be furnished with suitable of- fices (at the state capital) and allowed all reasonable traveling expenses. Sec. 4. Executive AND CLERICAL SERVICE oF ForEsTER’s OrFice.—The State Forester shall, subject to the confirmation of the board, appoint an Assistant State Forester (or Assistant State Foresters), who shall be graduates of forest schools of the same standard as required for the State Forester and shall, sub- ject to the confirmation of the board, determine their compensation. They shall be allowed reasonable traveling expenses while in the performance of their duty. The State Forester shall, subject to the confirmation of the board, employ such clerical assistance as is necessary to perform the duties imposed by this act, including the auditing of fire accounts, and shall determine their compensation. Sec. 5. Forest Fire Servick.—The State Forester shall divide the area of the state (or the forested area) into districts (the number to be determined by the appropriations available for salaries and the size of the area to be protected) and appoint over each a district ranger (or superintendent), who shall have en- tire charge of the enforcement of the forestry laws in his district and shall be re- sponsible to the State Forester. The Forester may remove him at any time and appoint his successor. (Should there be danger that either the board or the Forester would be actuated by political motives in making such appointments, it would be better for such rangers to receive appointments as a result of com- petitive civil-service examinations and hold office during good behavior. But a £102 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE fire-fighting force should be chosen on merit and capacity to fight fire and handle men, and the above arrangement, in proper hands, is preferable.) The district ranger shall select and, subject to the confirmation of the State Forester, appoint rangers (patrolmen) and assign them to definite subdistricts. District rangers and patrolmen shall receive ($50 to $150) per month and ex- penses while traveling on state business. (These men are employed on an annual or monthly basis.) To supplement the state ranger force thus created the governing body of each organized town (township supervisors, etc.) shall appoint a town fire warden, subject to the approval of the State Forester (or District Ranger): The State Forester shall have the power to remove the town fire warden and request the township board to appoint a successor. On failure of said board to appoint a fire warden or fill a vacancy created in any manner, when requested to do so by the State Forester, the Forester shall make said appointment. (The nomina- tion of existing town officials as fire wardens is a complete failure.) The town fire warden shall, with the advice of the district ranger, divide his town into divi- sions.and shall appoint a division fire warden in charge of each of these divi- sions, subject to the approval of the district fire warden. Town fire wardens shall serve for one year and until their successor is appointed. District fire wardens shall serve during the term of office of the town warden by whom they were appointed. The town warden shall have power, subject to the approval of the district warden, to remove any division fire warden and appoint his successor. Town and division fire wardens shall be paid by the town for services actually rendered (and, in addition, shall receive an annual salary of $10 to $25). (In organized districts these town wardens shall be replaced by the appointment by the district warden of local residents as fire wardens. The purpose of the town and local warden force is that of a resident or stationary patrol, since in no in- stance will it be advisable even to attempt to handle the fire problem exclusively by the employment of rangers and patrolmen on state salaries. In sparsely in- habited regions, with private cooperation in funds and men. patrol may be de- veloped to a point where it will take care of the problem. In most regions sta- tionary or local wardens should be appointed in numbers twenty to fifty times as great as the force of state rangers.) Src. 6. Powers anp Duties oF State ForESTER AND SUBORDINATES.—1. The State Forester, and during his absence the Assistant State Forester, shall have direct charge of, and be held responsible by the board for the execution of. all work assigned to him by them, together with the enforcement of all laws or rules contained in this article. 3. He shall purchase necessary equipment for forest fire prevention or ex- tinguishment as may be required. 4. He shall prepare, print, post, or distribute necessary posters, pamphlets, or circulars as public interest requires. 5. He shall construct, equip, maintain, and operate any lookout mountain Stations, telephone lines, or other structures as may be established by order of the board. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 103 6. He shall have necessary power to enter into agreements with private owners or public telephone companies with regard to establishing or operating. any portion of the forest fire protective system. %. He shall have authority to construct new roads, trails, or other routes or improve existing ones in order to secure necessary fire protection. 8. He shall establish, operate, and maintain nurseries for the production of trees either for reforesting state or privately owned lands. Such trees may be planted on such parts of the forest preserve as may be necessary, supplied free to state institutions or sold to private owners at not to exceed cost of production. 9. He shall have the power to make investigations in any part of the state and examine into any question in regard to forest, conditions, reforestation, fire protection, growth of timber. 10. He shall have the power to make necessary surveys, prepare maps, and otherwise determine boundaries of any lands constituting the forest preserves. 11. He may assign any assistant to-the preparation of publications, lectur- ing, or otherwise disseminating information in regard to forestry which will be of public interest. 12. He shall enforce all laws in relation to forest preserves and the other provisions of this act. 13. The forest rangers, district forest rangers, foresters, inspectors, or em-' ployes of this department shall perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the State Forester, and all such officers shall be responsible to the State For- ester for faithful performance of their duties. Sec. 7. Powers or Fire Service.—State rangers and patrolmen (and town fire wardens) shall have the power to arrest without a warrant anyone detected in the act of violating any provision of the State Forest Law or the rules and regulations of the State Forestry Board and take such person before a peace offi- cer having jurisdiction. State rangers and patrolmen (and town fire wardens) shall have power to summon any able-bodied male person and to requisition teams, tools, or other prop- erty of such forms to assist in extinguishing any forest fire. Any person who fails: to obey stich summons, or fails to remain at any such fire until excused, or does not render faithful service, shall be liable to a penalty of ($10 to $25) for each and every day during which he fails to obey such summons. Any such officer in order to suppress fires shall have the power to enter upon any lands and take the proper steps to extinguish the same, and for so doing no action of trespass or damage shall lie. Any official authorized to extinguish fire shall have the authority to employ men and teams and to make any other reasonable expenditure for that purpose. Employees shall receive (15 to 25 cents) per hour for time actually employed. Sec. 8. State Forest REsERvEs.—State forest reserves shall consist of lands now owned by the state, which may be classified as State Forest Reserves, and of other lands which may be acquired hereafter for forest reserves. The State Forestry Board shall have power to purchase lands (at a maxi- mum valuation of per acre), to accept gifts of land, or to acquire land by condemnation proceedings for the purpose of state forest reserves. 104 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE The Board shall have authority to sell such timber, under such rules and regulations as to cutting, as the best utilization and perpetuation of the forest demand. The Board shall have power to provide for the full realization of all the resources of the forest reserves for the best interests of the public. Such resources shall include grazing when not incompatible with forest growth, min- ing, rights of way, development of water power, camping privileges, and all other uses. The Board shall have power to formulate rules and regulations to govern the use of the resources of the state forest reserves, protect them from damage, pre- serve their productiveness, prevent waste, and secure to the fullest extent the ob- jects for which they were established. Any rule so made shall have the effect of law after being recorded in the office of the secretary of state and published in not less than two newspapers having a rural circulation in the locality for not less than two weeks. The State Forester shall be the executive officer of the State Forestry Board and shall have direct charge of the State Forest Reserves, enforce all rules and regulations, employ all necessary assistance, and carry out all directions of the Board with respect to the management of State Forest Reserves, the en- forcement of fire laws and other forestry laws, and all other matters over which the Board has jurisdiction. Sec. 9. Frnances.—-There shall be created a State Forest Fire Fund, for which purpose there shall be annually appropriated dollars. This sum shall be used to pay the salaries and expenses of enforcing the state fire law, in- cluding the salaries of state rangers and patrolmen. Any surplus unexpended at the close of the fiscal year shall remain available for one year succeeding as an emergency fund for payment of expenses incurred in fire fighting, after which it shall be credited to the Forest Reserve Fund. There shall be created a State Forest Reserve Fund, for which purpose there shall be annually appropriated dollars. This sum shall be used for the purchase of lands to be added to the State Forest Reserves and for the im- provement of lands within the forest reserves, for their protection, and for the salaries of state employes engaged in such work. Any surplus remaining at the close of the fiscal year shall be available until expended. (In a state law provision must also be made for regulation of the fire risk caused by railroads and engines and for the control of other fire risks. Penalties must be provided for offenses against any fracture of the forest laws. Provision must be made for protection of forests from insects and fungi and for the burn- ing of slash, the control of the use of fire in clearing proper taxation, and court procedure against offenders. The above outline has omitted these points for the sake of brevity. The essential fact in a forest law is a clearly defined policy and a non-political and efficient organization. Given these essentials all other features of the law will in time be developed by the suggestions and advice of the state forestry force which the law has created and empowered.) FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 105 DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON STATE FOREST POLICY R. J. G. PETERS, of Washington, D.C.: Mr. Chairman, I cannot find M any reference in Mr. Cox’s report to the question of assisting forest work in the States, separate from other lines of work. Perhaps it is noted in the report, but I would like to have a word from Mr. Cox about that phase as it has come up within the last couple of years, and it is a very important point, really a very important point. Mr. W. T. Cox, of Minnesota: That subject was covered in our draft of the law, but that has not been printed as yet, in full, and I will say briefly that it was the feeling of the committee that forestry should be kept entirely separate, even from such related subjects, in a sense,'as game and fish preservation. Mr. Peters: Do you remember the reasons you gave for keeping it separate? Mr. Cox: No; I do not; no, there are so many of them. The Chairman: I think that is a very important question in State organization, and I think if Mr. Cox will express the feeling of himself and the committee on that point, it will be very enlightening. I have no doubt that every time the ques- tion of State organization is brought up, the question comes up as to whether it should be separate from game and fish preservation, or not. Mr. Cox: In my own State of Minnesota, we have a young State forest ser- vice, and we have all the work we can possibly do along legitimate forestry lines ; furthermore, the work of game protection in the back districts, where we feel that our forest work is most important, is not in good favor. A game warden is not looked upon with favor in most any of the wild parts of the State, and if our rangers were related to the game and fish work, that is, if they were deputized as game wardens, they would find it very much to their disadvantage in doing our own work and they would be handicapped in every conceivable way. We have found that to be true because we have tried it, and, as I say, there is plenty of work for a force of forest field officers to do in their own particular line. Politics come in there, too, because the game and fish commission is political in Minnesota, while the forest service is not political. Mr. Ferris J. Meigs, of New York: Mr. Chairman, referring briefly to that proposed New York State law, I might say that it embodies, to a certain extent, features that were outlined by Mr. Cox. However, it is not a compulsory State control or supervision, but aims at an optional State control or supervision, op- tional with the timber land owner and provides that if the lumberman or the timber land owner is good and comes in under the law, then he has certain privi- leges. In other words, the law proposes to pay him for being good, and among the privileges is exemption from taxation on the growing crop, and also refores- tation of his denuded or barren lands at the expense of the State, which is repaid at the time the timber is removed. That, in brief, is the provision. I do not know that you want to hear my opinion as to the constitutionality of the State passing laws to control lumber on private lands; that is a matter for the lawyers; however, I do not think it is fair for a State to control lumber on private lands. without compensation to the owner unless the commission that has charge of it for the State is absolutely non-political and non-partisan, and also that they are experts and know what they are talking about. If you realize that the owner of private timber lands is playing a long term game, his policy must not be one of one or two years, but one of forty or fifty years, and he cannot be made subject to changing commission or changing rules or changing points of view. The tim- ber land owner must have some continuity in the plan of handling, he must carry out his work and therefore he must not be subjected to a change in commission which might change the rules. If he is paid the cost, he may be subjected to a 106 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE wide, scientific, non-political State supervision. That I do not think the timber land owners would object to, especially if it is optional with them and they have é¢ertain privileges in the way of compensation. Without compensation, I think it may be a question for the legal talent to decide whether or not it is constitutional. Mr. James Whipple, of New York: I had not expected to say anything on this or perhaps any other subject, but you have raised a very important question and one which, if properly exercised by States, can be of greater service than the preservation of some kinds of forests or forestry area than any other thing, ques- tion or point that has been raised here today, so far. I have always contended that it was the duty of the State, where denudation was taking place at the head waters of the stream, and especially navigable streams, in the interest of the general welfare of the people, for the, people to control, to some extent, the cutting of timber upon private land. In my judgment as a lawyer—not a very good one, though—there is in the police power of every State, authority to do that and pay no compensation for preventing of the cutting down to a certain size unless, in the constitution of the State, there is something that prohibits that course being taken. Mr. E. M. Griffith: In Wisconsin, we have several billion acres of denuded lands, which are going to cost the State millions and millions to reforest. Sup- pose we grant that it is the State’s duty to do that. Someone has denuded that land, and does it not seem rather foolish for any State to buy up denuded land and then spend $5 or $11, or whatever the cost per acre may be, in reforesting that land at the expense of all of us, the public, and at the same time there are hundreds of thousands of other acres denuded. I think I can see the lumberman’s point of view perfectly clearly. They do not want their property confiscated, none of us would, but can they stop and think of any industry in the country where they would permit the same thing to goon? In other words, is it the business of any State or of the American public, as a whole, to sit idle and see millions and millions of acres denuded, and then have a lot of Foresters meet, as we have, and cheer the thought that the State should go in and buy up all that denuded land and plant it? That is a pretty big job for Uncle Sam or all of the States combined, and should it be done—person- ally I do not think it will—as Mr. Whipple has said, and as I know the Attorney General of Wisconsin has advised me in his opinion, a law which would limit the cutting of timber upon privately owned, is clearly constitutional. I do not think there is much question about that. It does seem to me that in some way the public should be made to bear that added cost, if there is any. Just what I should propose is, say that a region like the Lake Shore Region, if the States of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin should pass a similar law limiting the diameter, or providing that the timber should be cut under State regu- lations, and providing for slash burning, and that lumbermen may add that to their cost, it would distribute the cost of forest protection to everybody. I have thought of it a great deal, and as I can see it, something like that is the only prac- tical solution, but in some way this country will come to the same conclusion that ‘we must limit the cutting of timber on privately owned land, just as they do in Europe, I think is absolutely without a doubt. ; Mr. J. B. White, of Missouri: T would think that the State would have just as much right to tell a farmer how he must treat his land. The farmers of this country have been depleting the soil, they cannot raise half as much wheat to the acre as they could twenty years ago on the same farm and if a State can pass a law saying that you must leave a certain tract of timber to grow trees on and you must not cut below a certain diameter, the State can say to the farmer, you must feed your soil, you cannot run that field any longer and continue to mine your soil instead of farming. It is a difficult proposition. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 107 I am not much of a forester, and I will admit it, but I have practiced it in my weak way, and in something of a practical way, according to the laws that I was living under and I have done it in this way: During the month of October, the mills that I am interested in at Clarks, Louisiana, and Standard, Louisiana, where the Chairman has been with his forest students from Yale University, my lumber averaged in price upon the cars, f. 0. b. at Clarks, Louisiana, and Standard, Louisiana, just $11.78 a thousand. I have had the foresters of Yale Forest School and of different States down in our woods, and we have talked these matters over and we pick up everything that we can get anything out of and something that we do not get cost out of, and that reduces it down to $11.78 a thousand last month. I have some neighbors in the state—one mill in particular—who claim their average is a great deal more than that. The reason is they are leaving their tops, 20 or 25 per cent, in the woods. If there was some law passed by which it would be a crime, or an offense against the laws of the State, to permit waste, so that we would be obliged to pick up these logs and these tops and bring them into the mill and saw them and ship them out as lumber, they would not get that big price for their lumber and we would have lower prices and our lumber would last longer. I will state another proposition while I am on the floor. I. began in Missouri thirty-five years ago, and I was the first man in the South who made a number three, yellow pine board. I did get only $3 per thousand for it, at the mill; and later, when I could get $8 a thousand for the number three board, I made the first number four board and that only brought $1.50 the next year, and my stock- holders grumbled. But that was conservation, I was bringing it in, I was con- serving the best I could under the laws of the State of Missouri. Then lumber got up so that I got $6 or $7 for my number four boards, but a great many of my neighbors made a great deal more money. I was figuring up yesterday, look- ing over the accounts and seeing what dividends we have paid, and I found this, that we put in a half million dollars into the lumber in Missouri thirty-five years ago, and that half million dollars, if put out at compound interest forty years ago, at six per cent, would amount to a great deal more than we have gotten out of that timber. If the lumberman leaves his stuff in the woods and sells the upper grade, he can make greater dividends and get a great deal more money out of the timber. I took the other course and therefore I am going to say that in the investment of that one-half million dollars in the State of Missouri, in forty years—we have only been using it thirty-five—at compound interest at six per cent, my stockholders would have had more money if they had let the half mil- lion dollars out at six per cent interest. But we practice conservation in just that way and the first.time that a forest school ever sent anybody out into the woods ‘that I know of, they came to my woods down in Missouri. Just a few years ago when there was a great talk about a lumber trust, because I was trying to be a conservationist under the present laws, I said I was not in any trust, but I wish you would go down and find out if Iam. I got Mr. Herbert Knox Smith to send three men to our mills in Missouri and Louisiana and look over our accounts and all our books, and those three men asked if I had any objection to their boxing them up and sending them to Washington and I told them not a bit. They brought them up here to Washington. a thousand pounds of that kind of stuff and they did not find that I was in the trust. (Laughter. ) T do not think any of you fellows would be in the trust if you make lumber for $11.78 and put it on the cars in Louisiana. I do not think it is possible, but T do think that we ought to have enough from our lumber to pay for the cost of growing it. I am interested with Mr. Alexander and the Honorable Mr. Hartner in their 108 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE efforts to get laws passed in the State of Louisiana so that the practice of for- estry can be made profitable and be made enduring, and I think it will be, and I do hope that there will be some law passed that will prevent committing of waste, and of leaving top logs in the woods to burn up. There is no law now. If I want to pay big dividends I can cut half the tree and leave the other half in the woods, but that is wrong and there ought to be a way of stopping it. I thank you. (Applause.) Others who took part in the discussion were: Mr. M. L. Anderson, of Louisiana; Mr. Alfred Gaskill, of New Jersey. ; ; ; The Chairman: I am sorry that the time has expired for the discussion of this subject and I think we ought to pass on now to the next subject of the program, that of taxation of timber lands. Unless the meeting votes to the contrary, we will introduce that subject. The Chairman of the sub-committee on forest taxation, Mr. Pinchot, has been obliged to spend the entire afternoon working on another committee on water power. I am therefore going to ask Mr. Allen, who is a member of the sub-committee and has done a good deal of work on this report to introduce that subject. FOREST TAXATION BY THE SuB-CoMMITTEE ON Forest TAXATION. Chairman, Girrorp Prncuot, Washington, D. C. Acting Chairman, E. T. Aten, Portland, Ore. F, R. Farrcuiip, New Haven, Conn. H. S. Drinker, South Bethlehem, Penn. FE. M. Grirrira, Madison, Wis. Presented by Mr. E. T. Allen, Monday Afternoon, November 1%, 1913. Section I. THE PRESENT STATE OF FOREST TAX LEGISLATION HE following is a brief summary of the present statutes in force in the’ | various states of the United States relating to the taxation of forests together with a brief analysis and criticism of the principal features of these laws. This section is reprinted from the article by Fred Rogers Fairchild in AMERICAN Forestry, October, 1912, p. 653. “The taxation of forests is a matter of State and local revenue. There is no taxation of forests by the National Government. ‘The legislation is all State legislation. The basis of local revenue everywhere in the United States and of State revenue in very many of the States is the general property tax. Everyone is familiar with the principal features of the general property tax. As a rule all property, real and personal, tangible and intangible, is subject to tax- ation, unless specially exempted by law. Forest lands are subject to the tax the same as any other kind of wealth. The law requires that the actual market value shall be assessed, which in the case of forests means the full value of land and trees. Of course it is a matter of common knowledge that the laws are not en-~ forced as regards the requirement of an assessment at full market value. The tax is collected annually at whatever rate is required to raise the necessary revenue for the town, county, State, and other public bodies depending upon the general property tax. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 109 “This, in -brief, is the normal tax system to which forests are subject in the United States. Only where there has been special legislation are forests treated differently from other kinds of wealth. Of the forty-eight States of the United States, thirty-four tax forest lands under the general property tax. in exactly the same mantier as other lands: ee “The other fousigen States have enacted special legislation affecting the taxa- tion of forests, These States are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu- setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Alabama, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Washington (to which Pennsylvania has since been added). The idea in the legislation of all of these States has been to encourage the planting and cultivation of trees or the general practice of forestry by offering special inducements in the way of re- duced taxation. These conditions take the form of entire or partial exemption from taxation, rebates of part of the taxes, or bounties to be deducted from the taxes. The method usually employed is that of tax exemption. The plan of a rebate is used in New Hampshire; North Dakota uses bounties, while Wisconsin uses both exemptions and bounties. In some of the States there are two or more distinct laws, not always entirely consistent with each other. In most cases the statute is limited to plantations, and in five States the forest must be established on land that is not wooded at the time. “The commonest form of tax.concession. consists of a complete exemption from taxation on both land and trees for a definite period of time, ranging from five to thirty-five years. The exemption begins either immediately after the land has been planted or set aside for the growth of trees, or after a certain period, measured either in years or in the growth of the trees. In other States the con- cession is by means of a rebate of part of the taxes for a certain number of years, as in New Hampshire, or by means of a bounty of so many dollars per acre to be deducted annually from the taxes on the land, as in North Dakota and Wis- consin. Usually the owner is required to manage the forest in accordance with regulations specified in the statute or under the direction of some State officer or board. “Only two States depart materially from this general plan. These are the States of New York and Michigan, whose legislation, enacted in 1912 and 1911, respectively, will be considered in more detail below. “Four States, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and Wyoming, undertake to en- courage the growth of trees by offering bounties. Since these bounties, however, have no relation to taxation, I have not included them in this discussion. Like- wise, I refrain from discussing the laws of Massachusetts and Vermont, which provide for the offering of annual prizes to encourage the planting and cultivation of trees; these prizes also have nothing to do with taxation. “The general type of forest tax legislation which has been followed by our States until very recently has failed to produce any appreciable results. Of this fact there cannot be the slightest question. It is important to determine the causes of this failure. In the first place the laws contain many technical defects. The common limitation to plantations or even to land other than woodland, largely 110 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE defeats the purpose of the laws at the outset. The regulations regarding planting, thinning, etc., are often faulty from the point of view of scientific forestry. . Often the number of trees required to the acre is too large. The list of species designated is not always well chosen. “A more serious defect is the injustice to the locality where the exempted forest Happens to be located. The only justification for a concession to the forest owner is the resulting advantage to the State as a whole. Yet the particular town or county where the land is located is called upon to bear the whole or the principal part of the burden of a diminished revenue. This tends, first, to lead certain assessors to try to get even by adding enough to the assessment of some other property of the timber owners to make up for the reduced taxes on his forest lands. In the second place it prevents many owners from taking advantage of the law, since they dislike to arouse the hostility of their neighbors or of the local authorities by an apparent attempt to get out of paying their share of local taxes. “Another vital reason for failure is that the actual financial consideration is not ordinarily very great after all. The exemption is limited to a fairly short period, after which land and trees are again subject to the general property tax. ‘The abatement comes, of course, at the time when the trees are small, and the taxes would not be very heavy anyway. “Finally the whole principle on which these laws are based is, in the writer’s opinion, a false one.. The idea has been to give some concession, some special favor. This is not what is needed. There is no sound reason why the owner of forest lands should not pay his just share of taxation. And if forestry is going to be profitable at all, it can well afford to pay its just share. What is needed is simple justice, and nothing more. The general property tax acts as an obstacle to forestry, for reasons which cannot be entered into here. What we want is a new system, which shall avoid the evils of the general property tax by a change in method, but which shall still call upon the forest owner to bear his full share of the burden of supporting government. “Within the past two years four of our States have taken the first step, some- what faulty and timid to be sure, toward a sound method of forest taxation. Michigan passed a law in 1911, New York three laws in 1912. Pennsylvania passed three laws and Connecticut two laws in 1913. Without going into details, these laws provide for a separation of land and trees for purposes of taxation, the-land either exempt entirely or assessed at a low value, and the trees taxed “only when cut, and then at a certain percentage of the value of timber cut The Connecticut law is the most scientific application of the principle of the yield, tax to growing forests thus far passed by any State. The operation of these laws will be awaited with great interest by all those who are interested in forest tax reform.”* *For a more complete analysis of State legislation, with abstracts of all the laws in effect in October, 1908, cf. “The Taxation of Timberlands,” by Fred Rogers Fairchild Report of the National Conservation Commission, Vol. II, pp. 581-632. The abstracts of State statutes are on pp. 588-589. All of the laws there described are in force at the pres- ent time. The following legislation has been enacted since then: Connecticut, Laws of FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 111 Section II. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF WISE FOREST TAXATION, WITH DEFINITE SUGGESTION FOR LEGISLATION INTRODUCTION EXT perhaps to war, taxation is the most powerful instrument of gov- N ernment, capable if unwisely used of destroying individuals, communi- ties and industries. Few governmental functions are less studied by the average citizen. Probably none of its branches is less understood than forest taxation. Yet it is of the highest importance to all, for forest industry ranks fourth in the United States and is by far our greatest manufacturing industry, while every citizen is vitally interested in forest preservation from many other viewpoints. It affects the holding and care of all private forests, which con- stitute the great proportion, involving future and existing crops. By so doing, it influences hardly less directly the success of State and Federal forestry. It is everywhere recognized by foresters, tax experts and political economists that the general property tax applied to forests in the United States is unscien- tific and discouraging to conservative management. It remains tolerable only so long as good management is no object or while the tax rate or the ratio of assessed to real value is extremely low. At best it is peculiarly whimsical and irregular in actual practice, defeating the primary principle of its own doctrine that there should be uniformity in the treatment of any given class of property. Owners of forest land in different counties or States, but with similar manu- facturing and market conditions, are handicapped or subsidized, as the case may be, in their competition with each other. : . Disregarding for the moment the serious lack of uniformity, and, averaging the tax burden upon forest land in all States, perhaps it can hardly be said that it has been, up to the present time, greater than this class of property should bear. It is this fact, together with a general sentiment that being presumably a good speculation timber can well afford to bear a comparatively heavy share, which has obscured the really important point—that whatever the general result in the past, the system is rapidly approaching a point when changing conditions will make it untenable. Timber returns no annual revenue. It is a crop to be realized only after many years of outlay. But carrying costs accumulate with all the acceleration of the well-known laws of compounding interest. They not only require that sale value must increase rapidly to prevent actual loss, but, obviously, if the period is long enough, will actually surpass any possible sale value. The period 1911, ch. 205 (a more liberal exemption law). Laws of 1913, ch. 58 and ch. 108 (referred to in the text). Maine, Laws of 1909, ch. 136 (amending Laws of 1907, ch. 169, by reducing the number of trees required per acre); Laws of 1909, ch. 193 and 230 (providing for a special tax on wild forest lands, the proceeds to be used for fire protection). Massachusetts,! Laws of 1909, ch. 187 (special exemption relating to land stocked with white pine seedlings). Michigan, Laws of 1911, ch—— (referred to in text). New York, Laws of 1912, ch. 249, 363, and 444 (referred to in text). North Dakota, Laws of 1909, ch. 50 (slightly amending the previous statute). Pennsylvania, Laws of 1913, ch. 269, ch. 270, and ch. 284 (referred to in the text). 112 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE required to make them do this is wholly fixed by the carrying cost and, while also shortened by other charges against the crop such as interest on the purchase price and cost of protection from fire, is greatly affected by the burden of annual tax- ation. Few people realize, when discussing the rise of stumpage values and the popu- larly estimated profits of timber holders, that under compound interest stumpage must actually double in from six to twelve years, according to circumstances, to afford any profit at all. In some regions of excess stored supply it is quite proba- ble that much must remain uncut until such accumulated costs amount to more than the timber will be worth to anyone. Certainly they will in many regions enforce cutting ahead of American consumption, meaning foreign export of what we will later need badly ourselves. Taxation is by no means wholly responsible for this, but it is one factor and to the extent that it is unjust or excessive is unprofitable to the public because it hastens loss of both timber and tax revenue. In other words, there are two distinct influences upon the rise of timber prices.* ‘ One is a true rise of intrinsic value, due to diminishing supply and in- creasing consumption. This alone affords any basis of profitable investment. )The other js the accumulation and compounding of carrying costs which, without ‘investment profit, must be constantly added to the selling price to prevent actual loss. To tax that portion of this increase due to interest on purchase price and fire protection is bad enough, but to assess also an increase created by nothing but past payment of taxes is clearly unfair. Taxation cannot possibly create value. And it is a process of astonishing progressive ratios, comparatively in- significant when assessments are low, but building fictitious value by taxation, for taxation, with great rapidity as assessment ratios are raised. At the fuli assessment theoretically contemplated by the general property tax it might very quickly be absolutely confiscatory. The general property tax upon timber, then, has an alarming tendency to become excesive and is additionally difficult to meet because it is imposed an- nually while revenue with which to meet it is deferred. From the individual standpoint it threatens injustice or even confiscation. From the standpoint of the public good it threatens rapid wasteful cutting of mature timber, penalizes the growing of a second crop, and for both these reasons hastens the cessation of all revenue from forest taxation and the consequent imposition of the entire burden upon other forms of property. As stated in the report of the National Conservation Commission, it is far better that forest land should pay a moderate tax permanently than that it should pay an excessive revenue temporarily and then cease to pay at all. The general property tax upon forests has been abandoned by all countries that practice forestry. It has been superseded by systems varying in detail with conditions of locality and development, but recognizing the underlying principle &that timber should pay its main tax when it produces the revenue with which to pays Any other system means one of these things: That a portion of the property must be sold to pay taxes upon the rest; or that the forest owner must engage FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 113 in some other business and succeed in it, to produce revenue with which to carry his timber, which is not demanded of other forms of business; or that he must cut his timber, whether or not this is desirable from any standpoint, as soon as the tax burden becomes excessive. Above all, it means the destruction of the forest, instead of the perpetuation of the forest, by use. Consequently, in countries that have considered the subject thoroughly, some form of what is called yield tax has been adopted as far as the forest crop itself 1s concerned. The land itself maj may or may not be taxed annually, according as there is needed for fixed regular revenue from this source. Most frequently, if land chiefly useful for forest growing is taxed at all annually, it is taxed upon its value for this purpose, as wheat land is valued by its earning capacity for producing wheat, but in this valuation no consideration is given the particular forest crop upon it. The crop is a thing apart, which may be increased by growth, decreased by. cutting, or destroyed by fire or insects without attaining any taxable value. By taxing its yield only, both community and owner are stimulated to bring about the greatest production, the best protection, and the fullest utilization. Under such a. system the time and manner of cutting mature timber are fitted to economic needs upon a parallel with the handling of any other commodity, and the fostering and protection of new growth is not discouraged. The ten- dency is to perpetuate a needed resource, a population-supporting industry, and a source of tax revenue on lands otherwise likely to become non-tax-producing. The substitution of such a system, or a modified approach to it, for the general property tax has been the chief aim of American forest tax reformers. Recent legislation in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and other States indicates that the beginning has been made. But while encouraging in showing that the public can be taught the necessity of action, the few successes already attained by no means afford a completely satisfactory precedent. The greater the relative im- portance of forests and forest industry in any State, the more serious are the problems of adjusting new revenue systems to the needs now largely met by the annual taxation of such sources of revenue. A measure acceptable in a State like Massachusetts, where forest taxes are a trifling part of total local and State revenues, might be fiscally impossible in a State like Oregon where they are the chief reliance. A law applicable even in a forest State where the effect in each county would be similar, might not work where some counties are cutting fast, some have not begun, and some are cut over or treeless. Again we have a tre- mendous practical, if not theoretical, difference in the problems of mature timber being held for speculation and those of reforestation on denuded lands. Conse- quently there is much need for analysis of these several situations separately, grouping conclusions to prevent misapplication and their further discussion in this report will be so classified under two main heads, Taxing New Forest Crops and Taxing Mature Forests, each sub-divided under Eastern conditions and Western conditions. 114 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE TAXING NEW FOREST CROPS the effort of the owner, and assuming that the virgin timber which remains after fire or logging is not sufficient in amount to be considered under our later head of “Mature Timber.” We are considering deforested land, presenting a distinct problem to the owner, and that whether he has made money on the original crop has no bearing, nor has his being rich or poor, resident or alien. All sound authorities agree that the forest crop should not be taxed until harvested. They disagree somewhat as to the degree to which the land tax also should be deferred in order to insure the desired result, as to the extent to which reform should be based on conditions under which the forest owner contracts certain performance, and as to concessions of theory to expediency generally. A consensus of opinion, however, is that the following objects should be sought: i NDER this head we are dealing only with new forest crops, grown by 1. The perpetuation of forests in private hands by wise use. 2. Greater permanent revenue to State and county than is possible under the present system of destroying the taxable source. 3. Assurance that the total burden of taxation will have a fair relation to- the income obtained, making the tax burden on forest growing as nearly as possible proportional to the burden borne by other kinds of useful industry. 4. Assurance that the owner will do his share to make and keep the land productive. 5. Assurance to the owner that future action by the community will not confiscate any property resulting from his effort. 6. Division of risk, so both owner and community will seek highest produc- tion and safety from fire. %. Simplicity in adoption and operation. Practically all forest tax reform along these lines, whether already adopted in Europe or this country or now being agitated, fall under the following classi- fication or are combinations thereof: 1. Annual taxation of deforested land, solely upon its land value unen- hanced by any growth thereon, with no taxation of the crop when harvested or at most only at the rate then prevailing for personal property. 2. No annual taxation of the land, but a yield tax upon the harvest at a cea rate specified now by law (from 15 to 20 per cent is usually sug- gested). 3. A compromise between the two above by applying both an annual land tax and a yield tax, each reduced accordingly. Various ways of reducing the annual tax are proposed, a common one being a flat assessment prescribed by law, suggestion varying from $1 to $4 an acre. The best authorities seem to favor fixing it at about half the prevailing rate and restricting the yield tax to 10 per cent. Each of these plans is usually accompanied by the requirement of the prac- tice of forestry by the owner. Usually in America they are proposed as optional with the owner, who may continue under the general property tax if he desires, and also with the State, acting through its forestry officials, who may decide the land to be unsuitable for forest-growing. Consequently, they presuppose a com- FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 115 petent forestry administration. In certain States, Pennsylvania for example, partial exemption of the land is obtained without loss of local revenue by in- cluding the land in so-called auxiliary forest reserves, the State itself paying the tax. ; Either of the three plans outlined is logical. Their relative merit is a ques- tion of expediency, taking into account the time at which the community most needs the tax and the time at which the forest grower can best pay it. The ultimate amount paid would be the same in all, if the yield tax is scientifically based on the productive value of the land, which is the only correct basis. A distinction sometimes overlooked is that there is no true justice in taxing a crop at all, whether timber or agricultural, if the land has been taxed at its full value, especially if other forms of taxation reach the owner’s profits by its disposal. A yield tax is not properly upon the crop, but the latter may be made to pay a deferred tax upon the owner’s wealth represented in land capable of producing it. It is then a form of land taxation, deferred, for justice’ sake, to await rev- enue with which to pay it. Or it may be a form of income tax, the crop merely indicating the income. Expediency may, however, require some degree of annual taxation. In the one case this will be land taxation and any additional yield tax should be only sufficient to complete it. In the other, it is a premature realiza- tion of the expected income tax and the yield tax should but complete the latter. It is also possible to combine land taxation and income taxation, but to do so fairly requires a reduction of each so that the aggregate will not exceed what either would be alone, and the crop must not be additionally taxed after this is done. Consequently none of the three accepted methods, or of any logical combi- nations or compromises between them, can be called more just than another without considering circumstances; and it is necessary to describe their variation in some detail in order to enable local application. While geographical classi- fication cannot be exact, or decision upon any two systems be without possibility of greater local merit in some change of either, the confining of this report to a reasonable limit has suggested discussing one plan combining the most logical features of new crop taxation in the eastern and like States and one most widely suitable in the extreme west. Either east or west may present exceptional local conditions largely typical of what we have given opposite classification, while the southern and Rocky Mountain States must choose again from conclusions which best suit their premises. EASTERN CONDITIONS (Taxing New Crop—Continued) OMPARED with those we are to discuss later as western, eastern con- C ditions present the widest range of variance within themselves. In forest types, in local government units, in dependence upon forest land for revenue, and in advance of popular understanding of the issues involved, they by no means offer a universal problem susceptible of a single correct solution. Nevertheless, they do have a common difference from the extreme west in higher and more stable stumpage values due to nearness to lumber markets; in having 116 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE no vast stored supply, in excess of any near-future demand, which must be held whether the owner prefers or not; in a lower land tax burden due to greater development of other forms of taxable wealth, and a relatively less burden on the tax payer of today because, being older, many pioneer expenses such as for constructing roads and public buildings—have been met by past populations and expenses now are only for up-keep and for government. On the whole, although perhaps with local exception, they also depend less upon forest taxation, conse- quently can alter this with less fiscal disturbance, and have a less marked differ- ence between virgin timber and new crop problems because cutting may often be more in the nature of thinning rather than clean cutting. Under such conditions a compromise between exclusive land taxation and exclusive income taxation certainly seems surest to satisfy all requirements. It is the attempt of laws already passed in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Louisiana, and of the measure sought in Wisconsin, with which tax students are familiar. All of these measures, however, have been adapted to individual conditions to an extent which may prevent them from being ideal models for other States. It is our belief that this report should, while advising study of each of them, present an outline for a plan which contains the most scientific and practical foundation principles, free of any purely local necessity. We should offer a frame-work which is fundamentally sound, has general approval, and, while not relieving the local student of studying the public need of some change to fit his State, does relieve him of studying those points required only by some other State. Consequently we offer the following: PLAN OF FOREST TAXATION FOR EASTERN AND NEIGHBORING STATES WHERE MATURE VIRGIN TIMBER IS NOT THE DOMINATING TYPE. N presenting the following outline your committee has purposely avoided | going into minute details as to the tax system or its administration. Such details must always be made to conform to local conditions and must, there- fore, vary from State to State. Our purpose has been to present, in somewhat general terms, the outline of a sound plan of forest taxation for the region under consideration. Where exact figures are used in the following plan, to specify tax rates, age of timber, intervals of assessment, etc., the figures selected are those which appear to be adapted to general forest conditions. Your committee does not intend, however, to insist upon the exact figures in any case. They are presented largely for illustration, and the principle of the proposed plan may be carried out while substituting other figures as conditions require. 1. Lands subject to special taxation. ‘The special forest tax should apply to all lands on which forests are growing and which are handled and protected in accordance with the methods of practical forestry, as defined in general in the law, which should be administered by the commission, board or officer entrusted with the direction of State forest work. Lands subject to the special tax shall be valued at not over — dollars per acre. (This value should be fixed so low as to exclude lands better suited for FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 117 other uses than forestry.) Lands shall be separately classified and brought under the system at the owner’s option. Owners desiring special classification may make application to the State forester, accompanied by a certificate of the local assessor stating the value of the land, valuing separately the different parcels if so directed by the State forester. The State forester shall examine the forest and if he finds it meets the legal requirements shall certify the forest for sepa- rate classification and taxation. Lands thus separately classified shall remain so as long as the forest is properly conserved as determined through inspection by the State forester. Lands may be withdrawn from such classification at the option of the owner on paying the tax provided below. 2. The tax. Forest lands when separately classified for taxation shall be- subject to a special method of taxation. Two methods are proposed, depending on whether the forest is a “new forest” or an “established forest.” By a “new forest” is meant lands stocked with forest trees, the majority of which are not over 10 years old, provided that the older trees do not add to the assessed value of the property and that the forest meets with the other require- ments of the law. This may include land fully stocked with trees under 10 years of age but containing also scattered older trees, or lands partially stocked with trees under 10 years of age when planted with a sufficient number of addi- tional trees to bring the forest to the standard set by the law, or open land planted with trees to meet the standard of the law. Such forests, when accepted and classified, shall be taxed by-the following method: The land shall be assessed by the local assessors at its value as bare land, no account being taken of the value of the trees. This assessment shall be repeated at intervals of 20 years until the prevailing age of the trees reaches 70 years. Upon the value thus determined the land shall be taxed annually at a rate equal to one-half of the rate of the general property tax of the locality, but in no case to exceed 5 mills. This limit of 5 mills is chosen on the assumption that 10 mills is probably slightly in excess of the average rate of.the general property tax upon true value throughout the United States. In any State where it appeared that the prevailing rate of the general property tax was appreciably higher or lower than 10 mills this rate might be correspondingly changed. This explanation applies equally to the limit of 10 mills proposed below for the tax upon forests over 70 years of age and upon “established forests.” Whenever any timber is cut or other forest product taken from the land a yield tax of 10 per cent of the stumpage value of the timber cut or the actual value of other forest products shall be paid to the State. Forest products cut for domestic use, which shall be limited to fuel and the construction of fences, buildings, and other improvements upon the property of the owner or of a tenant with the permission of the owner upon property subject to taxation in the same town as the timberland, shall be exempt from taxation. Whenever trees are cut before reaching the age of 70 years and provision is made for planting new trees or otherwise perpetuating the forest according 118 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE to the standard fixed by law and to the satisfaction of the State forester, the land may continue separately classified and subject to the special tax indefinitely until the timber reaches the age of 70 years. When the timber reaches the age of 70 years there shall be an assessment of the value of both land and trees, which assessment shall be repeated every 10 years (or oftener), and upon this assessment an annual tax shall be imposed at the rate of the general property tax in the locality, but not to exceed 10 mills, which tax shall continue until the trees are cut. When the trees are cut the yield tax of 10 per cent shall be assessed. From the amount of the yield tax shall be deducted the amount of the previous payments of the annual tax upon land and trees since the trees reached the age of 70 years. If the amount of ‘such previous payments equals or exceeds the yield tax upon the timber cut, no such yield tax shall be due. If after cutting provision is then made for planting or otherwise satisfactorily reproducing the forest, the lands may remain under special classification and taxation, as previously provided for “new forests.” If the owner desires to clear off the timber before it has reached a profitable age for cutting, he shall be at liberty to do so upon paying a tax determined as follows: The value of the timber shall be assessed and a tax computed amount- ing to 1 per cent of said value multiplied by the number of years since the forest was classified and made subject to the special tax. To this shall be added an amount equal to the total taxes paid upon the land alone during the period since the land was separately classified, and this sum shall be the amount due from the owner. The property shall then become subject to the ordinary property tax. ‘The same procedure shall be followed in any case where the owner fails to main- tain the forest according to the standard set by the law as determined by the State forester. 3. Administration. Under this system the collection of all taxes on land and trees except the yield tax would naturally be in the hands of local officers and the revenue would go into the local treasury without further concern on the part of the State. The yield tax, on the other hand, and the tax collected as a penalty for removal of the land from classification or abandonment of the forest should be administered so far as possible by State officers, presumably by the State forester and the State tax commissioner in cooperation. The proceeds of the yield tax and the penalty tax go into the State treasury, either to remain there or if thought best to be distributed back to the towns and counties where the timberlands are located. This distribution might be made according to any one of four or five possible plans. (See Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of the: National Tax Association, pp. 385-389.) Your committee recommends, as probably best suited to the conditions of most States, that the distribution be based upon the areas of forest lands separately classified for taxation in the several local jurisdictions respectively. In all cases the owner should be required to furnish a sworn statement annually of the amount and value of forest products cut during the year. It might also be well to require advance notice of all cuttings. Large owners, lumbermen, loggers, saw-mill owners, and so forth, should be required to keep FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 119 regular books giving a record of their cutting. Their books and accounts should be open to State officers and more elaborate reports could be required of them. In the case of small farm wood-lots it would not probably be worth while to require special books or elaborate reports. The sworn statement of the owner would ordinarily be sufficient. In all cases there should be some examination of logging operations, either by State or local officers, to check up the accuracy of reports and to prevent fraud. In the case of all large cuttings the owner or operator should be required to furnish a bond sufficient to cover the amount of the tax that will become due. The tax should also be a lien upon the land, but not upon the timber cut.* WESTERN CONDITIONS (Taxing New Crop—Continued) HE five Pacific forest States, from Montana to California, contain our | most magnificent standing forests and also, having a combination of favor- able climate and rapid-growing species, offer great natural advantage for growing new forests on a tremendous scale. They are also very similar in their forms of State and county government and in the great importance of forests and forest industry in their economic affairs. Consequently, although they present varying tree species and acreage values, they group readily in a classification of conditions suggesting methods of forest taxation. This group of States, however, presents a more marked distinction between mature timber and reforestation than affects the taxation problem elsewhere. It has vast areas which will remain uncut for many years, yet which are regarded as necessary sources of a large proportion of the total tax revenue. In some counties standing timber now pays 80 or even 90 per cent of all moneys raised. Any form of yield tax upon mature timber that will meet this situation must be sound beyond criticism. Mere experiment cannot well be afforded. On the other hand, logging is largely clean-cutting, resulting, together with past fires, in large areas of no value for any purpose but forest-growing, incapable of paying any but a nominal annual tax and for this reason now lying idle and a menace, at a sacrifice to the community of millions which might be earned were their better care not penalized. Reforestation of such lands is of the highest importance and can be encouraged by tax reform which does not apply to mature timber and which can scarcely fail, if availed of at all, to be better for the community than the present system. The owner of deforested land on the Pacific coast may or may not hold such land for a time under the present system, in the hope of selling it or of tax reform, but he will seldom, if ever, take steps to insure re- foresting which cost money because to do so is too likely to be at an actual loss. In the first place, its sale value represents an investment. He may sell and reinvest thé money in any business which looks inviting. Presumably he can get *For a fuller account of the problems of taxation of growing forests in the eastern part of the United States and a more detailed discussion of plans of reform see “Suggestions for a Practical Plan of Forest Taxation” by Fred Rogers Fairchild in Proceedings of the Sixth National Conference on State and Local Taxation; Madison, Wisc., National Tax Association, 1913. 120 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE ordinary business returns, 6 per cent or more, and continue to reinvest these returns. Therefore, if he leaves this money in forest land for 50 years without return, for every dollar so tied up he must get $18.42 at the end of that period if he is to make 6 per cent compound interest on the investment. And this applies not only to the present value of the land, but also to any added expense he incurs in modifying the cutting methods, or in replanting, in order to insure reforestation. If both together amount to $5 an acre, he must net $92.10 at the end of his 50 years in order to make 6 per cent. So far no complaint can be made. But if the land is to produce a second crop it cannot be left to take care of itself, as it might were it being held for specu- lative purposes only. It must be protected from fire and trespass. And since the interest and principal invested will amount to so much for so long a period and be totally lost in case of destruction, the protection must be adequate, practically amounting to insurance. The annual cost will vary greatly according to locality, class of timber, and the enforcement of fire laws, but will be from 1 cent at the minimum to 15 cents an acre at the maximum in bad seasons. If all cost of pro- tection and administration is placed at only 5 cents annually, for the sake of illus- tration, this represents another investment constanly increasing and compounding which, at the end of 50 years at 6 per cent, will amount to $14.51 an acre. Conse- quently, adding that to his original investment which will have become $92.10, he must net $106.61 to make his 6 per cent. Let us now consider the influence of taxation. We have assumed the land to be valuable for forest growing only, and in calling his investment $5 an acre included some cost of insuring reforestation. Place this at $2 and leave a land value of $3, to be fully taxed at 30 mills for both State and county purposes, which is, perhaps, a fair average. This represents the third form of his investment, or 9 cents an acre invested annually and left unavailable for 50 years, and will amount at the end of that time, at 6 per cent, to $26.18. He has now to clear $132.74 an acre, besides being always in danger of total or partial loss from fire, and during all this time has to have the money, made in some other way, to meet all the annual payments. But no injustice appears, for he has been taxed on an equal basis with other producers. If his acre yields 20,000 feet (the maximum to expect) worth $7 a thousand, he has made his 6 per cent, the community has gained a resource, and every one is satisfied.. His land has been taxed fairly and as he now has a crop to sell he can perhaps even afford to pay a tax on it also, although, if the land | has been fully taxed, there is no just reason why he should have to do so, any more than does the farmer on his potato crop. Strict and logical justice requires either that he shall pay no annual land tax, but a fair yield tax; or a fair land tax and no yield tax; or both taxes correspondingly reduced. But this is just what cannot legally be done under the general property tax. By failure to recognize that the growth produced is a crop, distinct from the land, grown at the owner's effort and expense, and returning no revenue until ripe, the law now compels the repeated annual taxation of the owner's effort to an extent very likely to amount to confiscation. It has been seen that even under the fair system outlined in the preceding paragraph, forest growing is not more than FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 121 ordinarily inviting and involves considerable risk and capital. Yet it assumed only a fair annual tax on the land. Under our present system, logically carried out, here is what would happen: , The first year the tax would be the same. The second year a fiftieth of the total fifty-year crop, which we have assumed worth about $140, or $2.80, would be added to the land; therefore not $3, but $5.80, will bear the 30-mill levy, and not 9 cents, but 17 cents, actual tax will be paid. The third year the tax will be 25 cents an acre; at the twenty-fifth year it will be over $2 an acre. We have seen that even a 9-cent tax amounted to an investment of over $26 an acre in order to produce the crop. The continual increase of this according to growth would make the investment run into many hundreds of dollars if the same interest is calculated, and in any case would make reforestation financially impossible. In actual practice, the increased valuation would probably not be made by the assessor in the manner just described. Instead of determining the rate of growth scientifically and applying it annually, he now makes an ocular reappraise- ment at considerable intervals. In most cases there is no increased value, for the land does not reforest but is continually reburned. Where it accidentally does reforest, he makes a rough calculation of the value of the second growth, based upon no particular system and seldom alike in different counties. But the princi- ple remains the same and the result differs only in degree. The land owner, instead of being encouraged to establish and protect a new forest, is actually penalized, for he must assume that its expectation value will be taxed annually, perhaps on an exorbitant basis, as soon as it becomes apparent. CHOICE OF REFORM METHODS N considering which of the three fundamental plans of taxing new crops to | apply to the foregoing Pacific coast situation, we must analyze its elements of difference from that outlined in the preliminary paragraph of our discussion of eastern conditions. In the older parts of the United States the relative value of any tract for forest production and for other uses is fairly well established, and so is its taxable value. Such classification in many parts of the West would be most conjectural. In a new and rapidly settling region, with land quality and - clearing costs both uncertain, it may be impossible to say whether land assessed at $3 today will in five years be worth $10 for grazing, $50 for agriculture, or but $2 for forest growing and nothing else. A pioneer community, especially if poor in any other taxable wealth, is more dependent on an annual land tax than one already provided with roads and schools. A region still rich in forests is less likely to forego a present tax in favor of a future population than one which already feels the pinch of shortage. One in which neither forest science nor adequate market has developed exact information about growth of the crop or price it will bring cannot deal so exactly by statute; therefore safety from error requires leaving more to future study and experience. One where fire hazard is greatest must depend least upon the yield tax. While the measure we have previously outlined as suggestive for eastern con- ditions would also be good in the West if it could be passed and maintained for a 122 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE time in succesful operation, it is likely that Western States would consider more favorably a simpler plan and one which, while collecting about the same aggregate tax, realizes more of it annually. Such a plan is the first of the three fundamental ones originally mentioned. It is theoretically somewhat the least favorable of the three to the forest owner, but easily understood and much more encouraging than the present general property tax. A Just Plan for Taxing Deforested Land on the Pacific Coast or Elsewhere When a Heavy Yield Tax on Such Land ts Inexpedient. 1. Any land in this State which has been practically denuded of the merchantable timber thereon by cutting or by fire but is adaptable for growing new forests may, at the option and request of the owner, be separately classified under the title of reforestation land and when so classified shall be taxed in the manner set forth in this act, in lieu of all other taxes except such as may be imposed by law upon improvements other than forest growth. 2. Classification of land under this act shall be by the State forester, who shall determine whether all or part of any land covered by application therefor is suitable for reforestation and prescribe for all lands separately classified for this purpose such. regulations as shall be necessary to insure the growing and protection of new forests thereon. 3. Application for such classification shall be made to the State forester upon blanks by him provided and contain such information as he requires, includ- ing a legal description and plat of the tract or tracts and a guarantee to pay the reasonable expenses of any further examination he may direct. 4, In case the State forester shall find that any or all of the land covered by an application is suitable, he shall be empowered to enter on behalf of the State into a contract with the properly authorized owner of the land which shall condition its separate classification as reforestation lands, and its continuance under such classification, upon compliance with regulations for fostering and protecting forest growth on lands so classified and with all other provisions of this act. Such contract may be without time limit except it shall be provided that, if the State forester shall at any time find the timber upon the tract or part thereof sufficiently mature and merchantable to be either cut or more properly taxed laws then existing for the taxation of mature timber, he may require the owner to elect between its cutting and taxation under this act within two years or its re-classification under said laws for the taxation of mature timber. 5. Upon acceptance and execution of such a contract, the land covered thereby shall be separately classified as reforestation land by the State forester who shall certify to this effect to the owner and to the assessor of the county wherein the land lies, forwarding the latter a plat and description thereof. Upon such certification to the county assessor, said land and the forest growth then or thereafter thereon shall be separated for purposes of taxation as long as said separate classification continues. The assessor when making the annual assessment shall assess only the value of the land alone, not enhanced by reason of any forest growth thereon, and upon no higher basis than upon which he assesses contiguous or nearby wild unforested land of the same character not separately classified under the act. No tax shall be paid upon the timber until it is cut, when it shall be assessed and taxed upon its full stumpage value at the rate then applied to general property in the same county. 6. Before the owner of such land cuts or permits the cutting of any forest material thereon he shall notify the county assessor of the extent and duration of the proposed cutting and the assessor shall determine and advise him as to the necessary frequency and dates of such reports of the cutting as may be required FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 123 for proper assessment of the timber cut. In compliance therewith the owner shall as required make or cause to be made to the assessor sworn statements of the kind, quality and quantity of material cut, and, unless shown to be in error, such statements shall be the basis of assessing and taxing its stumpage value as herein- before provided. If there is reason to believe that any statement of timber cut is incorrect or incomplete or there is failure to make such statement, there may be required from the owner or his agents such further information as may be deemed necessary and in event of inability by the county assessor to arrive at a correct assessment the State forester may, upon request, designate an agent to conduct an examination who shall have access to any books or papers bearing upon the matter. Any person or corporation who shall fail to file any sworn state- ment required by this section shall be liable for the cost of any such examination thereby necessitated and shall also pay, in addition to such cost and the tax tound to be due, 10 per cent of the stumpage value of the material determined to have been cut, and if any person shall wilfully falsify or cause to be falsified any statement required by this section he shall be liable for the costs of examination and the full value of the material cut and also be guilty of perjury and liable to indictment and punishment therefor under the laws of this State. Y. All taxes due under this act shall be due and collectible as other taxes in the State and subject to the same liens and processes of collection. Taxes due thereunder upon forest material shall be a lien upon all the owner’s land and timber classified thereunder, until paid, and in event of the possibility that removal of forest material upon which taxes due are not paid may leave insufficient security therefor, the assessor may, if he deems necessary, require sufficient bond to insure their payment. 8. Failure on the part of any owner of lands separately classified under this act to comply with any provision thereof or of the agreement upon which its classification is conditioned shall be cause for cancellation by the State forester of the certificate of classification, in which event the State forester shall notify the county assessor and the timber shall be at once taxed in a sum equivalent, as far as this may be determined, to the accumulation of the taxes it would have paid if not separately classified; provided, that this section shall not prevent dissolution of the contract and re-classification of the land without penalty at any time by mutual consent of the owner and the State forester on behalf of the State. 9. To the end that cutting of standing timber shall be conducted so as to place the land in the best condition for reforesting, uncut forest land may be sub- ject to examination, plan and contract as provided for by this act and the separate classification of the land for taxation shall take effect within one year after the standing timber is cut and removed in full compliance with the terms of said contract. It will be seen that this plan differs little in the aggregate tax imposed from the plan proposed in this report for eastern conditions and those already adopted by several eastern States. They minimize the annual tax and collect it again by a yield tax. This collects it all annually and adds one more tax—that on the crop at general property rates. The latter, while theoretically unnecessary for justice, is a means of collecting the community’s share of any speculative increase of value beyond that due to the forest grower’s effort while at the same time acting as a deterrent to speculation. We are perhaps more familiar with proposals to encourage the forest grower by minimizing or removing his annual burden on land as well as timber, com- pensating the State therefor by a correspondingly heavy yield tax. These seek 124 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE to satisfy him now, while making sure that he does not escape eventually, at positive expense to other tax payers of today and positive gain to tax payers of the future. It is quite as logical to reverse the process and give him equal satis- faction while also satisfying the other tax payers of today, and accord tax payers at the time of cutting no subsidy beyond assurance that they may tax any values added to the product without effort by the forest grower and upon which he has not fully paid. This assurance is provided by the single tax on the crop and the clause permitting reclassification after maturity. This system does not reduce present revenue as much as would exemption or merely nominal taxation of the land, consequently does not add to other pioneer tax payers of today a burden for which they receive no return. Leaving justice to the forest grower out of consideration for the moment, our chief object is to provide the future with forest products, industries, and revenues. In other words, future tax payers are to profit by the exploitation of the forests it is sought to grow. When the present community is a pioneer one, with the heaviest burden of up-building and the maximum dependance on land for tax revenue, as on the Pacific coast, it is only fair that they should forego the majority of the tax in its favor, for the many benefits they are to receive will fully compensate. There is certainly a strong practical advantage in having no percentages to calculate upon uncertain premises. The annual land tax can be imposed with current justice. The yield tax will take exactly its just proportion, compared with the current taxation of other wealth, of any measure of value which future con- ditions or speculation by the owner have added to the crop whenever cut. Under such a system the community would get no less tax revenue, but pre- sumably more, than it does under the present system. In either case the owner will really pay annually only upon the land value, not upon the growth; the only difference being that under the proposed system he would not be asked to, while under the present system either there will be no growth to tax, or, if there is, he cannot afford to pay and the land will revert. It must be borne in mind that while much cut-over land on the Pacific coast is being held under the present system, it has seldom grown anything yet. No expense has been incurred to establish a crop, accidental growth is almost always destroyed by fire because it does not pay to protect it, and if it is not so destroyed it has not yet been accorded the expectation value which the assessor will be obliged to recognize in the early future if he really observes the present law. The inevitable tendency of the present system is continuance to pay on the land with speculative value for purposes other than forestry but abandonment of land valuable only for forestry, with destruction of the forest growth in either case, by purpose or negligence, because it means added cost of holding with no possibility of profit. Since the owner cannot be compelled to grow timber to be taxed at his net loss, no timber tax at all will be received by the community and its annual land tax will be confined to land worth holding without timber for purposes other than timber growing. Under the proposed system, the latter class would pay the same annual tax, the annual tax revenue from. strictly forest land would be greater, and in addition to both would be the small yield tax upon the crop. ‘ FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 125 A possible superficial criticism may be that, leaving the land out of consider- ation, the proposed yield tax at a property valuation of the crop means that but one year’s tax is to be paid upon the timber, while a house, for example, is taxed annually. The fallacy of this, however, will be seen when it is remembered that unlike a house, which affords revenue annually, it is a crop produced from nothing by the owner since his acquisition of the land and while he was paying taxes upon his land upon its value for productive purposes throughout the entire period just as any other crop grower does, and affording revenue only when cut. He is taxed on this and must still pay upon any wealth into which he converts it. It is not unearned speculative increment. To tax it annually is exactly equivalent to taxing an agricultural crop 50 times during its growing period. We have seen elsewhere that justice does not require taxing a crop at all. The proposed plan, therefore, errs on the opposite side in favor of the State, for it does tax the annual production fully, although not until the crop is produced, for taxing its full value when grown is the same as taxing each year the increment added since the preceding year. If it is worth $150 an acre, after 50 years from seed, a 3 per cent yield tax would be $4.50. Each year since the first must have produced a fiftieth of the ultimate value, or $3, and had this been taxed at 3 per cent, or 9 cents, the same aggregate revenue of $4.50 would have resulted. While such a tax is not essential to justice, it is incidental to the plan proposed for insuring tax- ation of speculative values through applying a property tax to all values in the crop where cut. When the essential difference of the two systems is grasped—that the crop is distinct from the land and the latter is still fully taxed—it will be seen that but one tax upon the crop, at the rate other property pays, is all that is just___ and all that can possibly be paid in a competitive commercial business. The case is not analogous with our present system of taxing mature timber, in which land and timber together are assumed to constitute inseparable realty, stationary in production and increasing only speculatively in value, therefore the comparison with one year’s taxation under our present system has no weight. Nor is it like that of a yield tax applied to timber which has been relieved of annual taxation. Nor does the proposed system by any means either subsidize the forest grower or assure him a profit. It is less attractive to him than the yield tax proposed for the East, because he must pay when without revenue and such pay- ment will compound heavily. It does, however, without reducing tax revenue today, protect him from intolerable double taxation later, and merely puts on a basis similar to that of other enterprises a business more greatly handicapped by long-deferred returns, risk of loss, uncertainty of future prices, and continued current expense without current revenue. Only escape from fire and high future stumpage prices will permit profit at best. And the community is guarded against any future circumstances unduly in his favor by the clause permitting requiring him to cut the timber or have it reclassified. 126 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE TAXING MATURE FORESTS HERE is no economic reason, theoretical or expedient, why any community | should not at once adopt some stich system as those we have described for deforested land. Revenues will not be perceptibly disturbed and are cer- tain to be increased eventually. There cannot fail to be public economy in pro- ducing forests where they will not be produced under the present system. With regard to uncut virgin timber the problem is much more difficult. Toa large extent it represents wealth not produced by the owner. To an extent the opposite is true, for carrying costs may accumulate to equal the value of the timber. To find the proportion in each case is a most delicate task. In some regions mature timber may be uneconomically held out of use for speculative reasons. In others the tendency is to uneconomical cutting in advance of true need for use. While a yield tax on the timber itself is logically the only, correct tax, it may increase current revenues in a region of heavy cutting or decrease them where cutting is slight. In the heavily-timbered State where wise taxation will do the most good because there is more material to be favorably affected, there is also the greatest difficulty in changing existing systems. So here again we are under the necessity of considering local conditions, yet without space to classify them too nicely. About the only classification practi- cable is the same adopted in discussing new forest crops—separating from the others the extreme Pacific States having over half our virgin supply and con- strained to hold much of this long uncut. EASTERN CONDITIONS HE problem of taxation of mature forests in the eastern part of the United | States is far less serious than in the States of the Pacific coast. It is only in the States of the Pacific coast and in some parts of the South and ex- treme Northeast that large areas of mature virgin forest are the prevailing forest type. In these parts of the country very much of such timber would not naturally be cut and should not properly be cut for many years to come. Throughout the greater part of the country, however, this is not the prevailing condition. Under these circumstances the taxation of mature forests is not such a serious problem. In fact, the plan already suggested for the taxation of “new forests” might be adapted with slight changes so as to include also mature forests. Certain practical difficulties, however, may be avoided by adopting a somewhat different plan for the taxation of mature and partly grown forests. The following plan is proposed. Many features of this plan are identical with the corresponding parts of the plan already suggested for the taxing of “new forests.” In some cases we have repeated these sections and in other cases reference is made to the previous plan. 1. Lands Subject to Special Taxation. The special forest tax should apply to all lands on which forests are growing and which meet certain conditions to be specified in the law. Lands subject to the special tax shall be valued at not over — dollars per acre. (This value should be fixed so low as to exclude lands better suited for other uses than forestry.) Lands shall be separately classified and brought under FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 127 the system at the owner’s option. Owners desiring special classification may make application to the State forester, accompanied by a certificate of the local assessor stating the value of the land, valuing separately the different parcels if directéd by the State forester. The State forester shall examine the forest and if he finds it meets the legal requirements shall certify the forest for separate classifi- cation and taxation. Lands thus separately classified shall remain so as long as the forest is properly maintained. The forester shall make occasional examinations to make sure that the forest is being properly maintained and the conditions of the law lived up to. Lands may be withdrawn from such classification at the option of the owner on paying all taxes then due. 2. The Tax. Forest lands when separately classified for taxation shall be subject to a special method of taxation. Two methods are proposed, depending on whether the forest is a “new forest” or an “established forest.” A “new forest” has already been defined as lands stocked with forest trees the majority of which are not over 10 years old, provided that the other trees do not add to the assessed value of the property. All other forests which meet the requirements of the law are defined as “established forests.” By an “established forest” is meant, therefore, lands stocked with forest trees according to the standard set by the law, but which contain trees the majority of which are over 10 years of age, or which contain trees over 10 years of age which add to the assessed value of the property. Such forests, when accepted and classified, shall be taxed by the following method: The value of the land and trees shall be assessed by the local assessor, and this assessment shall be repeated at intervals of 20 years until the trees are cut in such manner as to bring the the forest within the definition of a “new forest,” as provided in the law, or until the forest ceases to be maintained according to the standard set by the law. Upon the value thus determined the forest shall be taxed annually at the rate of the general property tax of the locality, but not to exceed 10 mills. Whenever any timber is cut or other forest product taken from the land a yield tax shall be paid to the State. This tax shall be a percentage of the stumpage value of the timber cut or of the actual value of other forest products, which percentage shall be as follows: If cut not more than 5 years after classification, 1 per cent; if cut more than 5 years and not more than 10 years after classifica- tion, 2 per cent.; if cut more than 10 years and not more than 15 years after classification, 3 per cent.; if cut more than 15 years and not more than 20 years after classification, 4 per cent.; if cut more than 20 years after classification, 5 per cent. Whenever the trees are cut so as to bring the forest within the definition of a “new forest’ as provided in the law, and the forest is then planted or otherwise reproduced so as to meet the standard of the law, the forest shall be classified as a “new forest” and be taxed thereafter by the method provided for “new forests.” 128 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Whenever the forest is given up or is not maintained according to the standard set by the law as determined by the State forester, the property shall then become subject to the ordinary property tax, after all payments of yield taxes due have been made to the State. — 3. Administration. The discussion of administrative problems which has already been given in connection with the plan for taxing “new forests” applies equally to the plan here proposed for taxing “established forests.” WESTERN CONDITIONS (Taxing Mature Forests—Continued) addition to the relative great dependence upon forest taxes of such heavily timbered States, is the existence of huge supply that cannot and should not be logged for American consumption for a long time to come. It is not needed yet and the cost of its transportation to the main centers of demand makes its competition with nearer supplies exceedingly limited at present. But carrying costs are so great that much of this timber seemingly cannot be carried until needed without a cost beyond what lumber will be worth. The welfare of the consumer demands not that this timber should be manufactured prematurely but that it be held, while the tendency of unwise taxation is to hasten wasteful — cutting for the highest grades only and for foreign export. While it is becoming apparent that carrying charges are soon to enforce wasteful and premature cutting in Pacific coast forests unless stumpage prices advance more rapidly than they promise, there are serious local obstacles to the adoption of the theoretically remedial yield tax. Chief of these are the immense storage of timber in excess of true demand, the irregular distribution of cutting, and the necessity of fixed revenue where cutting is small. However practicable the yield tax may be when in general and permanent operation, it is essential, to bring about the transition without too great disturbance, to bridge the lean period while cutting is still mostly in the future, and to equalize between counties with greatly differing cutting rates at present. For some time to come there must be expedients to solve these difficulties and it would seem that these must: f | ‘HE most notable peculiarity of the Pacific coast mature timber problem, in (a) Make the transition gradual by having it optional with the forest owner whether he continues the present system or adopts the new, under an arrange- ment which properly protects the community and gives relief on the class of forest land needing it most—that not to be cut soon. (b) Let the State act as equalizer and banker between the forest counties, affording a medium by which the heavily cutting counties of today contribute the excess above their needs to the counties whose present revenue is reduced by the system, in turn receiving assistance when they are cut out and the now unex- ploited counties become the chief collectors of yield tax. (c) In case the above plan still leaves shortage of revenue for a few years, due to insufficiency of cutting to make a total yield tax equal to the total received under the present system, let the State issue bonds annually to the amount required to make up the deficiency, these bonds to be paid at such future time as the yield FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 129 tax becomes large and by the population that has more to gain from forest conser- vation than has the present population. Even with these expedients, however, there remain several essential points of principle and detail which must be settled more by practicable compromise than by nice adherence to theory. Mature timber of the West today is not wholly the product of the owner as the second crop of the future will be or as the mature forests of Germany are. His carrying charges entitle him to some absolution as a producer, but not complete absolution also for the stored natural values he originally acquired at small cost. Moreover, the revenue requirements of growing States and the difficulty of meeting them by a struggling population tend against any highly radical reduction of tax burdens upon any class other than the poorest and most numerous, even though it may be theoretically just or for the good of the entire community in the long run. Of the ways suggested for fixing the amount of the proposed future tax, two seem simplest. One is a yield tax on the timber similar to that we have discussed for eastern conditions, either with or without deferring the usual annual tax on the land. If the latter is partially deferred, it must be added to the yield tax. The latter is made a certain percentage of the value of the crop, arrived at by a comparison of an average general property tax rate with modern income tax ideas, and increasing by a sliding scale, until'a maximum is reached, to avoid hard- ship in case of early cutting. Such fixing of an arbitrary yet generally just per- centage yield tax is not a particularly difficult financial calculation if cutting is not necessarily deferred until after a certain maximum tax is reached. Then complication appears. A sliding scale that will work plausibly up to a miximum reached at say 20 years, must then either remain uniform, which will discriminate between timber cut at 20 years and 40 years, or continue stepping up until it de- stroys values. Consequently such a tax which might be desirable where holding is purely speculative and undesirable might be undesirable where holding is for community good and not for the owner’s good. A suggested alternative for Pacific coast conditions is abandonment, as long as the stored excess supply continues, of the theoretically correct yield tax basis and adoption of an expedient which does not change the present tax but post- pones its payment until the crop supplies the money. Instead of fixing a per- centage on accepted general laws, it calculates the accumulation of the present burden in each State, by using fair averages, but does not collect till the timber is cut. This also is a fairly simple process. Take as a basis the average assessed value of accessible timberland. and the average rate thereon. Reduce the latter to a rate accomplishing the same taxation on the same timberland at its average full valuation (should assessment average about half the true value now, the rate also would be halved). This rate would obviously be an equivalent yield tax on timber cut immediately, except that it is based on both land and timber. Next find a fair present proportion for the land as separate from the timber, easily done by comparing present taxation of similar cut-over land, and reduce the rate accordingly. It is then only necessary to provide for taxing the land 130 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE fairly every year, without considering the growth thereon, and to apply the rate arrived at above, multiplied by the number of years ensuing before cutting, to the actual value of the crop when cut. The owner is relieved of annual taxation on the timber, although not on the land. ‘The community gets a sustained land tax and later the present rate applied to the actual value at time of cutting, thus exactly and automatically getting its full share of inéreased values. If stumpage goes up it gains greatly because this final rate and value applies to every previous year during which values were less and less could have been collected under the general property tax. This loss is com- pensated to the owner to some extent by his relief from interest on taxes paid annually. Were such compensation exactly equal, both community and owner gain equally at the expense of the money lender. In all probability the community will gain more than the interest, through increase of stumpage values, while the owner will profit, in spite of losing this difference, by not being forced into sacrificial management and financing and by being relieved from uncertain jump- ing of his valuations by the assessor from time to time. There still remains to be provided some safeguard against accumulation of taxes beyond the ability of the crop to pay and against altered relations to other taxation due to possible change of public sentiment affecting the latter. If, for example, increase of income, franchise or corporation taxation, increase of assess- ment values, or other causes, result in lowering the community’s property rate, the forest owner continuing the old rate on a full valuation would be unjustly taxed. Nor is it likely that a yield tax even on virgin timber, after land taxation has been met annually, should ever go much higher than 10 per cent, which would be reached in 25 years by a rate of 4 mills stepped up annually. Consequently there should be provision for periodic adjustment, say every 10 years, never to raise the rate, for this will be unnecessary, but to lower it if requisite to compare fairly with other taxation or to postpone somewhat the date at which an unbearable percentage will be reached. This latter point might also be met by a limit specified in the law, as is commonly provided in eastern plans, but it would seem that where the relation of desirable or enforced cutting period to carrying costs is uncertain, it might more wisely be left somewhat to tax commissions and receive legislative adjustment in perhaps 25 years. The plan of taxing mature timber just described is less sound theoretically than totally dismissing the general property tax and striking out boldly on grounds of strict justice. While remedying one error of the present system—exaction of tax before there is revenue with which to pay—it perpetuates another grave error in unequal taxation. If timber cut in 10 years is worth no more than other timber cut today, it will pay 10 times as much tax on the same timber value. This is an injustice under both present and proposed systems which tends to hasten cutting and is hard to remedy except by an absolute income tax. One of the most serious problems in any yield tax plan on the Pacific coast, usually minimized elsewhere because there is less cutting, is the determination of amount and value of the harvest. Three plans are usually proposed: assessment by the usual local officials, assessment by State forest officials for the sake of . FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 131 technical competence and uniform policy, and sworn statement by the owner subject to check and heavy penalty for fraud. ‘The first is simplest, the second is ideal in result, but either of these two would require expensive machinery where cutting runs into billions of feet a year and is continuous. It is hard to see how the frequently proposed plan to notify officials of proposed cutting a given num- ber of days in advance, with tax payment prior or immediately following, would work where the owner is continually installing railroads and camps, opening up new areas, shifting cutting to get quality grades conforming to the market, perhaps suddenly salving fire-injured material, and generally conducting the complicated operations required to get out a hundred million or more feet a year. Apparently there must be an annual accounting after the timber is cut, except perhaps in certain classified small operations, and the owner’s books afford the best means of accuracy. This is the plan used in collecting the New Zealand income tax and is reported to be satisfactory. Probably a sworn statement in requisite detail, with access to the books for a check and severe penalty for fraud, is thé most feasible method of dealing with continuous operations. It has been pointed out that doubt as to what land will not be used for agri- culture, as weil as the exigencies of a large and none too profitable lumber industry and inadequate State facilities, render doubtful the insistence on the Pacific coast that mature timber tax reform be contingent upon State supervision of cutting to obtain forestry practice. Nor is it as necessary as elsewhere, for the usual cutting methods are less antagonistic to forestry practice. On the other hand reproduction does depend largely upon fire prevention. It is practicable enough to have a contract requiring both protection of the uncut timber and precaution in logging. Such stipulations are easily made and understood in advance. Com- pliance can be watched by the,existing fire force. SUMMARY OF PLAN 1. Owners of mature timber may apply to State forester for separate classifi- cation, agreeing in event of approval to cooperate in fire prevention and apply precaution in logging to a specified extent as long as classification continues. 2. Certification of classification made by State forester to owner, county assessor and tax commission. Assessor thereafter includes only land value in annual assessment. Land tax paid annually. 3. Forest material taxed only when cut, at rate (determined as previously described), amounting to present rate on full value applied to full value at time of cutting and multiplied by number of years since classification, provided that in 10 years and every 10 years thereafter tax-commission with advice of forest board may readjust this rate if necessary to prevent from becoming excessive. 4. Provision for establishing value of cut and preventing fraud. 5. State treasurer keeps account with each county, debiting or crediting each, and drawing from or paying to county treasurer, as necessary to equalize excesses or deficiencies due to yield tax system and its dependence upon quantity cut locally. If, due to insufficient development of lumber industry, total yield tax fails to permit satisfactory equalization between counties, State issues bonds to meet deficiency, payable after increased cutting, stimulation of forest preservation, etc., permit placing burden on chief beneficiaries. 6. Penalties for bad faith. 132 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE STATE ACQUIREMENT IN LIEU OF TAXATION We E have hitherto discussed taxation of mature timber solely as a project of tax reform. There is, however, a growing interest in the possibility of affording needed tax relief on timber in return for the land after the timber is removed. Many people believe reforestation must be chiefly a State rather than a private function. This is undoubtedly true of land whose chief value is for protection, and not for the production of commercial timber. Prob- indifferent owners. State ownership of such cut-over land is often desirable. ably also much land that would afford good returns under forestry will have Devices for securing it without purchase, in lieu of taxes, are particularly worthy of attention, if they do not seriously interfere with revenue, because they may be made to insure leaving it in good condition for reforestation. It is hardly likely that complete State assumption of forest land for this pur- pose will be practicable in States largely forested. The burden would be tre- mendous for many years. Concession of taxes to the original owner would be at immediate sacrifice, even if at later profit; consequently would require bonding or some other form of carrying this cost. Nevertheless a very considerable engagement in forestry by the State is always desirable. There are various ways of accomplishing this through taxation, all based on contract or classification under which, for partial or complete remission of taxes, the State acquires eventual title. A somewhat different suggestion has been made to tax the land annually and let the county issue timber-tax certificates, bearing interest which it collects annually with the land tax, and secured as a lien against the property. These certificates are to be sold to investors, who receive the interest from the county. If accumulation of certificates against the property approach too closely its security value should the timber be destroyed accidentally, bond must be provided. When the owner desires to cut he must pay all accrued taxes, when release will be given, but the State, at its option, may pay such indebtedness, plus the assessed value of the land, and acquire ownership after cutting. The amount of the timber tax is not an essential part of this plan, for it may be either the present general property tax levy or an automatic stepping-up of an originally determined rate such as we have discussed elsewhere. Without careful safeguard it would tend to be even more excessive and unjust than under the present system. It is hardly within the province of this report to discuss such plans at length, for they involve much else than taxation, but if adopted guardedly to prevent too great State obligation they may be of high importance in settling many tax problems. IMPROVEMENT UNDER EXISTING LAWS \V/ HILE the general property tax is both theoretically and practically wrong when applied to wealth which yields irregular income, and especially so when the income is so long deferred as in the case of timber, the degree of its injury is so variable with variations of practice as to show a great field for reform within the system even when it can not be changed. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 133 Inequality in assessment, unsteadiness of policy in fixing ratios and levies, multi- plication of unnecessary taxation districts or units, and, above all, extravagance and incompetence in public expenditure—some or all of these evils afflict nearly every forest property, yet are theoretically apart from the system and curable. They deserve immensely more determined and organized effort which, if it can not remove them wholly, should at least limit them to some certainty which would enable more intelligent consideration of forest investments. It is the utter uncer- tainty that, rather more than degree now, confuses all calculations. Foresters and timber owners should campaign as vigorously as they do for more direct forestry legislation for laws putting the entire machinery of gathering and spend- ing taxes on a business basis. Levies should be only to support a budget carefully prepared and given ample advance publication to call forth approval or disapproval. Local improvements should be made only after competitive bids for the work. All public accounts should be standardized in method, subjected to frequent expert inspection, and periodically published in condensed form. Waste through unnecessary or poorly performed work on roads, bridges, and buildings is tremendous. The employment of competent engineers for sur- veys and construction is.as necessary in the taxpayer’s interest as it is in building a railroad. The business organization of our counties, towns, school districts, and like units of local government varies in form and efficiency with every State. This is an era for improving city government. There is no less need for studying and installing the most economical and efficient forms of other local administrations, securing competent expending authorities and placing responsibility where it can not be evaded. The number of disbursing authorities, particularly, should be reduced to the minimum, both to render easier fit selection and to make it prac- ticable! to check all expenditures more frequently. A multitude of road, school, town and county authorities, each with its tax-raised funds wholly at its own disposal under countless systems, is practically beyond control. Expense and trouble of every kind is multiplied in some States by inex- cusable protraction of the tax-gathering process. Under some laws it is nearly two years from assessment until taxes are paid without becoming delinquent. Unnecessarily extravagant bond issues are frequently voted after insufficient consideration and at unrepresentative elections. Taxation and bonding districts are often gerrymandered with most unfair and unwise boundaries, usually because there is no organization for effectual protest. One of the cardinal injustices under the general property tax is unequal assessment, due either to ignorance or wilful discrimination. If to the former, much can be done by systematized representation of facts; if to the, latter, by assurance that it will be resented. Changing and conflicting policies as to the relative merits of low assessments and high levies, or vice versa, result in con- fusion, accentuation of inequality, and extravagances. In most States these evils need legislative control and in all States they need organized systematic attention by taxpayers. 184 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE From a forestry standpoint so-called “home rule” in taxation, which permits conflicting local policies to affect a product which has general market and compe- tition, is almost always dangerous and discouraging. Forestry more than almost any other industry requires stable and consistent tax treatment. All of these evils fall roughly under two classifications: those requiring remedial legislation and those requiring better execution of laws in themselves satisfactory. In both cases the need is urgent for all who are interested in forest management to study the situation at home and elsewhere and to work for improvement individually and collectively. It is as much forestry as is any- thing else. It should be a function of forestry associations and official forestry departments, which are less likely to have their motives misconstrued than are forest owners, but the latter should also organize themselves, or join existing taxpayers leagues, to improve conditions permanently and to forestall every individual case of extravagance or injustice. Sxcrion III. THE TAXATION OF FORESTS IN EUROPE HE following is a brief summary of the methods of taxing forests in the | principal countries of Europe, by Fred Rogers Fairchild, reprinted from the report of the Special Commission on Taxation of Woodland of the State of Connecticut, Hartford, 1912 :— (A part of the following discussion of European forest taxation was deliv- ered in an address before the Fifth Annual Forest Conference at Bretton Woods, N. H., July 19, 1912.) The European Tax System in General—tThere is a tendency among the progressive states of Europe toward agreement upon the general outline of tax system. As a rule the tax systems of European states are based primarily upon income, rather than upon property as in the United States. The general income tax is normally the basis of the system; the tax is usually progressive, the rates increasing with the size of the income. There is always a minimum income ex- empt from taxation. Supplementing the income tax there is apt to be a property tax, or a system of yield taxes, the purpose of which is to place an extra burden of taxation on what we may call funded incomes, that is, incomes derived from invested capital as distinguished from incomes due to personal service. The above is, of course, a very general statement, and numerous exceptions will be found. Forests in Europe are ordinarily subject to state taxation and to local or communal taxation. As a rule, forests are subject to one or more of three im- portant taxes: (1) the income tax, (2) the ground tax, and (3) the property tax. The Ground Tax.—The ground tax is a yield tax (Ertragssteuer). It is based upon the productivity of the soil and is measured by the yield which is normally to be expected in view of the general character of the soil and the use to which it is devoted. It is not based upon the actual income received from any particular piece of land. No account is taken of peculiarities either in the management of the property or in the personal situation of the owner. Having FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 135 determined the quality of the soil and the general character of the forest stand, it is assumed that the management is the same as normally prevails in that region. Also when the prevailing kind of wood and management have been decided upon, no account is taken of peculiarities in the condition of a particular forest. The owner who, by careful management, keeps his forest in unusually good condi- tion, pays no extra on account of the increased yield resulting. On the other hand, the decrease in yield due to neglect, bad management, or other causes brings no reduction in the normal yield tax. In determining the money value ot the yield use is made of the average prices of timber and other forest products which have prevailed during a number of past years. The yield which is taxed is in some cases the gross income. In most cases, however, certain reductions are made ior costs. Account is taken of intermediate yields as well as major cuttings, but there is frequently no account taken of inci- dental incomes, which in some parts of Europe are a matter of considerable importance. Certain more or less arbitrary deductions are ordinarily allowed for loss of yield through accident, though in certain important states no such deductions are permitted. The ground tax is administered by means of a cadaster. There is a careful survey of all of the lands subject to taxation. In the case of forests it involves the determination of the area, the kind of timber, and the general character of the stand. It also ascertains the prevailing method of management in the particular region and the average prices of forest products during a number of past years. Based upon these facts, the yield which is normally to be expected from a unit of land of each particular class is determined, and this normal yield becomes the basis of taxation. Obviously, the construction of the cadaster is an under- taking involving enormous labor and expense and requiring many years to com- plete. Moreover, when once completed the cadaster tends soon to become obso- lete. Changes in method of management, changes in the character of the forest stand, changes in prices of wood all tend sooner or later to bring about a wide divergence between the assessed yield of the cadaster and the yield actually being obtained. The time and expense involved in making a new cadaster are so great that the old cadasters have always been allowed to remain in force long after they have ceased to conform even approximately to actual conditions. The ground-tax cadasters of European nations were established at various times during the nineteenth century. Practically all of them are today obsolete. Many are from 50 to 100 years old. No great state today, however, seriously considers the making of a new cadaster, being deterred by the enormous expense and labor involved. As a rule the result has favored the forest owners. Forest conditons have generally improved since the cadasters were made, and in par- ticular the prices of forest products have risen enormously, with the result that the tax is today a far lighter burden than was originally contemplated. With this result, however, goes a tremendous amount of injustice and inequality on account of the change of conditons since the establishment of the cadaster. The rates of the ground tax vary greatly, but are not usually very heavy. Another disadvantage of the yield-tax system lies in the fact that when a 186 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE new forest is established the tax must be paid at once, and continues annually in spite of the fact that for many years there is no yield from the forest. Some states make allowance for this by providing that new forests shall be exempt from the ground tax for a definite period of years, averaging from twenty to thirty years as a rule. On account of the difficulties inherent in the ground tax this form of taxation has gradually declined in importance. In only a few states today is the ground tax the principal method of taxing forests. In most progressive states the ground tax remains only as a supplementary tax in a system based primarily upon other methods of taxation, or else has been given up entirely as a state tax. As the basis of local taxation it is stil! important and will doubtless long continue. The Income Tax.—Most European states have as a more or less important part of their revenue system a general income tax. This is a tax upon incomes from certain specified sources, which include pretty much all important sources of income. The income from forestry is subject to the income tax where such a tax exists. Asa general rule it may be stated that all receipts, either in money or in kind, are subject to the tax. This includes major cuttings, intermediate yields, and incidental uses, and includes also ordinarily the money value of any forest products taken by the taxpayer for his own personal use. The taxable income is normally the net income, deductions being made for the ordinary costs of administration and management. Deductions are also allowed for interest upon debt and to some extent for depreciation of the capital. Costs of reforest: ing cut-over areas are regarded as expenses and deducted. Costs of establishing new forests, however, are ordinarily not considered expenses, but rather invest- ment of new capital, and are therefore not deducted. The income tax, unlike the ground tax, is a personal tax. Instead of assum- ing a certain normal income, as is done under the ground tax, the income tax takes account of the actual income received by the individual in question from the particular source specified. In administering the tax, account is taken also of the personal circumstances of the taxpayer, and abatements are allowed where special circumstances have impaired taxpaying ability. In the case of forestry some allowance is ordinarily made for irregularities of income by providing that the taxable income in any year shall be the average of the incomes of the forest for the past three years. Deductions likewise are made for the average adminis- trative expenditures of the past three years. The rates of the income tax vary with the size of the income and are differ- ent in different states. It is seldom that the maximum rate exceeds 5 per cent. In many of the European income-tax laws the attempt is made to distinguish between income on the one hand and yields which cause reduction of the capital on the other hand, the general rule being that the taxable income is only such as can be obtained without a reduction of the capital source from which it comes. Obviously this distinction is very difficult to apply in the case of forestry. Much confusion and disagreement among authorities has arisen over the application of this part of the law. In some states no attempt is made to make such a dis- tinction, but all forest yields are treated alike as forest income subject to taxation. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 137 The Property Tax.—The property tax in European countries is to be dis- tinguished from the general property tax with which we are familiar in America. The general property tax is a tax levied upon practically all kinds of wealth at a uniform rate. This sort of tax has long ago been abandoned by most European countries. Switzerland is the one nation where the general property tax is still important. Property taxes, however, in the sense of taxes levied upon the capital value of certain specified kinds of wealth, still continue to occupy a position of more or less importance. The basis of the property tax is theoretically the actual value of the property in question. This means the market value, or the value which corresponds to the average customary price at which property of the character in question is sold. In the case of forests it is, of course, obvious that the intention of the law is not easily carried out, since sales of forests are of infrequent occurrence. Where it is impossible to determine the actual selling price of forests it becomes necessary to fall back upon some other method of determining the value. The method usually chosen is to ascertain the normal yield produced by a given forest and then obtain the proper value by capitalizing this yield at some specified rate of interest. This, of course, makes the property tax quite similar to the ground tax, though with this great difference: the property tax is based not on an ancient cadaster but upon assessments frequently made and revised. This procedure also introduces serious theoretical questions and administrative difficulties. There is, for instance, much dispute among German foresters over the proper rate of interest for capitalizing forest yields. The property tax has, therefore, shown itself subject to many of the difficulties pointed out in the case of the ground tax. Outside of Switzerland no important European country makes the prop- erty tax its sole or principal tax. Where it exists it usually serves the purpose of a supplementary tax for the purpose of placing an extra burden upon funded incomes. The rates of the European property taxes vary greatly, but are normally very much lower than we are familiar with in this country. The Tax Systems of the Principal European States——Very few states use all three of the above-described taxes. The typical modern system consists of the income tax as a principal tax, with either the ground tax or the property tax as a supplementary tax for the purpose of placing an extra burden upon funded incomes, and upon wealth yielding no income. As has been indicated, the ground tax is today falling into disuse, and the property tax is coming to be the leading supplementary tax. For example, in the German Empire the important states of Prussia, Hesse, Baden, and Bavaria make use of the general income tax with the supplementary property tax. Saxony, Wiirtemberg, and a considerable number of less important states use the general income tax with the supplementary ground tax. A still smaller group of states uses either the ground tax alone or a combi- nation of all three, income tax, property tax, and ground tax. Austria uses the general income tax with a supplementary ground tax. In Switzerland the property tax occupies a position of greater importance than any- where else in Europe. The income tax is also of importance. In some cantons 138 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE we find the one, in some the other, the principal member of the tax system. Where the property tax is the main source of taxation, the income tax is apt to be used also as a supplementary tax, and vice versa where the income tax is the principal tax. Local Taxation—The foregoing discussion has related to state taxation only. It is impossible to form a true idea of European forest taxation without taking account also of the taxation of the local bodies districts, counties, com- munes, parishes, and so forth. The local organization of European countries is so diverse and their systems of taxation so varied, that it is entirely out of the question to give anything like an adequate account within the limits of this chap- ter. The following is nothing more than the briefest and most general outline of the subject. As a general rule the local bodies of European countries obtain their revenues, (1) from various contributions from the state or other higher political bodies; (2) from communal property and public industrial enterprises ; (8) from various fees, licenses, and so forth; and (4) from taxation. Taxation is ordinarily relied upon to make up whatever deficit remains after the revenue from the other sources has been applied to cover expenditures. The taxation of the local bodies as a rule consists in additional rates imposed upon the principal state taxes, in somewhat the same way as the states, counties, and towns share in the general property tax in this country, the chief difference being that in Europe the tax is a state tax and the administration in the hands of state officials, the local bodies merely adding their necessary rates. Where a state obtains its revenue, for example, from the income tax and the property tax, local bodies may add their own additional rates to one or both of these taxes. It should be men- tioned also that in many states where the ground tax has been given up as a state tax it is still commonly kept in force as a basis for the addition of local rates, and so continues to be a source of local revenue. The rates of the local taxes on income, property, and soil show the utmost variety. Many of the communes impose no taxes whatever, securing all necessary revenue from the other sources named. Among those communes which impose taxes the rates vary all the way from almost nothing to three or four times the state rate. Maximum limits are often fixed by state law. Conclusion—In general the methods of taxing forests in Europe, while de- cidedly superior to the American system, are still far from having attained perfec- tion. European foresters have been for years engaged in more or less bitter controversy over alleged theoretical defects of their tax systems as applied to forests, as well as over practical rules of administration. While we have much to learn from European experience, no one familiar with the subject would think of suggesting that any European system be introduced bodily here. Knowledge of European experience will not relieve us of the necessity of developing a system of taxation of our own suited to American conditions. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 139 Secrion IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FOREST TAXATION subject of forest taxation together with a few of the important German publications. No attempt has been made to give a complete list of foreign publications. To following is a list of the most important works in English upon the Akerman, Alfred—An objective point in the taxation of forest lands. Southern Woodlands, June, 1908. Bissell, J. H.—Notes on forest taxation. Report of the Michigan Forestry Commission, 1905-6. Bullock, Chas. J—Practical application of taxes to forests. In “Taxation of Forests,” issued by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, 1912. Chittenden, A. K., and Irion, Harry—The taxation of forest lands in Wiscon- sin. Published under the direction of the Wisconsin State Board of Forestry in co-operation with the United States Forest Service, Madi- son, Wis., 1911. Drinker, H. S—Anaylsis and summary of modern opinions on taxation of our woodlands and forest. 1912. ; Fairchild, Fred R.—Taxation of timberlands. Report of National Conserva- tion Comission, vol. II, pp. 581-632. The economic problem of forest taxation. Yale Review, Feb., 1909 The taxation of timber lands in the United States. Proceedings of the National Tax Association, vol. IT, pp. 69-82. Suggestions for a practical plan of forest taxation. Proceedings of the National Tax Association, vol. VI, pp. 371-393. Address before the National Lumber Manufacturers’ Association, Seattle, July, 1909. Address before the National Lumber Manufacturers’ Association, New Orleans, April, 1910. The present state of forest tax legislation. American Forestry, Oct., 1912. Forest taxation. In “Taxation of Forests,” issued by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, 1912. Fernow, B. E.—Forest taxation and conservation in Canada. Proceedings of the National Tax Asociation, vol. IT, pp. 93-98. Principles underlying forest taxation. In “Taxation of Forests,” issued by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, 1912. Foster, J. H.—The taxation of forest lands and the efficiency of the fire laws in New Hampshire. Report of the New Hampshire Forestry Commis- sion, 1907-8, pp. 49-119. Shaw, A. C.—Forest Taxation. Proceedings of the National Tax Association, vol. I, pp. 256-258. Taxation of forest lands. Proceedings of the National Tax Associa- tion, vol. II, pp. 83-91. California Special Tax Commission (1906) .—Forest taxation. Connecticut Special Commission on the Taxation of Woodland.—Report, Hart- ford, 1912. Maryland State Tax Commission—Taxation of woodlands, 1913. Massachusetts Tax Commission—Report, 1909. 140 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Michigan Forestry Commission, 1905-6.—Taxation and tax lands. National Tax Association Proceedings—Discussion on forest taxation, vol. II, pp. 99-110; vol. VI, pp. 394-401. Taxation of wild lands in Maine, vol. I, pp. 467-470. Assessment of timber land in Washington, vol. III, pp. 335-336. Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests——Discussions in “Taxa- tion of Forests,” 1912. A large number of short articles and notes on forest taxation have appeared in the various forestry and lumber trade journals of the United States during the past five or six years. No attempt is made here to list all of these articles. The principal German works on the subject are Weber, Die Besteuerung des Waldes (Frankfurt a.M., J. D. Sauerlander’s Verlag, 1909) and the chapter on Waldbesteuerung in Endres’ Handbuch der Forstpolitik (Berlin, Verlag von Julius Springer, 1905). A great number of articles on the subject have appeared separately. THE TAXATION OF FOREST LANDS, FOREST COUNTY, WISCONSIN HIS study was made covering the tax year of 1912 for the purpose of | determining the actual effect upon taxes to owners of forest lands of the exemption of growing timber both under present conditions of local assessments and under ideal conditions of assessments at full valuation. It should be remembered that in the tax scheme in Wisconsin, as of most of the American States, the tax on real estate forms the so-called elastic element. Licenses, taxes at fixed rates, etc., furnish a certain basic minimum of revenue. The balance must be extended against the general property and against real estate in particular on a sliding rate. It follows that any reduction in the value or quantity of property subject to taxation must be met by a corresponding’ increase in the tax rate. This applies both to the tax to meet local expenditures and to meet State and county requirements. This inquiry covers three points. First. What is the present tax burden of forest lands in this country ? Second. What would be the effect on such lands and all other property of an exemption of growing timber, other conditions remaining as at the present time? The third inquiry was on the same basis as the second but assumed assess- ment of all property at its full value. The first big result indicated by the investigation is that the mere exemption of timber on forest lands is not a solution of the problem. The reason for this lies in the sliding rate. The proportion of forest lands to the total taxable prop- erty of the district bears a direct relationship to the increase of the tax rate resulting from the exemption of growing timber. In the theoretical case of an assessment district containing nothing but forest lands there would be no reduction to the owners on such lands in taxes through the exemption of growing timber for the reason that the total tax would remain the same and the rate would be increased to offset the lowered valuation. In Forest County as a whole the exemption of growing timber on forest FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 141 lands would have reduced the tax in 1912 from $52,417.16 to $18,331.33 assuming a full value assessment. In other words approximately $34,000 or over 70% could be cut from the total taxes on forest lands by the exemption of timber at the present time. If timber were now being assessed at its real value in Wis- consin, the result would be still more startling. The point made above with respect to varying proportions saved to tax- payers is illustrated by two extreme cases. The town of Crandon contains 9.64% in the valuation of forest lands and the town of Alvin 63.77% in such valuations. In Alvin the saving to the forest land owners in taxes is 56%, in Crandon 82%. “SINGLE TAX” A DANGER TO FORESTRY ORESTERS and others interested in forest taxation reform are, of neces- F sity, obliged to give considerable attention to taxation proposals not primarily based upon forestry problems, but affecting them indirectly. It was accordingly suggested that the report of the sub-committee on forest taxation to the Forestry Committee of the Fifth Conservation Congress should include a discussion of new tax theories dangerous to forestry, and such a dis- cussion was included in the report as originally approved by a large majority of the sub-committee and the entire Forestry Committee. In view of some objection in the former, however, it was thought best to omit it from the report and present it to the forestry section of the Congress for determination as to its value and inclusion in the printed proceedings. It was overwhelmingly approved in full by the forestry section of the Congress as follows: We have discussed desirable changes in tax systems and possible improve- ments under old systems. There remains a contingency little considered but fraught with great danger to consumer as well as producer of American forests— the adoption of new systems framed without forestry in mind. A growing social unrest with a tendency to feel that in taxation lies the remedy for part of the unsatisfactory distribution of wealth, is giving rise to many proposals of which the diametrically opposed income tax and “single” tax are but conspicuous ex- amples. It is possible that somewhat revolutionary experiments will be made in many communities. While ‘without quarrel with any of these insofar as they are attempts to improve social conditions, foresters are responsible for informing the public when measures advocated by those ignorant of or indifferent to forestry threatens the pertetuation of forest resources. An example of such is single tax. We may leave to political economists to advise whether or not it is just to regard land as the only means by which capital exploits labor or seizes the unearned increment, or whether single tax would prove a panacea for many social ills. But it is clearly a matter of moment to us when, having learned unmistakably by experience at home and abroad that adequate forest crops will not be grown without deferring most of the tax thereon until maturity, we are confronted with a proposal actually to penalize good management by making the annual burden much heavier than it is already. It is a complete reversal of the principle adopted by forest-growing 142 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE countries and urged here without a single exception by all foresters and econ- omists familiar with forest conditions. The single tax, applied to forests, forces cutting regardless of demand. This means the utter waste of all but the choicest part of the tree; the export to for- eign countries, hence the loss to us, of the surplus above our present wants; and the early destruction of a source of tax revenue which should be stable and enduring. It also means the wrecking of the great-majority class of lumberman—- the small independent men who have no great financial backing—and placing the control of lumber prices with those who are in position to take advantage of the situation without the slighest benefit to the consumer or any desirable effect of distributing forests among small hands, such as is argued by single-taxers in the case of farm lands. It means only over-cutting and, to accomplish this as eco- nomically as possible, only by the largest and perfectly organized operations such as require great capital. With respect to the growing of new forests, to supply the future consumer, continue a tax revenue, and preserve streamflow, the result would be even more suicidal, for destruction of the project would be attended with no salvage whatever. The forests simply would not be grown. The only alternative to these evils, under single tax, would be to separate forests from land absolutely, regarding the former as improvements, a distinction impossible to arrive at justly and practically under conditions grading from vir- gin forest to purely man-grown reproduction with even the former existant to a certain but unmeasurable degree because of fire protection afforded by the owner. It is wholly unlikely that the public would seriously consider exempting all speculatively owned forests from taxation. To continue regarding them as land, under single tax, would have the destructive effect described. ‘To exempt them but compensate by increasing the tax on the land which bears them would require over-taxing identical land, now denuded but which should be reforested, so that reforestation would be impossible. Consequently, should single tax ever be considered seriously in any forest community, it will be highly necessary to exempt forest lands wholly from its application, either by continuing them under the old general property tax or preferably placing them under a yield tax system which, in effect, applies the income-tax principle to this class of property. In the foregoing paragraphs single tax has been treated at some length merely as an example of the danger of social propaganda which, because forest economics have as yet been given little general study in America, may easily be supported by well-meaning people who consider only general application and fail to recognize the peculiar situation of the forest crop. Every new tax measure should be studied from the same viewpoint. The above action by the forestry section of the Congress was corroborated by the resolutions committee of the main Conservation Congress itself, which em- phatically rejected a resolution implying approval of single tax, DISCUSSION ON THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREST TAXATION Mr. G. N. Ostrander, of New York: The subject of taxation of our wood- lands in New York State is becoming a very serious one with us. The expense FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 143 of running our forest towns is increasing very rapidly with the problem of highways and other improvements until last year in some of the towns we paid as high as fifteen cents an acre in taxes. We are therefore very much interested in this subject. Naturally, as the report was being read I was endeavoring to apply it to our conditions and I would like to ask the gentleman who made the report how the plan which your committee has recommended through fixing a constant value over a series of years in the town where the woodland owner was paying 75 or 80 per cent of all the taxes would operate to relieve the tax payer. In other words, it takes two things to make your taxes, valuation and a rate. If the valuation is kept down, naturally the rate must go up, a certain sum of money must be raised every year to support the government in these forest towns and I rise principally to ask for the benefit of suffering New York State wood- land owners, if the Committee can inform us whether this plan which is so clearly recommended, can be applied to the towns where the condition I have stated exists. Mr. E. T. Allen, of Oregon: This proposition was that the timber owner was now paying upon both land and timber and we suggested paying it upon the land but deferring his paying a tax upon the timber until it is cut. My only suggestion of fixing the rate was in fixing the rate which he would pay as a yield tax, not by the ordinary method of figuring out a theoretical yield tax at so much per cent, by starting it in and basing it on taxation today so it would be easy to put over. Mr. Ostrander: I still do not see how the woodland owner is relieved if he has to foot the bills? Mr. Allen: You mean to pay the bills of the town while that is going on? Mr. Ostrander: Yes. Mr. Allen: No, sir; it cannot be done. The only answer that is made is that in a region dependent upon revenue from forests, the yield tax is only going to work in one of two ways, either cutting must be so steady and continuous so that it maintains as much through yield tax as it would through an annual tax, or else that community’s revenue must be banked by some other community. In other words, that problem is more difficult in a new state than in an old state. It would be almost impossible for us to keep up with our yield tax in that state at all. Imagine a State in which the total cutting would bring by yield tax as much as the annual timber tax; then you would still have a county here that is not cutting at all. Surely you would have trouble there, and I think that every advocate of a yield tax would think so. It cannot be done unless a State keeps a set of books with each county and the one that is paying in excess is given credit for that and in course of time the new county comes in and pays back the county which is cut out to help it along. It has to be one or the other. Your cutting must be enough to keep up the same revenue or you must bank it between regions. One thing I did not bring out in my report which I think J should have is this: There is certainly a growing feeling that the States should go into refor- estation and that they should not do it by buying lands, having to appropriate for the purpose, but that they might get such lands by relieving timber owners of taxation under some contract by which the State acquired the land. There have been many schemes devised for that purpose, but none of them are very perfect because if it amounts to much the State has to forego the revenue of the ‘timber owners, We have discussed that to some extent in the report. We discussed one scheme which was suggested of using certificates against the timber, and those certificates are not much more than warrants and pay six per cent. The timber only pays interest on the certificates and when the owner cuts timber he pays the certificate and it is released to him, but the State in the meantime has the right to purchase the certificate ahead of him. That is rather one ingenious scheme which has been proposed and which might be worked out. I would like to say that the Committee think this whole problem of forest 144 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE taxation might be helped some, or we should at least look into the question of acquiring State lands by exemption of taxation along practical lines. I do not believe any State will take care of all the cut-over lands in it. As to the purpose of acquiring State forests in a located area, it is well worth looking into. The details of the whole debate on this forest taxation subject are many. As I say, it is a big one, but after all I am only a member of the committee and the Chairman is not here and Professor Fairchild is not here, and it is mighty easy to tangle me upon it. We have a good many people who have been thinking on this question, Doctor Drinker and Doctor Rothrock among them, and I would be glad to have a question asked of those people who are trying those things in their State. Mr. W. R. Brown, of New Hampshire: I was very much interested in one point Mr. Allen brought out, and that is what we can do at the present time in regard to taxes, and in looking into this matter in New Hampshire we found out that the question of the survey of land, the running of lines, the determination of the timber on the land, the way by which timber should be scaled at the present time and in the future, that the determination of that scale and the continuance of a scale were fundamental questions which would have a great deal to do with the taxation question, whatever system we might adopt in the future. In look- ing over our small State of New Hampshire we found if we made these surveys and established lines and determined the amount of timber in our State, it would cost about $1,000,000 to do that in one year, so any reasonable system of taxation ought to take into consideration the determination of areas and of values and of the scale rule which will last during the time. This is one thing which we can do to begin with: We can get the State to take up this work, we can get the towns to determine their land and what they have, and we can get it in shape for taxation which will come later. Mr. T. B. Walker, of Minnesota: The thing that should be appropriate and proper would be to limit the unfair, unjust, frontier custom of increasing con- tinuously the system of taxation until it becomes confiscatory of the value of timber in the course of years. Let it always be understood that the lumberman, in providing for the establishment of lumber mills, must provide a tax of timber large enough to last him from thirty to fifty or one hundred years. A lumbet plant is a very expensive thing; it costs a large sum and the money invested in it must be returned and the money invested in the timber must be returned with the carrying charges of interest and taxes. This charge of interest and taxes doubles the value of stumpage every eight or nine years, so that when most men who have entered into the lumber business to a large extent in past vears have started in with a valuation in the timber of at least $2 a thousand, and even that would be larger than the stumpage value charged by the State or by the Govern- ment, in eight or nine years that value is $4, in another nine years it is $8; then it is $16, and when it arrives at the point of 55 years, which is about the minimum time in which a milling plant can be established with any prospect of success in the enterprise, it will take not less than 55 years, or perhaps the expected life of the person establishing it. At that rate the stumpage runs up at the end of that time, by means of these carrying charges for taxes and interest, and you would have to pay $120 a thousand for the lumber in the course of 55 years. Speaking - of this question of confiscation by taxation and interest charges, we also have to bear in mind that the lumber men, as a general proposition, have had to pass an excess rate of interest on money that they use in business. If the lumberman had sufficient money of his own he did not have to be a lumber man. Ninety out of one hundred who have gone into the lumber business in the \West have gone into bankruptcy. Mr. Arthur Goadby, of New York: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I think the subject that has been opened up this afternoon will cause you to realize that FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 145 the question of single taxation is a serious one which has to be settled on scientific principles. I understand at this minute a serious question has arisen on the Pacific Coast, that they are proposing an amendment to the Constitution whereby the single tax there should be introduced, and as that applies to the question of forests, I assure you gentlemen it will cause the destruction of all those beautiful forests out there, and I therefore request that the report which was read by Mr. Allen, that part which was caused to be expurgated, be reintroduced and placed in the regular report of this committee and printed in the proceedings. I make that motion, Mr. Chairman. Mr. C. S. Chapman, of Oregon: I second the motion. The Chairman: It has been moved by Mr. Goadby and seconded by Mr. Chapman, that this conference go on record as approving that portion of the report which was not printed and which Mr. Allen read a short time ago touching on the question of single tax, and that it be made a part of the proceedings. Mr. W. O. Filley, of Connecticut: If I understand the motion, if passed, it will simply mean that we print the opinion of the committee in regard to the single tax as applied to forests, is important enough to be on record, it is not a question of whether we approve the opinion of the committee or disapprove it, but it is simply the fact that the portion of the report which was omitted from the printed record we want included in the record for our own reference in the future. The Chairman: That is it precisely. This short chapter was not included because the sub-committee was not entirely agreed upon it, and, in order to present a published report on which the entire sub-committee and the forestry committee did agree, this omission was made in order to see whether this conference would like the rest of the report to be put on record. (The motion, on being put to vote, was carried.) Henry S. Drinker, of Pennsylvania: Mr. Chairman, there is one thing I think ought to be said and said plainly, and that is what we think of Mr. Allen’s work in this report, we who know what he has been doing. His work is beyond all praise. We have been hearing from him all summer. I know in Pennsylvania I received from him, nearly two months ago, the first draft of this report. It was so able and comprehensive that I was afraid to try to pass upon it, and I asked my old friend here, the leader in age and in forestry, Mr. Elliott, and Dr. Roth- rock, to go over it. They did so with care and sent it back with their suggestions to him. Then I got back from Mr. Allen again a re-draft of that report and that has been going on, and the amount of the splendid work this man has been doing is beyond all power of commendation. Mr. Allen properly said, when he was trying to answer the various questions that were put to him, that he would like some of us from Pennsylvania and Connecticut, who have been putting into legislation the yield tax, to answer some of them, but the trouble was, he answered the questions as well as we could answer them ourselves. Here is Mr. Elliott, whom you. all know, and at the beginning of this session he showed me some notes he proposed to give to you, and he turned to me after Mr. Allen had finished and said that he had nothing to say, Mr. Allen covered it all. There- fore, I want to express the thanks of the co-members of this Committee to Mr. Allen. ; The Chairman: I am very glad indeed that Dr. Drinker has taken this matter up. Mr. W. O. Filley: Mr. Chairman, I have had some experience, so far as it concerns the East, but no practical knowledge as it concerns the West, and J was amazed at the clear presentation of the subject by Mr. Allen, his explanation of the laws already drafted in the East and the general principles underlying it. I would not have attempted to give such a statement myself, I know I could not give it as clearly as Mr. Allen, and I am glad that I was not called upon to answer. 146 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE Dr. J. T. Rothrock: 1 would like to say that this report was the finest piece of analytical work I ever saw in my life. ; The Chairman: Is there any further discussion on this subject? Mr. J. B. White: I move a rising vote, as a compliment to Mr. Allen. (The above motion, being duly seconded, carried.) ; The Chairman: It may be desirable, in order to get some resolutions in regard to forestry in concrete form, not to leave it entirely to individuals, but to have a committee which we can appoint from this meeting to formulate resolu- tions regarding forestry, which of course does not in any sense prevent any individual from formulating his own resolutions and presenting them to the committee. However, in order to make sure that there will be some resolutions prepared, I will appoint Mr. E. T. Allen, Mr. Wm. T. Cox, Mr. J. E. Rhodes and Mr. E. A. Sterling as members of this Committee, with Mr. Allen as Chair- man, and authorize him, if he needs any assistance from anyone else, to call upon them. Mr. E. T. Allen, of Oregon: It seems to me if this is the time for appoint- ment of committees, and they will have to report again before many days, that there must be some provision made here for our future, then, perhaps, for carry- ing on the work we have done, in the way of printing proceedings and all that sort of thing. - We five of us, who have been working on this end as a forestry committee, will disband, and there will be a new President of the Congress, who will probably appoint a forestry committee. Whether we will hold another meeting of this kind again, whether we perpetuate ourselves in any form, must be decided by somebody, and it cannot possibly be decided here because we do not know what the new Congress will do, whether we will be encouraged or invited to continue. At this same time last year our committee was appointed to report back, just as Mr. Graves appointed a committee now to report back tomorrow, so that we may have some idea of what we are going to do next year. That committee arranged for this committee to carry forward its views to the next Congress, and that is why we are here. Therefore, there should be a committee appointed for discussing views and carrying those views forward. The Chairman: I should explain what I believe to be our status as an organization, just how much power we have, and if I am not right, I will ask Captain White to correct me. There is a formal forestry committee, and there has been, since the organization of the Conservation Congress. This Forestry Committee has this year been authorized to appoint some ten sub-committees to assist in drawing up these reports, and the American Forestry Association has joined with the Conservation Congress in meeting in this work, so that this group meeting, this sectional meeting, really represents the forestry part of the Conservation Congress meeting jointly with the American Forestry Association. Is that right, Dr. Drinker? Henry S. Drinker: Yes; that is right. _ ._ The Chairman: I do not suppose that this body has any authority to indicate what the Conservation Congress should do in the matter of its com- mittees. It can, at least, express the opinion of the foresters in the meeting here as to what these men would like to do, whether they approve of this plan or some other. Does anyone care to bring this subject up at all in order to get an expres- sion as to the general plan of meeting? ; Mr. de B. White, of Missouri : Mr. Chairman, I supposed th ings of this meeting would be published and presented with the pr National Conservation Congress. As this Committee has its power, and was appointed by the Conservation Congress, I suppose the proceedings will be pub- lished with this and the other proceedings of the Congress, ar 1 nd I haven't doubt but that such a good committee would be reappointed by the new Congres. at the proceed- oceedings of the FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 147 The Chairman: The American Forestry Association has already published each individual report. Mr. Cox: In view of the fact that there is some unfinished business in con- nection with the work of the different committees, I was wondering if it would not be. advisable for the various sub-committees, as well as the forestry committee itself, to continue on, instead of automatically going out of existence—that is, continue on until superseded? The Chairman: They would have to be reappointed. I think that auto- matically our committee expires, and the only thing you could do on that would be to act as advisor to the incoming organization of the Congress. [From this point on there was considerable discussion over the form of a resolution expressing appreciation of the work of the committee and the hope that it would be continued in power, and it was finally agreed that the meeting express appreciation of the work of the committee and that the chair appoint a committee to discuss organization for the future.] SECONDARY FORESTRY EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES By THE SuB-COoMMITTEE ON ForEst SCHOOL EDUCATION. Chairnian, J. W. Toumry, New Haven, Conn. Water Mutrorp, Ithaca, N. Y. Gro. S. Lone, Tacoma, Wash. C. H. SHarruckx, Moscow, Idaho. W. B. GreeLey, Washington, D. C. Presented by Prof. J. W. Toumey, Monday evening, November 17, 1913. INTRODUCTION. HE first attempt in this country to standardize forestry education was in | December, 1909, when, through the initiative of Gifford Pinchot, a con- ference of forest schools and departments of forestry in American educa- _ tional institutions was called at Washington, D. C., to consider the scope, grade and length of curriculum that would afford the best training for foresters of the various grades. A committee was appointed, consisting of H. S. Graves, Chair- man; B. E. Fernow, R. F. Fisher, Gifford Pinchot and Filibert Roth, to prepare and report upon a plan looking forward to the standardization of forestry education in this country. In December, 1911, a second conference was,called to consider the report of this committee. Sixteen of the more important forest schools and departments of forestry in American educational institutions were represented at this con- ference. The provisional plan prepared by the committee was discussed in detail and action taken on such important questions as requirements for admit- tance, courses to be included in the curriculum, and the number of hours in each course, The committee was authorized to prepare a final report embodying the conclusions reached at the conference and the action taken. This report was published in the Forestry QuarTERLY for September, 1912. It was believed by the committee and the representatives of the institutions present that at least four different grades of training in forestry should be recognized. These grades as published in the report of the committee are as follows* : 1. Advanced professional training, to include not only a substantial general education but also a well-rounded course in all branches of technical forestry. 2. Instruction for forest rangers, requiring merely a common school educa- tion, and conducted mainly along thoroughly practical lines. 3. General instruction in forestry supplementary to a course in agriculture, and designed to assist owners in the handling of their own woodlands. 4. General course in conservation and forestry designed for those who wish, as a part of their general education, to have some information on the economic problems involved. Although these various grades of training were recognized by the conference, * Forestry Quarterty, Vol. X, p. 342. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 149 the work of the committee and its final report were confined to formulating the standards and requirements for advanced professional training. Secondary forestry education was briefly discussed, but no definite action was taken by the conference. The committee was continued by the conference with the power to call meetings at its discretion. This committee, however, has not been called together since the last general conference in December, 1911. Early in May, 1913, a Sub-committee on Forestry Education was appointed by the Forestry Committee of the National Conservation Congress, to present a report at the October meeting. This-~report is the result of the Sub-committee’s work on the topic selected. Based upon criticisms and suggestions received from members of the Sub- committee and from others interested in forestry education, it was deemed best to confine the investigation this year to the third subject assigned by the Com- mittee, namely, “Ranger Schools and Short Courses for Woodsmen and Farmers and the Teaching of Forestry in the Public Schools,” but modified to the slightly more comprehensive term, “Secondary Forestry Education in the United States.”’* “This subject was believed to be the one of most immediate interest in forestry education in this country and the one that could be most fully investigated and most completely covered in the short time before the meeting of the Congress. Furthermore, it would be of great value to the Committee of the Conference of Forest Schools in preparing a report on this subject to submit to a future Conference. Although the great importance of public education in forest conservation and the field occupied by National, State and local forestry associations, popular forestry journals, public lecture courses and field demonstrations by National, State and private foresters is fully appreciated by the Sub-committee, this subject is left untouched in the report. The other subjects assigned by the Committee must also remain for some future report. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SECONDARY FORESTRY EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. between the various grades of training in forestry. The Conference of Forest Schools not only recognized the need of at least the four grades already noted, but recognized that the grades which do not include a substantial general educa- tion and a well-arranged course in all branches of technical forestry, must be considered as secondary. The Conference placed itself on record in reference to professional training in forestry in the following wordsy : | T is impossible at the present time to draw a hard and fast line in this country “The educational requirements for training in professional forestry should be at least equal to those for the other learned professions, such as civil and mechanical engineering, law, medicine, etc. At the conference the need of a *In this report the term “Secondary Forestry Education” embraces all training in forestry that falls short of full professional training as defined by the Conference of Forest Schools. + Forestry QuaARTERLY, Vol. X, pp. 343 and 344. 150 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE thorough foundation in subjects of general educational character was clearly realized. The representatives of the conference advocated a collegiate training in history, economics, English and foreign languages, as well as in botany, geology, and other auxiliary scientific subjects.” “Since it is impossible to give an adequate training in these subjects and in technical forestry in less than four years of collegiate work, the conference placed itself definitely on record that the technical schools should be of collegiate grade and of a rank equivalent to that established by the Carnegie Foundation. It was agreed that the course should comprise at léast four years of undergraduate work. In the case of post-graduate schools, there should be at least one year of post- graduate work in technical forestry, making a five-year course altogether; and no post-graduate degree should be granted to a student who has not had at least two years’ work in technical forestry either in the graduate course or the graduate and undergraduate courses combined.” Forestry education in the United States has developed to its present position in the past fifteen years. Within this period twenty-two educational institutions have organized forestry schools or departments of forestry and give four-year undergraduate courses or graduate courses that lead to a degree in forestry.+ Within the same period ten institutions have developed undergraduate courses covering from one to three years in forestry subjects, and thirty have developed ranger courses, short courses for special students, or have added some subjects in forestry to their agricultural or horticultural courses, or as optional in their courses in the arts and sciences. From the examination of the latest catalogs of the various American institu- tions where forestry is taught, it appears that the institutions named in Table I offer a four-year undergraduate course in forestry, or are partly or wholly engaged in graduate work. They are either graduate schools, with a faculty of specialists in the various departments of forestry or are departments of universities and agricultural colleges. In the former all the work is of a technical nature, the general educational requirements having been fully covered in the undergraduate work required for admittance. In the latter the work in general education and technical forestry go hand in hand and cover an undergraduate course of four years. Some of these institutions offer a year of post-graduate work in technical forestry, making a five-year course altogether, in which there is at least two years’ work in technical forestry in the undergraduate and graduate work com- bined. We find that the institutions offering professional training as interpreted by the Conference of Forest Schools are as follows. The table shows the institutions in which the work is wholly of a graduate character, those in which it is wholly undergraduate, and those which offer both undergraduate and graduate courses. + This does not include the institutions which give a degree in forestry for less than four years of undergrduate work. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 151 Tasre I. 2 yrs. graduate | 1 yr. graduate Name of Institution Geen (ye eadegecd. | gedit cons course uate course Colorado Agricultural College____.-___.---___-_-__-___. x Cornell Universityess quently to the population as a whole, present and future, obviously it does not pay to sell any timber today that will increase in sale value faster than its carrying cost accumulates. Excepting dead timber, there is prob- ably none in public ownership and free from taxes that will not so increase. That most of it will, even when taxed, is the basis of private timber speculation. While it is true that over-mature timber may be advantageously replaced by young timber if the selling period is far enough in the future, for some time 344 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE to come the advance on stock on hand will exceed any profit obtainable by use of the land for growing a new crop. Acting solely as an agent in charge of a property, expected to make the most out of it financially, the Government would do best for its constituents to take its timber out of the market and hold it for speculation. The price obtainable today is not what it is intrinsically worth today, for the vast supply on the market of timber secured at small cost makes the price less than that of production, which is the true price criterion of any commodity. In other words, timber sold today by anyone not too heavily burdened by carrying charges is sold at a sacrifice. It may be said that two crops are worth more than one, consequently that if the low price obtainable today is realized and placed at interest until it can be added to the price received in the future from the second crop to follow, the sum of both will be greater than that obtainable by holding for speculation. But the basis of this argument would apply also to holding for a time, adding the higher price thus received to that of the deferred second crop. The period involved would be longer, that is all. Moreover, from a financial viewpoint, as well as from that of conservation, there is clearly an important element of loss in cutting while utilization cannot be as clean as it will be later. As time goes on, more and poorer material becomes marketable, hence holding not only in- sures a higher price for a given quantity but for a time will also increase the salable quantity nearly or quite as fast as would the growth of young timber. For the same reason much diseased and very old timber should be regarded as financially immature rather than mature. While it yields but a small pro- portion of grades which are merchantable today, it contains grades which will be merchantable some day. Cases can be cited to prove that in given forests the diseased or dying trees have for this reason had the greatest relative increase of value and paid best to hold—contrary to a popular belief that they should always be cut and thus “saved.” Again, other things being equal, government timber is less mature than private timber because it costs less to carry. As long as stumpage value increases faster than the interest paid by the private owner on his investment and carrying costs, his timber is financially immature. Since private interest rates are high, stumpage values must double in short cycles to reimburse him. Government rates are low, hence afford a profit in waiting much longer. Does it not follow that, considered solely as an investment for the people, government timber cannot be financially mature until long after profit in similar private timber has disappeared? BREAKING PRIVATE MONOPOLY savors of collusion with private speculators to the disadvantage of the con- sumer. At present this is more theoretical than real, for two reasons; (a) The one-fifth proportion of national forest timber, mostly inaccessible for logging and also subject to long expensive rail haul in competition with the lake States and southern supply which together with the middle west demand de- termines the market, follows rather than leads this market; (b) For similar | T has been charged that a speculative attitude on the part of the Government FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 345 reasons, were its stumpage price sharply lowered, the difference would go to profit the dealer and transporter, since they would still be able to demand of the consumer the price of lumber determined by other factors. This would be equally true of any effect in lowering private stumpage or mill prices of lumber. The disadvantage to the lumberman would not mean corresponding advantage to consumers, except perhaps local purchasers at the mill, for it would be absorbed in the same way. The western lumberman no more fixes prices for his product than does the farmer who takes a load of vegetables to town. Either must sell at market quotations, in the determination of which he has nothing to say. In short, so far from there being any trust regulation of stumpage or manufacturers prices, the keenest possible competition exists. Large and small owners of timber and mills are alike confronted by the necessity of revenue with which to carry on aggregate investment which is far greater than can be realized upon with the present demand. They are selling all they possibly can, at any price, in order to carry the rest, and obviously those at the greatest distance from the main markets must accept a price which when added to very high freights makes no more than their nearer competitors can get added to immensely cheaper freights. This exceedingly important point should be borne in mind throughout. On the other hand, this condition will not always continue. The diminution of private supply, particularly that nearest the seat of demand in the central, southern and eastern States, will tend to raise prices to a point where the trans- portation factor is less governing and a government reserve can be made most useful as a curb on extortionate speculation. As a matter of fact, the profits in timber speculation to date have been much exaggerated. While it is true that stumpage once secured for a song is now valuable, this value is largely an expectation value, seldom realizable at greater profit today than is expected in any commercial use of money. Timber sufficient for the present lumber demand can be had for less than it is really worth, as has been previously said, and its price usually represents a succession of transfers at small profits above accumulated carrying charges. It is highly important to bear in mind here also that the extensive marketing of government timber now will have its chief immediate effect not in cheapening lumber, but in cheapening stumpage, or, in other words, delaying the early profits of present private holders but increasing their opportunity for further acquirement and also affording opportunity for a new crop of speculators. It will not increase the amount of lumber used, but transfer the drain to the public forests and leave a correspondingly greater private supply untouched for speculation. Such specu- lation will be furthered by removal of the government reserve which would otherwise be available to break monopoly. Another .exceedingly important point commonly overlooked is that, so far from being in a strong strategic position to increase prices by the holding process, the private speculator is in a very weak position to do so at present. Diminution of supply will tend eventually to give him such an advantage but because of reasons previously mentioned, doubtless assisted by the increasing use of sub- 346 REPORT OF THE. FORESTRY COMMITTEE stitutes, mill prices of lumber are neither advancing nor capable of being ad- vanced by any action of his to an extent making manufacture profitable if stumpage prices are materially increased. Meanwhile increasing and compound- ing carrying charges are much higher than popularly supposed, often amounting to ten per cent compound interest on the realizable value of the timber. The consequence is a financial pressure which tends to force marketing the timber, especially upon the weaker holders, which needs no augmenting by government action. The tendency already is to cutting at a price which barely covers the investment. On the other hand, suppose that government timber is placed on the market at a price which is not only successfully competitive with that acceptable by over-pressed private owners but also sufficiently lower than this to cover the greater logging cost due to its remoteness. The result must be largely the further consolidation of such private holdings, which instead of being cut at a loss will be sold to stronger speculators, and their retention until the still further ac- cumulated and compounded carrying charges can be taken out of the consumer. In other words, there must be a lack of public economy in using first the timber which does not bear heavy carrying burden, and eventually coming back to that which does after the burden has become even greater. And it is the consumer who must pay for such lack of economy. It follows that while the standing timber seeker or the manufacturer may find any present tendency to monopoly relieved by liberal government sale, the consumer of lumber will receive most protection by a holding policy on the part of the government for some time to come. EFFECT ON STATE REVENUE HE States in which national forests are situated receive 35 per cent of the | gross receipts from the forests. In other words, they have over a one-third dividend, less all charge of administration and protection. In effect, they are third owners, without financial or other responsibility. It is clear that in the long run 35 per cent not only of all stored resources now existent but also of successive proceeds from regrown forests, forage, etc., kept up in perpetuity by good management, will return the States immensely more than they could hope to obtain by taxing the same resources were these in private ownership. On the other hand there is much dissatisfaction because the present population realizes comparatively little owing to the slowness of exploitation. This com- plaint is not without grounds. The cost of conservation is borne largely by the population which has the hardest task to meet public expenses and the minimum compensating advantage of employment and market from national forest exploitation, while the population which will enjoy this advantage of earn- ing capacity will also be the one to have a maximum tax reduction through the incident 35 per cent reimbursement. ‘The remedy would seem to lie in some method of discounting this revenue which will prevent it from being disproportionately great when least needed, but hardly so crude and destructive a one as selling timber in defiance of all other * FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 347 considerations and consequently at a sacrifice to the State itself. Nor is the situation as acute on the one hand, or as easily remedied by such a course on the other, as is sometimes alleged. No amount of effort to sell timber today for actual manufacture, even if carried to disastrous lengths, would force the market to take more than it needs. The only way to get great immediate revenue would be to sell for speculative holding or to export large quantities to foreign countries. But it is also reasonable to suppose that the natural course of events will bring it into the market at an accelerating rate from: now on, soon satisfying the States with its promise of approaching complete reimbursement. It is absurd to make calculations for a long term of years based upon the past rate. To sum up, it is believed that any readjustment of the 35 per cent lieu receipts should be of a general fiscal nature, and so far as timber sales are concerned best served by having the latter under the wisest permanent policy from all viewpoints. FOSTERING A LUMBER BUSINESS newly engaging in the business, should turn to the national forests for material. The system of purchase is attractive, for payments may be small in advance of corresponding cuts and thus permit frequent turning of a small capital. Compared with purchase of private timber, there are the advantages of less requirement of capital or credit; freedom from interest, tax and protection charges ; and absence of fire risk upon the timber, which remains with the govern- ment. These advantages compensate any additional expense of cutting under forestry requirements, leaving transportation and stumpage costs the chief con- sideration, consequently the price asked by the government may, from one point of view, be said to regulate the demand. Nevertheless, since contract terms and cutting requirements have financial weight, greater or less liberality in these have the same effect as lower or higher stumpage prices. There are at present nearly 6,000 timber sales, big and little, on national forests annually. Their cut is approximately half a billion feet a year. The volume of sale business has greatly increased of late owing to greater effort by the Forest Service to stimulate purchase, especially by granting a longer period for removing the timber, and it will constantly increase without effort because of the improvement of transportation facilities and the cutting off of private holdings. The question is whether, aside from other considerations treated in this report, the government should hasten the process, for the specific purpose of establishing new operations, by reducing price or restrictions so as to make its timber more attractive than the private timber that now competes. There are few more difficult problems than this in connection with the entire subject at issue. In its consideration, theory is everywhere confronted by indeterminate conditions of market, personal efficiency, and effect upon forest industry and forest conservation as a whole. Theoretically it is well to afford opportunity to all, also to remove restrictions from competition. On the other hand it is sound theoretically, as well as practically, to stop short of stimulating | T is natural that many operators who have cut out previous supplies, or are 348 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE any industry by subsidy to a point which induces bad management and instability. The point of safety is particularly impossible to determine in this case because forest industry in the United States is not yet on any permanent footing, based upon cost of producing a commodity, but is in a transition period from the stage when it was like the working of a mine without regard to growth. It has been shown that a cheapening of lumber at the western mill results in little, if any, reduction of retail prices in the main centers of consumption. Consequently a lowering of price or contract standards by the government to an extent having any decided effect upon sale volume would bring as its most perceptible other result a price cutting among all western mills which would injure these while benefiting jobbers and retailers. The opponents of such a policy assert that the undesirable effect of this would be five-fold, as follows: 1. A majority of manufacturers of private timber have not made specula- tive profits, but base their business upon a narrow margin of manufacturing profit after purchasing timber at market prices and paying carrying charges. Ups and downs of the market under present conditions affect them and their competitors equally. A paternalistic cheapening of government timber to com- petitors without their investment would wipe them out. 2. Ordinarily, any business eliminates the most unfit. While the most able presumably succeed best, it is average industry, thrift and integrity that fix its conditions, stability, and relations with the community. It is unfair to those who have exercised these virtues to submit them to the subsidized competition of rivals who may not possess them and might not become rivals if obliged to conform to the same standards without subsidy. No industry is benefited in the long run, even from the consumer’s standpoint, by disturbances due to the temporary advent of incompetent or financially weak operators. The would-be national forest operator who is competent and trustworthy from the govern- ment’s standpoint in seeking a purchaser, as well as from that of his industrial comrades and his own customers, needs no particular subsidy. One who does is likely to fail if he has one, leaving his contract with the government unful- filled, profiting little or none himself, and injure all others concerned except the jobbers who take advantage of his failure. 3. While the purchasers under a subsidizing policy would include some of the class just described and others of a deserving class it is admittedly desirable to help, there would also be a rush of operators who already have ample supply but, besides naturally preferring to hold it for speculation as long as they could get government timber for present operating purposes, would be forced to do so in self-defense. These would often be in the best position to bid on the ma- terial. Therefore, since consumption would not be increased, the result would be largely to shift operations, but not operators, from private to government timber. 4, There is a growing and not unwarranted demand by the public for con- seryation by private lumbermen. Prevention of waste and better provision for reforestation are admittedly desirable. But that they are not more widely and successfully practiced is due to inability to do so on the present margin of profit. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 349 Absolute retrogression will follow if this margin is reduced or destroyed. Opera- tion must continue, to pay investment costs, but under lower standards, at ultimate public sacrifice. This tendency is conceded by all foresters. A lowering of lumber prices, or at least of log prices, always results in a larger cut to get high-grade material and the leaving in the woods of a larger proportion of low- grade material that cannot be taken out at a profit. 5. Finally, the lumber industry now suffers keenly from over-production forced by over-capitalization and necessity of meeting bonding and other charges. To further glut an unwilling market by creating both more lumber and more plants to keep up is to risk a reaction, injuring instead of helping the public. All but the strongest will go out of business, leaving it harder to sell government timber than ever, leaving local industries stranded, wiping out the small man whom it is sought to help, and leaving the few strong survivors in a strategic position to exert monopolistic control. While the process could be repeated in time, so this control would not be permanent, it is better to exercise a steady hand throughout than to alternate extremes. Every one of these five arguments is sound in a measure, yet subject to exceptions. That they would prove true to a considerable degree is more than prdbable, but the exact degree would depend upon many future conditions im- possible to forecast. It would probably fluctuate. One thing at least is certain, that since the bulk of the national forest timber is comparatively remote, its early exploitation at any price must be by large operators able to finance rail- road building on a considerable scale. The day of the small man has not arrived except in comparatively few localities. It is in the future when transportation has pushed back further. While numerically most of the 6,000 yearly sales are to small men now, the amount of timber involved is comparatively insignificant. ‘On the other hand, there is no logical objection to large operations, merely as such, if they are otherwise desirable. If timber can be sold without ill effect; the larger the sale the more profitable to the government, and the greater the purchaser’s responsibility the surer his contract is to be fulfilled. To sum up, it is not believed advisable to force the industry into risks of instability by any radical departure to increase it. On the other hand, any normal steady demand might be taken advantage of more effectively by a some- what more adaptable and responsive system than now exists. In its attempt to protect the government, the present system of fixing price and contract terms is complicated and different from ordinary business procedure. Increasing trans- portation facilities will continually lessen the necessity of this and a more easily understood and less one-sided system will give sufficient safety and be more attractive to inexperienced purchasers. THE PRODUCTION OF MATERIAL AXIMUM forest production is secured by replacing mature and slow- M growing trees with young stock. There is also waste in deteriora- tion by death and decay. Were production and consumption fairly balanced, forestry would indicate utilization at that stage of maturity which pro- duces the maximum combination of quality and quantity for the period involved. 350 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE On the other hand, there exist concerning the national forests the following con- ditions which govern the degree to which such utilization can or should be secured: 1. Lack of present market for most of the mature timber. 2. Inaccessibility of much of it. 3. Effect of low lumber values in preventing extra logging expense re- quired to insure reforestation or to utilize low grade material. : 4. Effect of further reduction of values, due to forcing the market by too extensive cutting, in creating more wasteful utilization of private timber. 5. Lack of definite knowledge as to growth of national forest timber to meet most acute future shortage; in other words, as to whether such shortage can best be met by holding old timber or growing new. 6. Lack of definite knowledge as to private and State production or holding as they relate to the same problem of meeting future shortage. The first four of these conditions have been discussed already. The third and fourth certainly have a bearing on production. To the extent that selling ona low market results in present waste of material that would otherwise be used later, it is robbing Peter to pay Paul from a conservation standpoint. They are, however, far more easily gauged from time to time than the fifth and sixth con- ditions, which are even more important because evil consequences can hardly be remedied. At some time in the future our virgin timber will be exhausted. Without a new crop, lumber will be unavailable. Considerably before this time, the virgin timber in sufficiently good condition to hold will attain a speculative value de- termined wholly by the quantity and quality of the new crop coming on to com- pete with it. If sufficient old timber is held, and if the new crop is also sufficient, timber will gradually increase in value until it reaches the cost of production, but it will go no higher. If there is a failure in either direction, there will be a period of excessive value until the situation is relieved by the growing of timber that such period will stimulate. Such a situation will be affected by what happens on private land and on national forests almost equally, for it is the total supply that will govern, except insofar as a failure of Government supply at the critical period would permit the speculative monopoly of any existing private supply that would not endanger the consumer were the conditions reversed. And the majority of the supply of mature timber is now in private, not Government, hands, consequently equally rapid cutting, like give-away in checkers, will leave the controlling remnant wholly private. It follows that the maximum cut from the national forests should be assured, not during the existing period of stored and excessive virgin supply, or during that permanent future which will begin when adequate forest crops have had time to mature, but during the closing years of an intervening transition period. The exact date cannot be predicted, but since the duration of any considerable stored supply is usually estimated at somewhere near fifty years and it will cer- tainly take as long to bring adequate new forests to merchantable size, the critical FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 351 period would seem likely to begin in about thirty years and continue for two or three decades. To overcut now the timber which can be held for this approaching need, for the purpose of increasing production on the same area to be utilized at a more distant time, is justified only under two conditions—if there is a large second crop now growing that will ripen in time, or if there is a very marked deficiency in the area that is being restocked today for the distant utilization referred to. Do either of these conditions exist? Is there enough information upon these points to determine a wise policy? Concerning the last—the rotation of crop being started today—there is little question. At no previous or following period in American forest history for a long time to come is it at all probable that there will be an equal amount of denuded forest land beginning to restock. The tremendous amount which has been denuded in the past by, cutting or fire contains a proportion which, by lucky accident, bears different ages of reproduction. No single age class of second growth, however, is as well represented as the area which, by reason of recurring fires, has been kept denuded until the present time and is just now be- ginning or ready to restock if protected from future fire. The recent rapid progress in fire prevention is just beginning to give it this chance. For this reason the area beginning to reforest in the present decade is greater than that of any past decade and probably greater than that of any future decade because early future cutting or burning is hardly likely to equal the accumulation we now have. Consequently further addition to this accumulation by further immediate cutting is not urgently necessary, although were it not at the sacrifice of the needed standing reserve it would be desirable because future crops will always be valuable largely in proportion to their age and there is no point in deferring them. As to the existence of partially matured second crops, to be available to-eke out the mature reserve at the time of crisis, there is far less certainty. One of the greatest needs is for a census to determine the quantities and age-classes of such existing second growth, both Government and private, and it is the absence of this that renders impossible any absolutely logical forest policy. From infor- mation available, however, it does not appear that there is sufficient insurance of such a crop to warrant ignoring the paramount importance of protecting the mature reserve or, as we have called it, the controlling remnant. To sum up, then, the extension of sales for the sole purpose of starting new growth, while theoretically sound from a productive viewpoint, should be at- tempted but guardedly because maximum permanent production is not, after all, the most important immediate problem. IS TOO MUCH BEING SOLD? \WV HILE much has been said in preceding pages against the danger of hasty and sacrificial sale extension in response to ill-advised clamor, this danger still lies in the future. The timber sale business on the national forests can be extended moderately without harm from any viewpoint and there are many reasons why it is desirable, particularly where there is a 3852 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE wholesome demand under present conditions, or where there are technical prob- lems demanding experiment and the training of officials. This does not require forcing by any sacrifice of good principles, however. Without such sacrifice it will probably soon satisfy States and Congress as to revenue. ARE PRICES TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW? f | \HIS question has necessarily been touched on in most of its bearings already, with the intimation that no general reduction of price is warranted for the purpose of unduly stimulating business or influencing the price of private or State-owned timber. On the other hand, there are occasionally reported over-valuations in individual cases, especially in comparing quality, species, accessi- bility and like value-factors, which tend to prevent or delay sales, or cause actual loss to over-sanguine customers, with doubtful benefit to anyone. There is an attempt to systematize the system of pricing upon a basis of probable profit to the purchaser, rather than upon comparative prices and carrying charges of com- peting private timber, which upon analysis seems to verge closely upon being more in the nature of contracting the cutting of: Government timber than that of a straight sale. Its success is largely dependent upon local demand for the privi- lege of using the Government supply, and can hardly be said to be demonstrated if the sale of large quantities everywhere is an object. So far it has certainly been conservative, not encouraging disposal to any dangerous extent yet meet- ing, as a rule, all urgent requirements for national forest timber. In detail it is a policy of considerable complication and indefiniteness, in actual effect it tends to a middle-of-the-road safety not undesirable, perhaps, while a clearer policy is being arrived at. There is one point, however, that should be clearly emphasized for the bene- fit of those who assert that by appraising its stumpage closely in pace with ruling private prices the Government is upholding the speculator. Carrying costs make such a comparison wholly illogical. In an extended private operation, the costs of investment, taxes, etc., bear an interest which compounds to prevent any profit on the stumpage itself, aside from any manufacturing profit, unless there is a doubling every year in what the purchaser can realize upon it. A national forest purchase covering a like period carries no such costs, not even for investment, for payment is in instalments upon actual scale of the timber as it is cut and turned, therefore at the same price would net the purchaser all the increase of value required to make his private competitor come out even.. The term would not have to be very long to permit him to pay double the highest private price. This situation is met by a sliding increase on the instalments and, whatever the opinion on the basis of this increase as practiced, it clearly governs. In all long-term sales it might be adapted to an appraisal much higher than speculative private prices and leave such appraisal without any undesirable influence. Finally, the law itself requires competitive bids and specifically forbids sale at less than appraised actual value. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 353 IS THE POLICY WELL-GROUNDED ? Pp ROBABLY the Forest Service itself would admit that its methods of deter- mining the amount of timber to be sold, the prices to be fixed, and the terms of contract, are to a certain extent makeshifts with which it attempts to do the best it can in the face of bewilderingly different demands. Instead of being free to install a firm far-seeing policy, based upon study of all the considerations outlined in the preceding pages and adapted to them for the best welfare of all concerned for all time, it has to meet the exigencies of political strife in which conservation is made a pawn, of popular sentiment changing swiftly with time and locality, and of the demands of Congress and States for current revenue regardless of the future. Consequently it proclaims all mature timber for sale, but while meeting the requirements of small purchasers for immediate use with fair simplicity, hedges large and long-term sales with reserved rights to readjust them which safeguard the Government but make such transactions only moderately attractive to pur- chasers, and by this conservative course sells enough timber to meet one class of critics fairly satisfactorily and not enough to get in serious trouble on the other side. The practical results would be as good, and the position far easier to sustain, were it possible to announce a sounder basis for the Government’s exact attitude toward the whole subject. National forest timber is sold only for use, not for speculation by the pur- chaser, hence it must be removed within a specified period. Until recently five years was the maximum limit. Since it became apparent that this prevented large sales, especially where inaccessibility required railroad building by the purchaser, the limit was extended recently to 20 years or more. This introduced a new per- plexity—the fixing of sliding scale prices which protect the Government in case of material rise in stumpage value, but are not prohibitive to the purchaser in the beginning. In the absence of better means of determination, or of certainty as to the Government’s future attitude, the Forest Service now safeguards such long- term sales by contracts permitting periodical increase of prices. The original minimum price set before bidders is not based upon that of competing stumpage, but upon the current average price of lumber and the estimated cost of logging and manufacturing, being intended to allow the purchaser a reasonable profit. At intervals a proportion of any considerable increase in average prices of lumber is added. It is clear that such a transaction is different from a private timber transaction in which, the price once settled, the purchaser has no limit to his profit except his original judgment, his skill of operation, and the fortunes of the future. It more closely resembles a contract for cutting on shares, with the contractor’s share definitely limited, but the Government without responsibility for his receiving it. This system affords a opportunity to obtain timber at a fair price and with comparatively small capital which is attractive in many ways. On the other hand, its element of uncertainty may easily be greater than that presented by private timber if the latter can be obtained at much the same price, carrying costs con- sidered, without obligation to cut in any given time or manner and with all stump- a 354 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE age or lumber profits accruing to the purchaser. The transactions are hardly comparable on the same basis. And since the system is rather an innovation, involving not only different basic calculations, but also the element of continued Government control under possible changes of men and policies, it is natural that many lumbermen prefer to deal in a manner with which they have experience. Nor has the Government itself the experience, for the system is frankly one of meeting future conditions as they develop. The result, so far at least, is not the sale of a carefully regulated amount, sys- tematically distributed by regions, but a more or less accidental disposal, deter- mined chiefly by the competition of private timber which is more in a comparison of the local bearing of terms and method than in a comparison of prices. The policy can hardly be said to be based upon complete and sound premises, for the accomplishment of any specific end; unless such a flexible and indeterminate disposal, pending crystallization of the country’s undertaking of forest economics, is in itself considered ideal under present conditions. It is obvious that radical changes might be made, especially if supported by legislation (there has been practically no change in the timber sale statutes since 1897). Retaining a time limit for removal to insure use instead of speculation, timber might be sold outright upon careful estimate instead of upon scale as cut. Price might be based upon competing stumpage values instead of upon lumber prices. Instalment payments could be continued but advance in rate fixed posi- tively beforehand upon a comparison with carrying costs as they compound upon private timber. In all such calculations close attention would needs be given relative transportation costs and accessibility, for it is these factors and the changing margin due to compounding of carrying costs, rather than temporary fluctuations in the lumber market, which chiefly fix stumpage values in regions of large stored stumpage supply where much must inevitably go long uncut. In short, with the present value soundly based in each instance, the advance of such stumpage is largely a matter of economic laws, and periodical increases could be based thereon, or a single original price be made, so as to adjust any difference of carrying and operating national forest timber with perhaps as fair accuracy and satisfaction as under the present system. It has been argued with some force that such a method is preferable under present conditions, while the present system would be the most ldgical later when improved transportation facilities have obviated the necessity of making long-term sales at all and lumber prices will actually govern for the short periods which will be involved. Whether or not there should by any such exchange of systems, wholly or in part, today is a matter of opinion. Probably there should not without more study of the new considerations that would be involved by those who would be re- sponsible for execution. But it seems beyond dispute that such study, at least, should be given. The one-fifth proportion of Government timber can hardly be sold intelligently solely upon a study of operating and lumber market conditions, without the fullest possible insight into all the factors which govern the holding and disposal of the four-fifths proportion of private timber with which it must compete. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 855 EXECUTION HILE critics of the system are prone to condemn its execution also, WW and its supporters are loyal in refuting all criticism, it is almost self- evident that neither view is correct. It is unlikely that a new and underpaid service will consist wholly of practical experienced men competent to deal unerringly with all details of a complicated timber business, especially one which, as has been seen, is itself experimental by nature. On the other hand, few governmental branches have so general a reputation for sincerity and abso- lute integrity. These are compatible only with earnest effort toward competent execution. Certainly no occasional local dereliction warrants general criticism by its observer and certainly there is in existence no competent and unbiased agency with complete facilities for observation. Perhaps this committee is the nearest approach to such and it cannot claim full acquaintance with personal conduct of business throughout the field. The consensus of opinion, however, seems to be about as follows: 1. The administration of the national forest timber business is marked by sincerity and complete absence of graft or favoritism. 2. Purchasers testify that when the necessity arises they obtain hearing and differences are usually adjusted to mutual satisfaction. 3. There is sometimes too much delay and controversy over the preliminary negotiations, due both to the magnifying of inessential details and to the sub- mission of such details to too many authorities. 4. The attempt to adjust prices to the profits of purchasers involves con- siderable investigation of a most difficult nature, subject at best to some theory and uncertainty. 5. This work is necessarily done sometimes by men lacking in practical lum- bering experience, because government salaries do not attract experienced lum- bermen and the service is not old enough to have developed the combined lum- berman and forester in sufficient numbers. Higher salaries for such men would get and hold better ones. 6. Unreasonable public suspicion and danger of criticism for alleged col- lusion prevents the Forest Service from making full use of assistance it might otherwise receive with practical problems from unbiased sources within the lum- ber industry itself. Such co-operation might be as useful in this as it has proved to be in fire prevention. %. The system of continued Government control of operations under detailed contract places upon the subordinate officials directly in charge a responsibility for requiring exact fulfilment to the letter when contingencies justify some devia- tion. This difficulty, also most of those in preliminary negotiations, would be re- duced by increasing the authority of field men. There is a tendency to constant centralization of authority in Washington and perhaps in the district offices, whereas it should be constantly diffused all the way down the line as fast as local officers can be developed by so doing to take it increasingly. 8. On the whole, execution is improving with the age and development of the service. 356 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE THE REMEDY \W. E have seen that the main objects of the Federal timber policy should be to— 1. Insure the consumer a maximum supply of timber at the critical time toward the end of the duration of the country’s virgin forests and before new crops take their place. 2. To exert a steadying influence on forest industry which will on the one hand prevent monopoly and extortion and on the other prevent over-production, demoralization of the industry, wasteful utilization, and wrecking of the small operator, all of which in the long run injure both the consumer and the States in which the national forests are situated. 3. To make its terms for Government timber attractive enough to permit use by those who really need it, but not to subsidize the transfer of lumbering gen- erally to the national forests, leaving private timber uncut to control the situa- tion when Government timber is gone. , 4, To secure as fair a revenue as is consistent with the above objects, but not to sacrifice them or future revenue unduly merely for a little more present gain. 5. To be as simple and understandable as possible to public, purchasers and Congress. To attain all these objects requires— 1. A non-partisan, unprejudiced, statesmanlike treatment of the whole sub- ject by all concerned, based upon knowledge of the conditions governing forest industry. These include the factors which govern prices, logging and manufac- turing methods, the growth of forests and like influences which are too little comprehended by many who now seek to interfere. 2. A study of stands and conditions not only on the national forests, but also on other forest lands, from which to judge future competitive relations. 3. Intelligent State action in encouraging conservative handling of private forests by wise tax and protective laws and in reforestation and wise handling of their own lands by the States themselves. 4. The closest co-operation between Government, States and private owners in all forest matters, bringing about friendly constructive effort in harmony, rather than conflict. The whole problem is an interlocking one, unsolvable by either agency alone. 5. A policy, based upon the above preparation, which considers all forest production and forest use as little or no different from the production and use of any other crop, to be encouraged and stabilized on the best permanent business basis for all concerned. The Government should use its control of forest land profitably for its constituents for which it serves as steward, but without taking advantage of its position to accord either producer or consumer any unfair dis- advantage. In the long run all have most to gain from making all true forest land, regardless of ownership, capable of earning such an income from forest production as will insure its best management and consequent fullest service to community and nation. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 357 Under such a policy stumpage prices will continue to advance, because timber is becoming more valuable and because it costs money to carry it, until they reach the cost of growing timber, which is the true criterion of the value of any product, but they will not pass it, as they will if recklessness at this time results in bad use of so much forest area that the remainder acquires a monopolistic position. Under such a policy the terms of sale will be more clearly defined, with less left uncertain for future adjustment. It is probable that the problem of fixing fair prices in long-term transactions will be largely met by improved transportation facilities, placing the timber open to competition by more purchasers and short- ening the time necessary for them to open and use it, and where this does not result otherwise the Government itself may provide such facilities. The compe- tence of officials will naturally increase continually, through experience, unless Congress fails to provide adequate pay to hold them. States, Congress, and peo- ple will be equally satisfied with the national forests as a profitable public project. THE CONCLUDING SESSION, NOV. 18, 1913, 8 P. M. The Chairman: We have one or two matters of business to complete tonight before the special section of forestry is entirely adjourned. Yesterday afternoon the conference requested that I appoint a special committee to make a recom- mendation in regard to the continuance of the-work which has been undertaken by the forestry committee. I had appointed a special committee, the chairman being Professor Toumey, and I will ask him to make a report. Professor Toumey: Mr. Chairman, the special committee appointed to draft the resolutions, presents the following: “That it is the sense of this meeting that the admirable work initiated by the Forestry Committee should be continued; that provision be made for meetings in the future for discussion of forestry problems; and that the present committee, in conjunction with the American Forestry Association, confer with the new officers of the Conservation Congress looking to accomplishment of these results.” Mr. F. L. Underhill: I move its adoption. Professor Gunther: I second the motion. The Chairman: It is moved and seconded that the resolution be adopted. All those in favor say “Aye”, opposed “No”. (The motion carried.) Lack of space prevents the giving of a full report of the remainder of the evening session. It consisted largely in the presentation and discussion of reso- lutions to go to the main resolution committee of the Congress. These resolu- tions as finally adopted in the main Congress are given under a separate head on another page. The Chairman called attention to a telegram from Major Ahern who has charge of the forest service in the Philippines asking for assistance in opposing the plan to change the jurisdiction of the Philippine forests and unite it with the Bureau of Forestry of the Land Department which now is, or is soon going to be, under native jurisdiction. The resolutions committee was, after some discussion requested to present to the Congress a suitable resolution on this matter. There followed remarks by Professor Gunther, Henry $. Drinker, Mr. Hall, Mr. A. F. Hawes, Mr. J. Randall Williams, Mr. Leonard Bronson, Mr. S. B. El- liott, Mr. W. R. Brown, Mr. F W. Underhill, and Prof. R. C. Bryant, on the need of saw mill men in the rural districts, of education which will teach them economy in their operations and how to properly manufacture their product. The value 358 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE of the American Forestry Association for this kind of work was mentioned by several of the speakers. ; . Mr. J. Randall Williams said in telling how he had been interested in several tracts of timber in North Carolina which the natives were cutting at their small saw tills: “T think the proper thing for me to have had done at that time, had I realized that they were wasting lumber, would have been to have come to the forestry association, gotten literature and taken it to them and showed them. The same way now, I think the lumbermen, if they only realized that they could teach these men a great many things, they could show the individual saw mills they would do so, because you will find, in many cases, those saw mills are supported by the lumbermen, who advance the money to carry them along. Therefore, it is the lumber men who teach them and if you will take the trouble, it might relieve the situation somewhat. The point is, how are you going to interest the lumbermen? I think the best way to do that is to get them interested in forestry work. I would like to ask a question. Do we not owe a great deal to the American Forestry Association for these reports. The Chairman: You owe everything to the American Forestry Association for these reports. The American Forestry Association secured the funds for the printing and for the expenses that were incurred in the preparation of the reports by the sub-committees and handled all the routine and business of printing them and we are greatly indebted to the American Forestry Association and its officers for getting them out in time and in their very fine shape. Mr. Williams: That is what I understood, and I think we owe a vote of thanks to the Association for these excellent reports. What came to my mind was this: As a member of the Philadelphia Wholesale Association, I would furnish you with a list of the members and ask you, as long as the reports hold out, to send each member of our Association a copy of them, and personally write to them, as a member, of the forestry association of our association, calling their attention to the fact that these reports are going to be sent to them and the valuable information they can get from them. In that way you can get more peo- ple interested in the American Forestry Association which, to all, is the cause of the stimulation of the interest which has brought about so much work. I hope when we go away from here we will try to get more members for the American Forestry Association and more people interested in the work that they are doing? ( Applause.) The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p. m. Tuesday, November 18, 1913. RESOLUTIONS ON FORESTRY The resolutions referring to forestry and adopted by the Fifth National Conservation Congress are as follows: 5 Deploring the lack of uniform State activity in forest work, we emphatically urge the crystallization of effort in the lagging States toward securing the crea- tion of forest departments with definite and ample appropriations to enable the organization of forest fire work, publicity propaganda, surveys of forest re- sources, land classification and general investigations upon which to base the earliest possible development of perfected and liberally financed forest policies. We recommend in all States more liberal appropriations for forest fire pre- vention, especially for patrol to obviate expenditure for fighting neglected fires, and the expenditure of such effort in the closest possible cooperation with Federal and private protective agencies; and also such special legislation and appropria- tion as may be necessary to stamp out insect and fungus attacks which threaten to spread to other States. Since Federal cooperation under the Weeks’ act is stimulating better forest protection by the States, we urge annual appropriation by Congress for its con- tinuance. We recommend simplifying and shortening the process of purchasing land under the Weeks’ act. We recommend that the Federal troops be made systematically available for controlling forest fires, We recommend the work of the Federal Forest Service in protecting and improving the forest resources under its control, also in developing better methods of forest utilization, and urge our constituent bodies and all citizens to insist upon adequate appropriations for such work and to combat any attempt to break down its efficiency. Holding that conservative forest management and reforestation by private owners are very generally discouraged or prevented by our methods of forest taxation, we recommend State legislation to secure the most moderate taxation of forest land consistent with justice and the taxation of the forest crop upon such land only when the crop is harvested and returns revenue wherewith to pay the tax. We call attention to the recent adoption of such system by several tates. We appreciate the increasing support by lumbermen of forestry reforms and suggest particularly to forest owners the study and emulation of the many cooperative patrol associations which are doing extensive and efficient forest fire work and are securing closer relations between private, State and Federal forest agencies. Believing that lumbermen and the public have a common object in perpetuating the use of forests, we endorse every means of bringing them together in mutual aid and confidence to this end. Recognizing the practical constructive work which has been done by the Phillipines Bureau of Forestry, we urge that no change be made in jurisdiction or policy which would result in any setback to forestry in the Phillipines. We recommend the holding of expositions in various parts of the country which demonstrate the vital importance of maintaining our forest resources and which will more fully educate the public to the manifold uses of forest products. FORESTRY ADDRESSES At the Fifth National Conservation Congress. Thursday, November 20, 1913. President Pack: The Congress will please come to order. We take up the program today, as ordered under our rules by the Executive Committee. We have with us this morning the President of the American Forestry Association and it gives great happiness to the officers and directors of the Conservation Cgngress, as I know it will to you, to have him preside over this splendid forestry session of the National Conservation Congress this morning. I have great pleasure in introducing Doctor Henry S. Drinker. (Applause.) Chairman Drinker: Ladies and gentlemen of the National Conservation Congress, I think you understand that the American Forestry Association went into consultation through its officers, during the past year, with the Executive Committee of this Congress, relative to joint action at this Congress, to make the Congress a success, so far as the foresters could contribute their share to it, and they have been holding sectional meetings up to this time. The meeting yesterday afternoon, as you know, was intended to be devoted particularly to forestry ,as was this meeting this morning. Owing, as the President has intimated, to the occurrences of yesterday, our meeting today is going to be rather crowded with very much good material. It will be wise for the speakers to condense their talks as far as possible and to hurry them as far as possible, so we may get all we can out of the two sessions into one. Under the ruling of yesterday, I am advised that we are to go on with so much of yesterday’s program as we can take up at this time, which we will now proceed to do. I therefore call upon Mr. Henry S. Graves, United States Forester, for his address upon “Federal Forestry Work.” Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Graves! (Applause. ) FEDERAL FORESTRY By Henry S. Graves, Forester in charge of the Federal Forest Service. HE part played by the Nation in forestry must always be large. Here, | as in all other countries, the real development of forestry began when the government took up its practice. Even today some persons would leave the forests entirely to private owners; others insist that the public phases of forestry are altogether a State function and Federal activities in this field uncalled for. Those who hold this view are usually either lukewarm concerning the need for forest conservation or opposed to restricting private activities. National responsibility in forestry is perfectly clearcut. There need be no confusion with an equally clear-cut responsibility of the States. And as to private forestry little of value has so far been done that has not been an outcome of public action through State or Federal agencies, or both. It was the work of the Federal Government in placing its own forests under administration, its FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 361 demonstration of fire protection and of conservative lumbering, its experimental and educational work, and its stimulus to our educational institutions to train and turn out a large body of foresters, which created the present wide interest in forestry and brought the efforts of other agencies into successful play. I do not mean in any way to overlook the splendid work of certain individual States like Pennsylvania and New York, which dates back many years. But that was localized in a few States. It required the Nation itself to set in motion a national movement. The national work will always be the backbone of American forestry, not trenching on or interfering with State work or individual efforts but serving as a demonstration of forest management on its own lands, a center of leadership, cooperation and assistance to State and private work, a means to handle interstate problems and coordinate the work of neighboring States, a guarantee that national needs which individual States can not meet will be provided for on a national scale. Underlying the forestry problem are two fundamental considerations which should be emphasized and reiterated until thoroughly driven home. One is the public character of forestry. The public has a peculiar interest in the benefits of forestry. Both in the matter of a continued supply of forest products and in that of the conservation of water resources the public welfare is at stake. In each case purposes vital to the prosperity of the country can be accomplished only with the direct participation of the public. Private owners will secure results only on a limited scale in the long run on their own initiative. It takes too long, 50 to 200 years, to grow a crop of timber trees. Most private owners in face of fire risk, bad tax laws, and uncertain future markets will not make the necessary investments. Most lumbermen have bought their lands either to log or to speculate in the standing timber, not to grow trees for later generations. Nor will private owners make investments for general public benefits, as in watershed protection. If the public is to secure the benefits of forestry it must take the measures necessary to guarantee these results, and it must bear the cost of what it receives. Closely related to the fact that forestry is in many aspects a public problem is the second of the fundamental considerations I wish to emphasize. Forestry requires stability of administrative policy and such permanence of ownership as well ensure it. Herein lies the difficulty of private forestry on a large scale. Timberland owners are interested in the protection of their standing timber merely as insurance. Most of them are not interested in forest production, or in protect- ing cut-over lands if that involves substantial annual charges and is not necessary in order to protect their remaining standing timber. As yet the problem of cut-over private lands is unsolved. It is now devolving on the State to aid in their protection from fire in the interest of its own citizens. It will require the utmost resources of State and Federal Government together to handle this prob- lem of getting reasonable protection of private forests and permanent production of timber on cut-over lands. Stability of policy and permanence of ownership are essential to any successful attack on this great conservation problem. 362 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE This principle of stability of policy of administration is a large factor in successful handling of public property and has been consistently considered in the national forest work. I am frequently asked as I travel about the country whether I am going to make important changes in the forestry policy. I was asked that very often in 1910, when I first took office. I am asked it often this year. My answer is that what we are seeking is not changes but the develop- ment of a permanent public enterprise with consistent and stable policies. The national forests were set aside in the recognition that the bulk of these lands should be handled permanently under public protection and control. Provision was made for the acquisition of agricultural lands that might best be developed under private ownership, and such areas are now being classified and. segregated from the forests very rapidly. The successful handling of the national forests requires annual expenditures in administration and protection and in develop- ment of roads, trails, telephones, buildings, and other improvements necessary for proper administration. We seek, therefore, as fast as possible to develop through classification the permanent boundaries of the forest land, and the management of it according to definite far-sighted plans that will make for the best results of all expenditures in the long run. The result sought is an efficient business administration, a proper and adequate forestry practice, and develop- ment of the public property in the interests of the people who own it. These simple principles have been kept in mind since the first organization of the work by Mr. Pinchot, who was more than any other one man responsible for what has been accomplished in forestry in this country. The national forests have now been under administration fifteen years, and under the Forest Service for eight years. The aim of the present administration is not to overturn, but to take every possible step to increase efficiency of the organization, to adjust difficulties, and advance as fast as possible the purposes for which the national forests were established. Secretary Houston recently said to me regarding the national forests: “Establish permanent boundaries. Classify your lands; segregate the agri- cultural land and fix right limits for what is needed as protective and productive forests. Develop permanent policies based on full recognition of lasting public interests,-and settled forestry practice fitted to the individual needs of each forest and locality. Study efficiency; make any changes necessary for this pur- pose, but make no changes that are not clearly called for in the public interest. Carry out your plans for the development and increasing use of the forests; but above all, make each forest work for community upbuilding and local as well as general welfare. We must always have in mind the men and women who are building up a new country and laying the foundations for prosperous, thriving commonwealths. We must try to study their needs and see where and how the forests can help them. But we must not cease to guard effectively against the evils of private privilege and monopolistic control of resources now the property of the public.” - The first important result of national Forestry is a demonstration that the forests can be protected from fire. It was only a few years ago that many as- FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 363 serted this to be impossible. In the northwest the smoke season was as inevitable as the rainy season of winter, and this was not merely the result of clearing land but from forest fires. It is only recently that our own forest officers have regarded lookout stations as feasible in certain places; for lookout stations are useless if smoke hides the view. This year has been the worst in many respects of all years in California because of the frequency of lightning fires. Yet the lookout sta- tions on only two forests, and then only for a short time, were out of commis- sion because of smoke; and the smoke came from fires on private lands. This year in California there were over 1,100 fires on the timbered areas. ‘These were kept down to an average of a little over 20 acres per fire. This was done by an effective fire organization and through the means of the trails, telephones, and lookout system. In one storm lightning set over 20 fires on one forest. It takes swift and efficient work to handle such a situation. The results so far attained show that fires can be mastered. But it is necessary first to put the forest in a condition to enable the force to prevent fires, to detect those which start promptly, and to reach them quickly. The Forest Service is developing a system of look- out stations, fire lines, trails, and telephone lines that ultimately will make the forests secure. Already the force is able to save every year property valued at many million dollars through the improvements so far built, although as yet only a beginning has been made. This work is carried on according to a definite plan, already projected in detail. Each year’s work adds 2,500 miles of trails, 3,500 miles of telephones, and many lookouts and other improvements, progressing toward the final scheme. Until that is completed the forests can not be made entirely secure. With that development, the forest fires can be handled even in that exceptionally dry year that occasionally comes to every region. This protection not only saves the trees from destruction or injury, but al- ready the effect is shown in the restocking of many areas where the old fires had prevented reproduction. Personally, I had hardly expected that there would be so quick a response. But the results are now apparent to even a casual observer. More specifically, while previously the forests were going backward because of fires, there is now an annual gain through growth. This increase translated into dollars and cents is much greater than the total cost of protection and all other expenses of the forests. The necessity to take immediate steps to prevent the public forests from being destroyed by fire has placed a large emphasis on the protective feature of the administration. The wise use of the forest resources in the development of industries and in building up the country is essentially the real aim of maintain- ing the forests. Protection from destruction is a first essential; otherwise there would be no resources to use. But the purpose of the administration is not merely protective, but constructive. It is a favorite theme of the opponents of the national forest system to represent the forests as a separate Federal domain, held for the use of future generations or for persons other than those now living in the regions in which the forests are situated. Such statements are not only con- trary to the spirit of the administration of the forests, but are disproved by the results already being secured. The aim is to make the forests count in the highest 364 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE possible measure in the industrial upbuilding of the local communities, at the same time that they serve their broader public functions. In classifying the agricul- tural lands the aim is to get people to make permanent homes in the forests. Every consideration in the development of the States and in the upbuilding of the forests themselves makes for the encouragement of a greater local population. When there are people to create a demand for the timber and other resources, the real development of the forest becomes possible, and the forest begins to render its greatest service. To encourage this development the Forest Service is promoting the sale of its ripe timber to build up local lumber industries of a permanent character; it is opening to entry land chiefly adapted to agriculture; it is further helping the set- tler by providing free such timber as he needs and protecting him in the use of the range needed for his stock; and in every way it undertakes to make the for- ests of public service and the country in the long run a better place for men and women to live in, That a long step has already been taken toward this end is indicated by the very extraordinary change in sentiment in the West in the last few years. I have this year been able to analyze in detail the sentiment on the individual forests and now know just where opposition in each case exists and the extent to which the work of the Federal Government is valued. I have been astonished at the overwhelming preponderance of sentiment among the local communities in favor of the forest system. Frequently there are objections to certain regulations, or difficulty and friction in specific transactions. But every year these local troubles are being adjusted on the ground. There is still definite opposition to the forest system and the principles of our administration from certain groups, and certain interests. There are still certain water power interests which are carrying on a fight against the Forest Service. Many speculative interests oppose the forest system because the resources are not open to private acquisition under the general land laws. Certain men are opposed to the national forests because they can not secure privileges that would be possible if the forests were unprotected. For example, in the Southwest I find a well-defined opposition among those who desire to run herds of goats on the forests without restriction. The desire to secure valuable timber for speculation is now, and always will be, a source of opposition to the public control of our forests. One proof of the present favorable sentiment is the fact that there are now relatively few breaches of the regulations. For example, in the Fourth Adminis- trative District, which includes Utah, Nevada, northern Arizona, southern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming, over 11,000 permits were issued last year, each involving some regulation. There were only 35 cases of trespass, about half of which were innocent and the majority of the remainder not very important. Such a record would be absolutely impossible if the people themselves were not right behind the regulations. In other words, it was public sentiment that made it possible to carry out the procedure with such success. In the national forest districts it is now seen that the aim is to make the national forests serviceable at present as well as in the future, and people are FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 365 cooperating more and more with the Government to make the local administra- tion successful. In the East the work of the Federal Government is today far more effective than ever before. The establishment of national forests under the provisions of the Weeks Law is accomplishing many results not anticipated even by its most earnest advocates. The purchase of lands on important watersheds in the White Mountains and southern Appalachians is steadily progressing. Already contracts for over 700,000 acres have been approved by the National Forest Reservation Commission. These lands are located on the most important watersheds and have been secured at prices representing their actual value, the average being $5.07 per acre. It has already been demonstrated that the building up of national forests by purchase and at reasonable prices is practicable. The first effect of these purchases has been an educational one. The wide interest in the work has resulted in an awakened appreciation of forest protec- tion and forestry wherever the Government has been examining land for purchase. Cooperation in forestry between the Government and the States has received a great stimulus. The actual annual saving from loss on areas protected from fire directly as a result of the Weeks Law, on private as well as public property, would amount to a very large aggregate sum. In short, the Weeks Law is now yielding results which fully justify the new policy which it established. The nation’s interest in the success of the forestry movement is very great; the contribution of the nation through Federal agencies should be correspondingly liberal. Let the Federal Government assume its full responsibilities of leader- ship, assistance, and cooperation, and our forest problem will be on the way to certain solution. ECONOMIC FACTORS IN PRIVATE FORESTRY WORK By E. A. StTeriinc, Forest and Timber Engineer. duction of successive forest crops from the same land, through the employment of private capital. If private capital seriously engages in forestry it will apply the scientific and business principles most effective in afford- ing safety and profit, the same as in any other industrial enterprise. Forest crops, with no exceptions, require longer to mature than any other living, growing product of the soil. They are, however, as much a crop as wheat or corn, and in older countries are grown in systematic rotation like other crops. Failure to realize this fundamental fact is no doubt responsible for much of the misconception as to what scientific forest management involves. Moreover, the existence of so much mature forest growth has established a conception of forests as a mine rather than as a crop. Even when the principles of forest economics are fully comprehended and the necessary procedure and ultimate profits carefully figured out, a sober, long-time investment in growing timber crops proves less attractive to American capital than the more speculative exploitation of existing forests. A story illustrative of this point was told in the forest schools ten years ago of two German capitalists who came to this country to invest in timber. The American lumbermen who acted as hosts showed them various properties and operations where profits of 15 or 20% a year were assured, but the visitors refused them all, on the ground that they wanted a safe timber investment paying not over 5%. This was before the day of timber bonds, and the Americans had no investments of this kind to offer, so the Germans, since they wouldn’t take the high speculative profits, went home with their money. Neither understands the other’s point of view to this day. The conditions described will probably hold until most of the old virgin iorests, which have been our sole source of supply, are cut-over. When this time comes and original forest growth is no longer obtainable at less than the cost of production, which has always been the case with even the highest priced stumpage, systematic production of forests as such will be accepted as a business proposition. Fortunately, there is an intermediate period when the old forests will still constitute the main source of supply, but new fields will not be available, thus creating a tendency to perpetuate the supply on large holdings by producing new growth on the cut-over areas. This necessitates large operations and ample capital, and emphasizes Dr. Schenk’s truism that: “Forest conservation has never been practiced by the small holder of timberland. We must have either public or private corporations—lumber barons—engaged in it.” ) ) RIVATE forestry in its full commercial application is essentially the pro- L 4 FORESTRY AS A BUSINESS. Forestry as a recreation or experiment is quite different from forestry as a straight business enterprise, which must earn fair profits. The former has con- FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 367 stituted most of the activities up to the present time, and is extremely helpful in developing methods and arousing public interest; while the latter, although it does not exist as a fully developed business policy, is developing through protec- tion and other measures absolutely essential to private forestry. It has been said that “forest conservation is more expensive than forest waste, in the imme- diate future.” This statement will bear modification according to regional or local conditions. It would certainly be true in the heavy forests of the Pacific Northwest, where the elimination of waste is impossible with present market and transportation facilities, but even so, fire protection. which is an initial and indispensable factor in conservation, is intensively and successfully applied. Fire protection is also practiced successfully in the Northeast, and here close utiliza- tion is far more feasible. As an example, today the small hardwood mills in Southeastern New York are paying as high as $12 per M. for logs 6 inches at the small end, and many of them are so knotty and crooked they won’t lay still on a skidway. On the Pacific Coast the finest No. 1 logs, running practically all clear, 30 inches and up, are going begging at less than $10 per M. The answer is enormous reserve supply and over-production in one case and scarcity and a ready market in the other. A surfeited market and excess supply will mean excessive waste until conditions change. FOREST CONSERVATION NECESSARY. Whatever the present status of private forestry, and the conditions which retard or encourage its development, there will come in the near future, and there is even apparent today, a national need for the maintenance of an adequate timber supply from public and private forests. All that is necessary to interest private interests in forest crop production is a sustained demand for lumber and for minor products at a price which will make their production profitable. Broad public interests demand forest conservation for special purposes, as watershed protection, and these, together with an indeterminate amount of general lumber production, will be provided by Federal, State and municipal agencies. After our present stored-up natural heritage of timber is exhausted, future supplies will have to come from trees which have grown on land maintained in forest and not suited for agriculture. These future wood supplies will come from three principal sources. First, the national forests and the State forest reserves, on which timber has been systematically protected and grown as a crop; second from forest growth which has sprung up voluntarily on cut-over lands, and has escaped fire and reached maturity without being systematically planned for or protected; and, third, from individual or corporate owned forest lands which have been devoted to forest crop production as a private business enterprise under scientific long-time management. WHAT OF THE FUTURE. The development of private forestry operations will be a potent factor in determining whether forest crops adequate for the nation will be available in the future, when the inaccessibility or exhaustion of the stored supply forces depend- 368 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE ence on new crops. The fact that private timberland holdings outnumber Goy- ernment and State lands about five to one, in the matter of timber volume, makes the ultimate use of these private lands of predominating importance. We have 82 per cent of our forests under private ownership; Germany 4614, and these under State control. Another important factor is that private timberlands, as a rule, are more accessible and usually capable of more profitable forest management than Govern- ment or State forests. In fact, even with the most extensive and complete development of transportation which can be anticipated, much of the national forest land will always be difficult of access, and, to this extent at least, incapable of the most rapid and economic forest production. Furthermore, a considerable percentage of the public forest lands will be maintained primarily for watershed protection; and while timber will be produced from such areas, the output will be limited to the amount which can be spared without materially reducing the water-conserving power of the forested area. Considered from a broad, national standpoint, very extensive areas of privately managed forest land will be necessary in the future, unless there is an extensive transfer of timberland from private to public ownership, or an increase in use of substitutes which will reduce the demand for wood to a consumption which the national forests and State reserves can supply. It is not likely that either of these developments, or a combination of the two, will occur. At any rate, it is certain they will not come in time to destroy present public interests in measure for forest production on privately owned lands. It is against the traditions and principles of our Government to purchase and operate private industries; and whatever the measure of control ultimately exer- cised, public ownership of enough non-agricultural land to supply the country’s needs for timber is not a reasonable expectation. In the matter of consumption, we may look in the comparatively near future for reduction in the amount of wood used per capita; and the opinion is even now expressed that our gross consumption has passed or is near its peak. Even if the increasing use of substitutes decreases the per capita consumption, we must reckon with a rapidly increasing population, and also consider that the rural communities, where the greater proportion of our population still lives, will continue the almost universal use of wood, even though our cities become of steel, stone and concrete. Moreover, historical dita from other countries show that whatever the use of substitutes in most fields, the railroads and the pulp and paper plants require a constantly increasing amount of wood. NO DECLINE IN DEMAND. .In other words, the curve of timber consumption is not likely to decline rapidly enough to make our reserve timber supply, even in conjunction with voluntary new growth, adequate for our needs without a supply from intensively managed private forests. It is more probable that a greatly reduced per capita consumption will not come until the virgin supplies are nearly exhausted, and we find ourselves, some thirty or forty years hence, with the old growth nearly gone, FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 369 and the new not large enough, and lumber prices at a point which will force economy in the use of wood and make private forestry profitable. FOR FUTURE USE. Just as a forecast of the part private forest lands will play in future pro- duction, let us assume the improbable possibility that fifty years hence our wood consumption will be as low as that of Germany today, or 18.8 cu. ft., or 225 board feet of saw timber per capita. Assume, also, that during the same period our population has increased to 175,000,000. On this basis, with a per capita consumption of 18.8 cu. ft. of solid wood, our gross consumption in board feet would be about 39,000,000,000 ft., or practically what it is today. The national forests are estimated to have a potential output for all time of 6 billion feet per year, while the State forests might eventually produce a billion feet annually, or a total, from public forests, of 7 billion feet. This leaves 32 billion feet to come from private forests if our needs, on the economical present German basis, are to be supplied. German private forests yield per acre about 200 bd. ft. of saw timber per year, so our private forests would have to comprise 160 million acres under intensive management to produce the needed 32 billion feet. Our present area of private or unreserved forests is about 440 million acres, so on at least 36 per cent of this area private forestry needs to be practiced if we are to have enough wood. In the above, cord wood, which constitutes about half of the gross wood consumption in most countries, is ignored, since it is low-grade material which will probably be available on farm woodlots and from tops and waste for all time. PRIVATE FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT. The development of private forestry in the United States, from a historical standpoint, will have to be recorded by the next generation because, up to the present time, intensive private forestry on a scale which establishes its commer- cial feasibility has not been undertaken. Sporadic attempts have been made all over the country to practice forestry, and some are fairly good examples of what should be or what should not be. Most of these operations, however, go only part way and are usually dependent, at least in part, on some other factor than that of timber production for profit. Corporations and institutions are sometimes owners of timbered land which they must hold in any event, and in such cases timber production helps to pay the carrying charges, or even may take care of expenses and show a net profit. One of the earlier activities of the old Bureau of Forestry was the prepara- tion of complete forest working plans in cooperation with private owners. These were usually based on a very careful forest survey, from which a working plan was prepared which indicated to the owner the methods of cutting which would make his operation continuous. It is significant that in practically no case were these plans carried out, to the extent of full application of methods which would assure continuous forest crop production from the same land. 370 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE No blame for the failure of these working plans can be attached to any one, and in several respects they have proved of lasting value through indicating the possibilities of close utilization and of protection. The Federal Forestry Bureau first of all lacked experienced men who could outline plans and methods which would be considered practical by the hard-headed lumbermen. Timberland owners, on the other hand, have to meet very strict commercial conditions, and if advanced methods of operation could not be made to pay, they obviously could not be followed. Moreover, they had to be made to pay then and continuously to fully the extent possible under the usual methods, and not in the distant future, even though the ultimate profits would have been greater than by their usual methods. Stockholders, even in lumber companies, want dividends now, not fifty years hence. In other words, we seem to be rather slow to appraise and appreciate the commercial conditions under which private forestry is possible, and to work out and apply the unvarying principles of forest economics upon which private forestry in America must be based. PUBLIC DEMAND HELPFUL. The public demand for forest conservation has been helpful in calling atten- tion to the national importance of the question and to the direct personal interest which it has for every citizen. On the other hand, the somewhat unreasonable clamor of enthusiasts who have no personal interests at stake, has retarded progress, because it has put the lumbermen on the defensive, by accusing them of deliberately wasteful and reckless methods. For some ten years there has been a ceaseless propaganda for better manage- ment and wiser use of timberland and a constant controversy as to what should be done, most of it being the well-intentiond agitation of those who could do little more than talk; while the lumbermen, who really control the destinies of our private forest lands, sat back and said nothing. While this has been going on, industrial conditions as they affect the forests have materially changed, so that with the awakened public interest as it now exists, there is greater hope of definite accomplishment. Present tendencies indicate a more helpful and logical development than at any time since forest conservation became an issue. Instead of attempting to put immediately into effect the complete policies and intensive methods of manage- ment which are scientifically correct, at least in older countries, things are now being done which are logical steps in the development which may ultimately lead to intensive forest management on private forest lands. Instead of asking the private owner to cut by a system which will curtail his output and reduce present profits for the sake of perpetuating new growth, by merely stating in an indefinite way that fire protection, for example, is essential in applying these methods, the private owner is now being shown that protection from fire is possible by sys- tematic methods and thorough organization, and that it pays. He is also learning by what means and in what ways he can utilize material which was formerly wasted, and at the same time maintain a more effective organization. While these are not the things which theoretically constitute complete forest management, FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 371 they are unquestionably initial steps which must be worked out before anything more intensive can be attempted. What is more logical than that the successful fire-prevention methods in the Northwestern States and elsewhere,-as applied by private owners through cooperative fire patrol associations, should soon lead toa realization that a fine stand of voluntary young growth has come up on cut-over areas? Later, when it becomes apparent that this young growth is worth having because of its potential value, it will be a natural step to modify logging methods so that more and better young growth will follow the logging operations. If these things work out and the owner sees a profit in holding his land because of this young growth, he will begin to think about planting up areas which have been burned or which have failed to reseed naturally. Each one of these steps leads closer to the kind of private forestry which will provide a timber supply for the future and earn a reasonable profit for the owner. From an academic standpoint, this should all perhaps be definitely planned for in advance and an intensive system of management worked out on paper for application in the woods. The fact is, that under present conditions the average private owner will not consider applying such a plan, but he will be guided by the current developments which indicate, from time to time, a change in methods which will be profitable. With better fire protection and closer utilization, wherever the market justifies it, must be expected to come reform in forest taxation and in State forest laws, which will permit capital to remain invested in forest lands with reasonable assurance of a fair return. Even at best, the average timberland owner is not going to make a large profit from practicing forestry, although under ideal conditions it would be a gilt-edged investment. In.some regions and under certain conditions, the State is justified in proffering assistance through cooperation and in planting and fire protection, and everywhere tax laws should be passed which do not impose a heavy burden on the crop while growing and earning nothing, and therefore not in a position to pay. Of all the large timberland operations in the United States, not a single case may be cited as an example of intensive forest management of the kind taught in schools and seen by every forest student who visits Germany. It may also be safely said that no large lumber company could apply ideal methods without going broke, and this condition will hold true until commercial conditions affecting the lumber market materially change. Another consideration is that our irregular virgin forests are not adapted in their present state to the refined principles of forest management. In most cases they must be cut and started all over again in order to practice real forestry, and it will not be until the end of the first rotation, or at the time the new growth is ready for cutting, that anything widely approach- ing normal forest conditions can be obtained. These conditions, however, have got to be faced, and should not be a bar to the application of improved methods as fast as conditions permit. A number of examples of private management, which include at least some of the things which are feasible today, are found throughout the United States. On the ground that fire protection is the first essential, much encouragement is found 372 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE in the willingness of a large number of private owners to cooperate fully, and contribute freely towards cooperative fire association work. While in some cases nothing will be done beyond fire protection, every owner, whether East or West, who takes an interest in fire protection work, is taking the first step towards the practice of private forestry. PRIVATE FORESTRY IN THE NORTHEAST. In the Northeast the most notable advance towards private forestry in addi- tion to fire protection, has been taken by the large pulp and paper companies. Here again German forestry methods are not practiced, because they would not pay; but definite provision is being made for producing successive crops of timber to supply the large permanent pulp mills, and the tendency is strongly towards the consolidation and long time management of holdings, advantageously located from the standpoint of transportation and forest conditions, for the permanent produc- tion of pulpwood. In the same general region many small owners have already reaped a good profit from growing and utilizing second growth timber, particularly white pine; and while most of these operations are on too small a scale to mate- rially contribute to the needs of the country, the aggregate of such operations is too large to be ignored. If it would pay to cut within the last ten years second growth timber which was forty or fiity years old, it will certainly pay much better to start new growth now for cutting fifty years hence. In the Southern pine region, natural forest conditions are in many places favorable for private forestry, although up to the present very little has been done even in the way of fire protection. Conditions are favorable to the extent that young growth comes up very readily where fire is kept out, transportation facilities are good, and logging costs are comparatively low. The principal drawback is the slow rate of growth of the longleaf pine, but in many regions this species can be re- placed with trees which come into maturity much faster. In the yellow pine region of Texas a lumber company, with very large hold- ings, has been quietly operating for some years with a view of producing succes- sive crops from the same land, and apparently finds that it pays. In South Caro- lina another concern investigated thoroughly the possibilities along this line and found that 100,000 acres of land on which loblolly pine predominated would pro- duce, under a regular system of cutting, the normal mill output of 20 million feet annually for all time. ‘The methods which would produce this result were followed for a short time and promised to work out successfully ; but owing to some dif- ficulty in applying systematic fire preventive measures, the whole plan was aban- doned. It nevertheless illustrates the possibilities, and it is probably safe to say that systematic fire protection would have paid even if long-time management had not been contemplated. In the Pacific Northwest organized fire preventive measures have been car- ried farther than anywhere else, and the point has been reached where the fire hazard no longer constitutes a bar to forest production. In the same region scien- tific management is being applied in connection with saw-mill and logging opera- tions, and a higher degree of efficiency in the manufacturing end will ultimately FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS B73 prevail in many companies. ‘These and the many similar activities are the most tangible indications we have of the crude beginning of private forestry on a com- mercial scale. FAR FROM AN IDEAL SYSTEM. The ideal in private forestry work need be given little space, because it will be attained only by evolution and will not be seen by anyone who is interested in forestry problems today. Merely to show how far we are from an ideal system, it may be interesting to outline briefly what we would find in such a forest. It would be necessary, first, to assume that the State in which the forest was located had provided wise forest legislation under full enforcement, and a system of forest taxation which encouraged rather than hindered forest production. We would also have to assume ample transportation facilities and a ready market for practically all forest products. With these conditions existing, we would find that the woods operations were based on a complete topographic and type map, supplemented by volume tables indicating the amount and size of the timber by species. The mill output would be adjusted to the amount which the forest could safely produce each year, with- out reducing its productive capacity, and the cutting area would be confined quite strictly to the definite limits decided upon. In the woods every tree felled would be carefully worked up so as to produce the maximum number of logs in the lengths which would bring the highest value when sawed. After the logs were taken out, the tops would be converted into cordwood and the refuse remaining carefully piled for burning. Under a system previously decided upon, provision would be made for new growth either by leaving seed trees, cutting in strips, or by some one of the various regeneration systems best adapted for the local conditions. The sawmill would be equipped with machinery to eliminate hand labor as much as possible, and the logs would be sawn by the finest and thinnest bands to prevent waste. There would be no burner in connection with the mill, and slabs and odd pieces not available for lumber would be worked up into various minor wood products for final disposal. The waste which could not be worked up into marketable form would either be used as fuel or, if coniferous wood, turpentine would be extracted ; or, if hardwood, converted into by-products through destruc- tive distillation. In other words, both in the woods and in the mill, close utiliza- tion would be practiced, and definite plans followed for growing successive timber crops, not merely a second crop. Fire protection would be an essential and continuous part of the system, the forest would be patrolled and fire watch kept from lookout stations, and all the re- fined methods practiced which assure a minimum number of fires starting and the prompt suppression of those which occur. ACTUAL CONDITIONS TODAY. Turning from our ideal privately managed forest to a consideration of condi- tions which actually confront lumber manufacturers today, we find a state of affairs not altogether encouraging to private operations. Private timberland own- 374 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE ers, who must naturally operate so as to give the highest returns on the capital invested and who also desire to be good citizens and do what they can towards conserving the forest resources of the country, are confronted by at least two dis- tinct sets of conditions. The first is the one involving the broad economic condi- tions of market, transportation, competition, taxation and finance; the other, the inside details of logging, milling, labor and fire protection. While it is true that men engaged in other industries are confronted with these same problems, the lumber business in many ways is on a less stable basis than other manufacturing industries and capable of less refinement. Among the broad economic considerations, transportation plays an important part. The distance and freight rates from the point of production to the market are determining factors; while in addition the lumber manufacturer must provide his own transportation facilities from where the timber stands to the mill, and not infrequently from the mill to the railroad line. He caters also to a fickle market and one which may demand all or only part of his products. Moreover, the manu- facturer is unable to dictate the sizes and grades he produces, but must meet to a large extent the arbitrary requirements of the consumer. With many manufac- tured articles this is comparatively easy ; but since trees grow as Nature provided, and not always as man desires, the lumberman must take his trees as he finds them _and do the best he can towards making them meet the requirements of a market which does not consider these fundamental facts. Competition is to be expected, and between the larger concerns it is no more serious than in other industries. The small lumber producer, however, with his vest-pocket sawmill, often creates a form of competition which it is difficult to meet. The small mill is often a family affair, and in any event represents mainly the labor involved, against which the large operator must figure his heavy overhead charges and expensive equipment. Financing lumber operations offers no unusual difficulties except that the capital invested in private timberlands must usually be tied up for a long period, and until within comparatively recent years there was no systematic basis for issuing timber bonds. THE TAXATION QUESTION. The taxation of timberland deserves a separate article and it is only necessary to say that it has actually been true in some cases that the imposition of the general property tax on timber has forced rapid cutting even under conditions which made a large output profitable ; while some of the new tax theories advocated, by giving no consideration to forests, might prove even worse than present systems. Most of the broad economic problems which confront the lumbermen are not more serious or more difficult of solution than in other industries, if the lumber- men merely lumber without regard to conservation. It is true, however, that the present economic influences are not favorable to intensive forest crop production. The margin between manufacturing costs and selling price of ordinary grades of lumber is too narrow to permit of any radical change of methods, nor will it permit keeping heavy investments of capital too long tied up in one operation. The carrying charges as represented by interest and taxation are not fully offset FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 375 by increased stumpage values, nor is it always possible to increase the output in order to take care of these charges, because the market will not absorb a greatly increased production. STUMPAGE VALUES AND LUMBER PRICES. It is generally recogized that stumpage values never go down, whereas lumber prices frequently do. At the present time, for example, the average prices for coniferous lumber in ordinary grades are no higher—and in some cases they are lower—than they were 25 years ago. At the same time stumpage values of many woods are two or three times higher. This simply means that if an operat- ing lumber concern buys stumpage today, there may not be enough margin between the cost of production and the selling price to justify operating; although many plants are kept running under these conditions because of the necessity of keep- ing the organization together and of securing ready money with which to meet current obligations. There can be no conservation under these conditions. High stumpage and low lumber values mean quick liquidation where possible, and all the attendant evils of over-productions, waste, and abandonment of the cut-over areas to fire destruction and tax sale. In the Pacific Northwest, where there are large reserve supplies of timber, it is freely said today that the millmen cannot afford to buy stumpage at present prices, nor even to buy logs in the open market for manufacture into lumber. It is also frequently said, and often without exaggeration, that most of the money made in the lumber business is in selling stumpage which was bought at the lower price of a few years ago. If these statements are true, it is very apparent that long-time management, which must necessarily involve manufacturing, would not be a profitable enterprise. In addition to the general conditions which influence private forestry, there are many operating details which affect any variations from the usual practice. The danger from fire is still a fundamental handicap in many regions, and fire will always threaten the destruction of new growth, if not mature timber, in the greater portion of the country. Even assuming that the fire hazard will be reduced to a safe minimum, the operator in many regions still has no clear way to practice the close utilization which is an essential of private forestry. It is simply folly to bring material from the woods to the mill which cannot be sold at a fair profit after being manufactured. It is practically certain that many mills today are losing money on much of their low-grade material, merely because they have not figured carefully enough on the relation between the cost of producing low grades and the price received. LUMBERMEN NEED INSTRUCTION. If the evidence was all in, it would make convincing testimony as to why the private timberland owners, as a class, cannot practice close utilization or indulge to the full in intensive forestry methods. On the other hand, it is equally certain that there are many cases where these same private owners do not do as much as they could or should in applying the measures which will ultimately make private 376 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE forestry possible. In fact, the lumbermen, taking the country over, come in for a lot of just criticism. They have not studied the broader phases of their own business as they should, and not infrequently the administrative heads have allowed themselves to be hopelessly dominated by subordinates who were in a rut or had only the one personal ambition or desire of maintaining a reputation for a certain log output or cost basis, regardless of waste, fire, or anything else. Also, in the matter of waste, possibilities have been overlooked through failure to determine just what could be utilized with profit. Another neglected factor is that of records, cost data, and general administrative details. If the lumbermen shake off the spell of custom and apply advanced methods adapted to their busi- ness they will find that much can be done at a profit which they have thought could not be done at all. When they do get out on the firing line with advanced business and technical methods, private forestry will receive an impetus which will develop it to the full extent of its commercial limitations. In nearly everything which attracts public notice there is invariably some one, usually a rank outsider, who propounds a complete remedy for the problem under consideration. ‘The question of private forestry is an exception, and we rarely hear any plans or theories advanced which would make possible the practice of private forestry. It is quite generally recognized by those who have given the most thought to the subject that neither radical nor rapid developments are to be expected ; that gradually, as conditions justify it, more and more private land will be devoted to systematic forest crop production. There are many, however, who argue that private forestry will never be commercially feasible, or, at any rate, not in time to contribute materially to our wood supply at the time that we will most need it. The suggestion most freely and frequently offered is not to try to practice private forestry at all, but to turn the whole job over to the States and the Federal Government. On the ground that over-production is one of the greatest retarding influences on forest conservation, the suggestion has been made that the Federal Govern- ment control the lumber output. Since the lumber manufacturers seem unable to get together on this point voluntarily, this suggestion would perhaps solve the immediate difficulty, which will never be solved in any other way. When, how- ever, an attempt is made to work out the details of such control, unsurmountable difficulties seem to arise. Among the first questions to arise is, what constitutes over-production? And another of equal importance concerns the effect upon the consumer if the output is limited. The lumber manufacturer would naturally expect a curtailment of production to maintain and probably increase the selling price of lumber, and to this extent he would be entirely satisfied if the increase was sufficient to give him the same net returns as with the smaller output and the lower price. In this case, however, the consumer would have to pay the bill, and such a policy would not receive public approval. Such a policy might also act as a boomerang to the lumberman because the higher prices of lumber would result in the increased use of substitutes and the consequent permanent reduction of demand. Another difficulty in the way of Government control of output is to reconcile FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 377 the needs for various classes of material. A flat reduction in all grades and species would not be practical because some woods, on account of their scarcity, are always in demand at a high price, while others, such as the yellow pine and ted fir, because of their abundance, are usually available in excess of demand. The yellow-pine producers would be very glad to have the red-fir output curtailed, but would strenuously object to a reduction in their own mills, and vice versa. Present tendencies are somewhat toward Government regulation and control of all corporate interests, and if this was ever applied to private timberland opera- tions, it might be expected to lead to regulations which would force measures for forest conservation and to scientific forestry on private holdings. Since it is quite evident that intensive forestry cannot be practiced profitably under present conditions, the only way the private owner could keep in business under such an arrangement would be to materially increase the price of the lumber produced. This in turn would again put the burden on the consumer and evidently so reduce the consumption that private forests would not be greatly needed as a source of wood supply. Whatever the constitutional or legal phases of the question of State or Federal control, it can hardly be conceived that anything in the way of limitations approaching confiscation of private forests, even for the public good, will be tolerated without proper compensation. Private forestry is needed to. provide future wood supplies for the nation. It is not practiced today on a commercial scale because of economic conditions which make straight lumbering a more attractive investment. Some of the things essential to private forestry, particularly fire protection, are being applied exten- sively and successfully. Private forestry must come as an evolutionary development, not because the public demands it but because private timberland owners find it profitable to practice it. Public comprehension of the principles of forest economics, and the realiza- tion that forestry is successive wood-crop production, must precede the full appli- cation of the art and science of private foresry. PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF FOREST ECONOMICS By E. T. ALLEN, Forester for Western Forestry and Conservation Association. with considerable responsibility, without really understanding it? I suppose every one of us has. Most of us have invested hard-earned money in some enterprise because we couldn’t find a single flaw in the argument of the promoter and consequently didn’t have strength of mind to resist. We didn’t really want to invest, even if it were a good thing. We hadn’t the money to spare or, even if we had, we knew some other business better and would feel safer in it. We succumbed to persuasion and logic just because we were off our own ground and couldn’t escape decently, but our hearts weren’t in it. And however good that project was, it didn’t succeed as well as it would have if we had understood it, known it good because we did understand, followed every development with intelligent interest, and put our money and enthusiasm behind it every minute accordingly. Maybe we never actually distrusted the promoter, but we watched affairs mighty ready to criticise or sell out. We could even fail like martyrs if neces- sary, but we didn’t help as though our honor and judgment were at stake. Now that’s just what is wrong with forestry in-America. We have propa- gandists with a perfectly irrefutable assertion that forest preservation is a good investment. The public either says “too busy today,” and while not denying does nothing, or it says “here’s your law (or appropriation or whatever is asked for) ; now make good and save the forests.”” But it dosen’t know the business factors that govern the enterprise and cannot criticise or help intelligently. Sometimes the propagandist doesn’t know either and forest preservation, unfortunately, cannot be conducted wholly by a business manager or board of directors. It is mutual co-operative enterprise, requiring daily participation and ratification by all concerned. There must be an American forest policy which exists, not be- cause a few of us say it should, but because a majority of citizens understand what is needed and why and proceed to put it into effect. True we are making rapid progress toward such a situation. Twenty years ago we had practically nothing. Now we have a great and efficient national forestry administration. Most States have some forest lws, -some have good ones, a few are fairly liberal with funds. We have forestry associations and congresses. Lumbermen, once regarded as the opposition, are now showing the most rapid advance of all, for in less than ten years their systematic protection of private timber has grown from practically nothing to cover about 100,000 000 acres, with an increase of 3,000 per cent in five years. But why does the Forest Service still have to fight for existence in every Congress, and at best be supplied with funds much less than private owners spend to protect adjoining lands? Why do many States have no forest legis- ) ) ID you ever go into any project requiring your money and effort, together FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 379 lation and few legislation that is adequate? Why are there sections where lumbermen and public are so mutually suspicious that neither supports any real solution of a mutual problem? Why do we have to have forestry associations and conventions? Evidently because the average citizen does not know much about the problem himself, in spite of all we have said and done, and result dependent upon human action depends partly upon the extent of desire for this result but more upon the extent of knoweldge how to achieve it. We are trying to do as a minority what in its very nature must be an expression of the majority. We tell the average citizen it is his problem, that we have solved it for him, and that he should support the project. We are wrong. We cannot solve it or reduce it to a mere supportable project. We can give him the facts, but he must solve it by studying the relation of his conduct and the community’s to his own welfare and then acting accordingly. Then, and only then, will Congress, legislatures, lumbermen, foresters and public be able to work together as they must work together, knowing that their policies are sound and commended, that success will be rewarded, and that failure will be punished. We talk and write a great deal about methods, as though all that is neces- sary is to make foresters proficient and lumbermen interested. This is all right enough, but what is most needed is permission to apply what we already know.. Knowledge and interest are far ahead of opportunity. Success depends chiefly upon having conditions under which they are encouraged. With such conditions you couldn’t stop it if you tried. Let us return to our average citizen who with his fellows constitute the majority of our population. Suppose that in his home town, where community relations are so closely under his eye that they are familiar and clear to him, a single industry employs a large proportion of the population, produces the chief share of all manufactured products, and pays an essential part of the taxes. Let us say it is fruit-growing, or dairying, or furniture making. This citizen would not think twice before conceding its necessity. Anything threatening its discontinuance would be a menace to be fought vigorously; anything promising to increase it would be encouraged. Town officials, chamber of commerce, citizens—all would work and spend in earnest for its continuance and develop- ment just as you have seen them do often when occasion offered to promote enterprises of community advantages. No one in public life would dare do otherwise. _ Moreover, they would know how. If it were a dairy community its average citizen would know pretty well what production costs, what prices are necessary, what improvements are feasible, what the State can and should do to aid and regulate, what public demands are reasonable and what are unreasonable. The relation of forest industry to the State or nation is exactly that of our illustrative industry to our suppositious town and so is its relation to every citizen. Lumbering is one of the three or four greatest American industries— it is our greatest manufacturing industry—and forest products are used in almost every other besides being practically life essentials. Certainly it is second in 380 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE usefulness to none except agriculture, and this would fare ill without its aid in many ways. The only reason the average citizen does not realize this and give it the same active and intelligent interest that he gives home town problems is that he cannot see it so clearly. The very immensity and importance of the industry causes its several processes of growing, manufacturing and distributing to be conducted separately and thus confuses the public mind. Different com- munities see different parts of the process and get no thorough grasp of forest economics. In many a little German village the whole community sees the forest grown, cut, manufactured and used. Those who do not actually participate, serve or supply those who do. All use the crop or profit by what is sold elsewhere. There forestry needs no propaganda. The people could not understand the need of it, any more than of propoganda for raising wheat and making bread. Yet their situation is really no different—it is only more concentrated. Here, too, forest industry is an entirety. Man needs wood in various forms. To make the earth supply it, employing such labor as is required to make it suitable and available for his use, is a business. Its performances and service to the com- munity; supplying the consumer, employing labor, using supplies, and paying taxes, requires, like other business, perpetuation of the resource dealt with, economy in every process, and just payment by the consumer for service rendered. Here is where we, who should be the teachers, are at fault. We talk too much about forests, as though they were an end in themselves. We might just as well talk only of land when trying to improve agricultural conditions, or water when urging the protection and propagation of food fishes. How can the average citizen understand forests? It is the business of producing and making them useful to him that he must understand—its place in the society under which he exists, the economic laws under which it exists. He must be brought to consider all forest production and all forest use as little or no different from the production and use of any other necessary crop, obviously to be en- couraged and stabilized on a permanent basis profitable to all concerned. Whether he is a private citizen or a law maker serving private citizens, he must be fairly familiar with the factors which govern lumber prices, logging and manufacturing methods, the cost of growing and protecting the raw material. As long as he thinks an uncut forest is forestry, and that such forestry is good and all lum- bering bad, there will be no real progress. Nor will he have lumber to use sometime when he needs it. We are moving in the right direction slowly. Once propagandists made forestry an abstract problem of public or private conscience. They dwelt on the needs of posterity and urged present sacrifice as a duty. They practically said, “You are partly responsible for lack of forest protection. Forest destruc- tion is bad for somebody’s grandchildren. Badness is wicked. ‘Therefore you are wicked. You need a sermon and we'll preach it.” Nowadays we realize that abstract ethics do not influence human action as quickly as does fear of immediate personal injury. It does not offend our reforming instinct to add to our preachments of duty more vigorous and skilful appeals to human selfish- FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 381 ness. We say “Do you want to make more money? They stop the other fellow from destroying dollars you would otherwise share. Forest preservation is a bargain-price insurance policy you can’t afford to be without. It’s cheap for a short time only. Look over our prospectus and invest.” Now forest preservation is prosperity insurance and insurance is good busi- ness. But it is a commodity that must be paid for in money and careful conduct. The new way is better than the old, but our prospectus is still so general it only gets a certain confiding class of customers. It needs to give more information about the business; information that will both convince the critical and make every customer another salesman. Seek local arguments. If for the Atlantic coast, look up the pay-roll total for all lumbering and woodworking industries in your State and the total selling receipts from their manufactured products. The size of the revenue thus kept at home, but which will leave you if these industries have to move nearer some other sources of raw material, will probably amaze you as much as it will the public. Learn how much your consumers pay annually for all forest products and figure how much they would save if there were no import freight bills. Then learn the rate of growth of your own species and refute the popular belief that it is too slow to enable saving these sums to those now living. Do you know that Massachusetts is today manufacturing its fourth crop of white pine? Learn your area of waste land, and with the same definite growth figures to give your statements news value and convincing business accuracy, show what it might, be earning the community by producing forest commodities. Cal- culate the tax revenues your existing forests bring, and that which forests on now waste land would pay, and show the consequent reduction of taxation on other property. On definite promises of area, growth rate, and conservative crop values show the revenue obtainable by the State from forest reserves of its own, balance this against the cost of such a project, and prove that you could lower all taxation just as they do in Europe. Study the effect of deforestation on stream flow, use specific familiar examples, and convert the injury into dollars and cents. When you get figures in all these calculations, turn them into popular comparisons that are easily grasped. If you live on the Pacific Coast, forget that white pine grows rapidly in Massachusetts and appeal to local pride by saying that here, undoubtedly is the nation’s woodlot, where climate and rapid-growing species give an advantage over the East which it is a business crime to leave ungrasped. Show that the area denuded by fire and use will produce an equally valuable crop in, say, sixty years, and that leaving this land idle is costing our five coast forest States about thirty million dollars a year. Add to this the loss by fire and show many millions altogether are being thrown away that might be distributed through every channel of industry. The lumber industry now brings about $140,000,000 a year into the four northwest Pacific States. Show that this is more than they get from wheat, wool, fruit, dairying and fisheries combined. The Pacific Coast had more than half the nation’s timber. Show how many billion dollars this will bring in if saved for manufacture. Show the wreck of industries that would 382 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE follow its sudden destruction and point out that partial destruction means the same thing in proportion. When a score of American citizens are endangered by an uprising in China or Mexico, no price is too great to pay for their protection. : When a few hun- dred sailors went down in the “Maine” we were aroused to the supremity of national effort—war. Are the lives of hundreds of.men and women who meet fearful death in forest fires through American carelessness any less precious? Their sufferings any less cause for national horror? The neglect of our people to observe the same care with fire in the woods that they exercise at home, the refusal of Congress and legislatures to appropriate adequately for fire preven- tion, and the leniency of our courts with fire law violators, all must be due to failure by those of us who are responsible for American education in these matters to impress a true comparison of values on the public mind. As a nation we are engaged in forestry. Our national forests comprise nearly 200 million acres. Here is a stupendous task, involving the protection of existing supply, reforesting denuded areas, and disposing of the product so as best to serve the people and to influence conservative management of private forests. To withhold funds necessary to do the work is letting an immensely profitable manufacturing plant lie almost idle, as well as in danger of destruc- tion, to save the cost of fuel and watchmen. To mismanage it would be as bad or worse, for the one-fifth of our timber supply thus under public control cannot but influence profoundly the permanent wise management of the four-fifths under private control upon which we are still more dependent. Clearly all of us—lum- berman and consumer alike—have most to gain from stable conditions for the fullest use and perpetuation of all our forest resources, regardless of ownership; from making all true forest land capable of earning such an income from forest production as, without being excessive, will insure its best management and conse- quent fullest service to community and nation. And yet who can deny that we are without any accepted clear-cut, dependable, national policy which supports and finances this immense project with competent consideration of both public and private forests and their influence on permanent industrial development? The Forest Service can neither announce nor execute such a policy so long as there is every extreme of variance in the views not only of the States, whose attitude toward their own forests and forest industries has a profound influence, but also in Congress where any executive policy, to be de- pendable, must find sanction and support. Every Congressional session sees the whole subject debated from a dozen viewpoints, chiefly political, with a marked lack of statesman-like treatment based on any real knowledge of forest economics. Besides unwillingness to provide adequate protection for the people’s property we even hear advocated the turning it over to a dozen State legislatures that are doing still less with their own forest responsibilities. Ignorance or a desire for political effect has even urged immediate sacrificial cutting to break a mythical “lumber trust” when it should be self-evident that private competition is now at its keenest and that the Government supply should be husbanded against the time when it may have some real effect on prices to the consumer. FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 383 Now all this is by no means chiefly the fault of Senators or Congressmen. There is nothing in it for them, except so far as it can be made to strike a re- sponsive chord in their constituents. With the public half as well informed on the production of the lumber it needs as it is on the getting of its parcels by mail or the price of sugar, there would be an expression on an American forest policy that would leave no statesman uncertain. We cannot blame him if there is no such expression nor can we blame his constituents for not seeing that he gets it. It is because they have not been told the facts in convincing business language. Come now to our States. Many have done nothing. Few have comprehensive farseeing policies, covering their own opportunity on State-owned lands and ade- quate encouragement of good private management through efficient fire protec- tion and just taxation. It is not enough for the reformer to present good laws and recognize bad ones. Why is there little trouble in passing laws for protection and advance of agriculture, horticulture and dairying? Not because these in- dustries are more useful and deserving, but because people understand their gov- erning conditions and see the point of such laws readily. The chief reason they do not so understand forest conditions is that the reformer himself makes forestry a creed and not a business. In my opinion forestry will never succeed in the United States until it is so closely allied with lumbering that neither forester, lumberman nor public makes any distinction. This is the case in Europe and everywhere in America that there has been successful progress. So long as the lumberman suspects forestry of being antagonistic, he will not help. So long as he does not help, the forester cannot talk intelligently to the public. After all, the private owner controls most of our forest area.. His use of it, our use of it, and the effect of our relations upon our joint use of it, largely determine our forest destinies. Were foresters in proper touch with the business and of producing forest products they would have-the support of all lumbermen and jointly they would have an irresistible argument. Were forest economics understood and forest industry given its proper rating compared with other industries, suspicious lum- berman and suspicious public would alike see a common object and make mutual cause to further it. A State with a hundred times more revenue to be expected from lumbering than from wool growing would not appropriate $500 for forest protection and $20,000 for coyote scalps. A community that applauds its chamber of commerce for getting a shoe factory and gives it a free building site would not carelessly burn up a forest capable of employing a thousand times as many men and then tax the owner so he cannot afford to hold and protect the land for a new crop. A State that is glad to see its farmers get a good price for wheat, even if it does use some flour, would not rejoice when its sawmills are forced to accept a low price for lumber. A lumberman who prefers to let his trees stand until Americans need them, rather than cut them at a loss for foreign export, would not be accused of conspiracy to bleed the consumer any more than would a farmer who decides not to raise potatoes when they don’t pay for raising. A country that applauds fruit growers for systematizing to assure reliable grades and intelligent marketing, sends publicly paid experts to help improve their orch- 384 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE ards, and exempts them specifically from the Sherman law, would not condemn and seek to prosecute forest growers for attempting similar co-operative improve- ment of a business still more necessary to the community. In short, the public would prefer to see all forest industry, public and private, on a sound business footing calculated to preserve it and its benefits to the com- munity, and would expect to pay the cost of producing lumber from the tree to the yard plus the same fair profit that the public itself requires from its individual enterprises. And if this is true, the great need today is for teaching the principles of the business from start to finish. Every process, its cost, and its relation to other processes and to the final price of the product, should be common knowl- edge. Nothing can be more inconsistent, so long as most of our forests are pri- vately owned, and even the public forests must be manufactured for us privately, than to antagonize the lumberman whose help we must have by continuing such ignorance of his problems that we even treat him as an enemy. On the whole, forest industry probably surpasses any other in smallness of profit. Unusual op- portunity has built some large fortunes, but for every one of these are many cases where the public has profited by failure. Nor is stumpage speculation any ex- ception. Times are changed. Taxes, protection and interest are now compound- ing more rapidly than prices advance. The tendency is toward competitive over- production rather than toward monopolistic holding back of material. Few if any things are sold at so much less than their value as the trees of which lumber are made. Whatever may have been in the past, when new supplies were easily avail- able, the lumber producer now sees his industry dpendent on forest preservation and his interest in this is as keen as ours. If he does not practice forestry it is, as Forester Graves says, for one or more of three reasons: First, the risk of fire; second, burdensome taxation ; third, low price of lumber. This situation will not be relieved by threats of compulsion but only by learning what it costs to furnish forest crops and establishing a business-like policy accordingly. When forest economics are as well understood as the economics of fruit or wheat growing, the suspicion which always confronts mystery will no longer manifest itself in prejudice which works to the consumers’ disadvantage. The private as well as public lumber producer, as a class, because he is honest and useful as a class, will be accorded the same respect and helpful sympathy as is accorded the farmer or engineer who develops the possibilities of utilizing our country and supplying its people. And he will be quick to respond. So we always get back to education, the line in which forestry effort is the weakest. The ingenuity of theatrical, railroad, political and advertising agencies is proverbial. Activities of this kind are now regarded as business necessity. They are needed and legtimate nowhere more than in forest propaganda, which has nothing to conceal but everything to teach. Education is a matter of pub- licity and publicity is a trade. It cannot be practiced intuitively. Foresters and lumbermen must learn this trade. CONSERVATION OF LIFE IN THE LUMBER CAMPS By Miss Maser T. BoaRDMAN. HE Red Cross Societies in all countries, though primarily organized to | take charge of volunteer aid to the sick and wounded in time of war, have broadened the scope of their work to include the mitigating of suffering after great disasters. To fulfill their duties successfully and efficiently under both of these conditions necessitates the maintenance of a permanent, if skeleton, organization with a trained, skilled, and experienced personnel. This means not only an expenditure of considerable funds, but also the creation of departments for special work. - Organized and maintained, these departments have proved not only of untold value during war or disaster relief, but have become capable of rendering a constant, patriotic, and humane service to ‘the country in its every-day life. The St. Johns and the St. Andrews Ambulance Associations of the British Red Cross, the Sanitary Columns of the German Red Cross, the First Aid De- partments of the Italian and other societies have all entered into a broad and helpful crusade in the field of accidents, especially in the industrial world. Dr. Von Esmarck once said, “The fate of a wounded man depends into whose hands he first falls,” and in this he voiced the belief of the men who really know, the men of the medical profession. Watch a doctor handle only a slight cut. How carefully his hands are washed and every instrument to be used sterilized. How skillfully he applies an antiseptic gauze or pad without touching the wound. Is this for nothing or because he knows that in all this caution may lie the difference between complete recovery and the pathetic existence of a crippled life or even the loss of life itself. Following the example of its sister societies, the American Red Cross has established under a sub-committee of the War Relief Board a First Aid Depart- ment, in charge of an Army Surgeon, Major Robert U. Patterson, detailed for this duty by the Secretary of War. In our mines 2,450 miners are killed annually, and 6,772 injured. Our rail- roads slay 3,000 victims yearly and injure 60,000 more. Facts like these present to the view of the Red Cross a national calamity that calls to it for aid. To that cry of a Welch miner I once heard, “Come quickly, there’s a man hurted,” it seeks to respond. Some twelve or fifteen years ago Dr. M. J. Shields, of Scranton, Pennsyl- vania, started this work of first aid among miners in that district. Without aid or recognition from the companies, he labored for five years. Then came the sudden realization of the value of his work, and he was engaged by one of the companies to devote himself to the instruction of first-aid teams among their men. In a few years more the fame of the work had grown, and the services of Dr. Shields were loaned to various companies, anxious to undertake this work. About 386 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE this time the American Red Cross, having decided to organize a new department devoted to first-aid instruction, was fortunate enough to obtain Dr. Shield’s serv- ices, the company which employed him sacrificing their own interests for the benefit of the entire mining industry. Since then two other physicians have been added to the Red Cross corps for this work. The Pullman Company has gen- erously donated and rearranged two cars specially fitted up as traveling schools of instructions. T'wo of the doctors live on these cars, for which the railroads give free transportation. The organization of first-aid classes among miners, trainmen, and other industrial employees taught by mining, railroad or local physicians has been carried on by means of these cars and by the third physician, who devotes his time mainly to work among miners. Major Charles Lynch, for- merly at the head of the First Aid Department, has prepared a number of text- books on first aid, in which not a small amount of space is devoted to instruc- tion for the prevention of accidents in different industries. These books have been translated into Polac, Slovac, Italian, and Lithuanian for the benefit of our foreign-born miners. The Red Cross, the Bureau of Mines, and the mining companies in co-opera- tion hold from time to time first-aid competitions, each company competing having held a preliminary competition among its local teams to select one to represent it at these meetings. Special medals and diplomas are awarded by the Red Cross, and frequently companies or individuals provide cups or other prizes for the winning team. This greatly stimulates the interest of the men. Furthermore, the Red Cross gives annual prizes in money to miners and trainmen for the best first aid rendered in case of actual accidents. T'wo years ago forty teams were present at a great meeting at Pittsburgh, attended by the President of the United States, also president of the American Red Cross; the Secretary of the Interior, Dr. Holmes for the Bureau of Mines, and many thou- sand others. The teams represented nearly every mining State in the country. Some came from as far west as Oregon, the companies paying all the expense— a testimony as to their estimate of the value of the work. In Pennsylvania since the organization of these first-aid instructions in the mines, accident and death benefits have been cut fifty per cent. Does not this prove, therefore, a labor for the conservation of human life that is worth while? Now let me turn to the condition in our lumber industries, particularly in the logging camps. It would be presuming upon my part to speak on such mat- ters to those who know so much of what I know so little, had not the Red Cross a service to offer them. Unfortunately, the vital statistics of our country are as yet far from per- fect, and no data concerning accidents in the lumber industries could be obtained from the Census Bureau. For this reason we are forced to base our statistics on those obtained from the State of Washington, where 47,400 men are employed in this industry. In twenty-three months’ time we find 251 fatal accidents occurred, 990 persons permanently partially disabled, and 8,420 suffered from temporary total disability. T’o bring this down to monthly averages gives us more than FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 387 ten killed, forty-three permanently partially disabled, and three hundred and sixty-six temporarily totally disabled in one month. I note in his address last year Major E. T. Griggs said that 800,000 are em- ployed in the lumber industry, one-sixteeth of that number being employed in the State of Washington. We have no reason that I know of to assume that lum- bering is a more hazardous occupation in that State than in any other. There- fore, I think we are justified in multiplying the above figures by sixteen for one month, then multiplying this by twelve to obtain a rough estimate for accident statistics in the entire lumber industry. This will give us 1,920 killed, 8,256 permanently partially disabled, and 70,272 temporarily totally disabled. annually ; or about 5 killed, 22 permanently partially disabled, and 182 temporarily totally disabled a day. This is, of course, an estimate based on the Washington statistics, and may not be accurate as to the rest of the country. Major Griggs in his address said: “With an industry affecting throughout the United States over. 45,000 saw- mills and 800,000 employees, regardless of families dependent on them, you will agree with me that we are all vitally interested in workmen’s compensation.” If we are vitally interested in compensation laws, should we not be still more vitally interested in the prevention of the need of such compensation; that is, in the instructions for the prevention of accidents and in the practical applica- tion of first aid to the injured for the lessening of fatal, serious or prolonged results of accidents when they do occur, interested not only for the sake of 800,000 men employed but for the families dependent on them? There is almost no labor utilized in the lumber industries that has not some danger involved in it. The sharp edge of the axe or the jagged teeth of the saw in a moment may cause an injury where unchecked hemorrhage will result in death in a brief space of time. Physicians have signed many a death certifi- cate of men who bled to death from slight injuries and whose lives might easily have been saved by some knowledge of first aid. The application of cobwebs or some other traditional remedy to an open wound or the use of soiled rags in binding it up often produce an infection with crippling or fatal results. There is danger to the sawyer from the falling tree, especially when a rotten heart or high wind makes the direction of the fall uncertain; or on steep slopes if the tree shoots suddenly downward, or if a badly strained tree breaks with great force. The handling of the logs at the skidway and the loading onto the trains require skill and agility on the part of the loaders to avoid being caught and crushed by these great pieces of lumber. The temporary nature of most of the railroads provide their share of acci- dents, and danger lurks even in their construction, in the blasting of stumps and rocks, and the thawing out of dynamite in the colder camps. Nitroglycerine may be absorbed through the hands, causing severe headaches to the men who use it. Those who have never seen a lumber camp have yet had vividly impressed upon them by graphic stories the hardships to which the log drivers are exposed, the great personal danger to the river drivers in the excitement of freeing jammed 388 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE logs, when a single slip may mean the crushing out of life between the heavy logs or drowning in the water below them. Nor does the danger end with the | logging, for the saw mills, with their powerful and sharp-edged machinery, add their quota to the number of yearly accidents. Recognizing, as we must, the hazards, dangers, and accidents in the lumber industry, our desire is naturally aroused to do something in the way of prevention and in extending to the lumbermen the knowledge of first aid. I note in the Washington law for workmen’s compensation, which is a sort of State insurance, the employers of labor paying the premium, that if statistics show an udue number of accidents among the employees of any given company, because of poor or careless management, the rate charged that company is in- creased.’ It seems to me this law should also be made to work the other way, so that any company making a good showing in the way of fewer accidents than may be taken for the normal number should have its rates correspondingly reduced. Even if this is not done, the less that has to be paid out in compen- sation by the State will have a tendency to reduce the general rates paid by the companies. ‘ The Red Cross will gladly co-operate with the Bureau of Forestry and the lumber companies in arranging for first-aid instructions. Conditions in lumber camps differ greatly from those in mines, railroads, and other industrial plants. There can rarely be physicians resident in such close proximity to lumber camps that their services for instruction can be easily made available. For this reason, it would be advisable to secure the entire time of a certain number of doctors for this purpose. To make an experiment—and we learn best by experience—the Red Cross makes this proposal: towards a fund of $3,000 it will contribute $500, if a number of lumber companies in a given locality will club together to raise the additional $2,500, each contributing according to the number of their respect- ive camps and employees. This fund will provide for the salary and expenses of a physician specially trained by the Red Cross for instruction to men engaged in the lumber industry both for the prevention of accidents and first aid to the injured. In connection with logging camps, there should be added certain simple but important instructions in camp sanitation for the benefit of the general health of all the men. Such a doctor devoting his entire time to this work would travel from camp to camp. In cases of remote camps, he would stay long enough to give the men daily instruction for a short time. In cases where a number of camps could be reached more easily from one place, he would arrange to give one or two lessons a week at each camp. The classes are formed from volunteers who are given practical training. The men soon realize the importance of such knowledge and are anxious to learn. Even those who gather about as spectators pick up not a little useful information. Each camp should be supplied with first aid outfits suitable to the needs of logging accidents, and these the men taught how to use. This is aturally but a tentative plan, with many details to be worked out; but may I commend it to the consideration of those interested in the lumber industry FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 389 and suggest that they appoint a committee or representative to confer with the first aid department of theRed Cross upon this matter. Again I am tempted to quote from Major Griggs’ able address. He said: “Logging is a hazardous life at the very best and calls for strong, dare-devil men afd men who are willing to take chances. Danger is always present and men become so used to it that they get careless. This, however, is no excuse for. needless loss of life and limb.” He commends: “The benefit of co-operative effort in conserving human life and in protecting the bread-winners, upon whom depend the life and happiness of so large a population.” The American Red Cross offers to do its share in this co-operation for the conservation of the life of the lumber-jacks in the logging camps throughout our country. THE LUMBERMAN’S POINT OF VIEW. By J. E. Ruopes, SEcRETARY oF THE Nationa, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATION. Mabel Boardman, of the American National Red Cross, because of the reference which she has made to the lumber industry and the necessity for cooperation between the Red Cross and the lumbermen in giving first aid instruc- tions to woodsmen. I am very happy, indeed, to say to her that the proposition which she has presented to the lumbermen will be taken up immediately by the national orga- nization which I represent. The cooperation which she proposes will be placed before the members of the National Lumber Manufacturers’ Association and through other agencies to the lumbermen of the country. I wish to refer briefly to one of her conclusions to the effect that the fatalities and accidents in the State of Washington might be taken as an indication of the number of accidents, fatal and otherwise, in the other lumber producing sections of the country. Without definite knowledge on the subject, it is my judgment that the number of accidents in logging operations in Washington is higher than the average in other sections, because woods work on the Pacific Coast is more haz- ardous on account of the size of the timber, the mountainous character of the country, and the fact that most of the logging is done by machinery. In following Mr. William Irvine so closely, upon a subject precisely like that. assigned to him, I think you are entitled to a brief explanation. The Forestry Committee, which arranged this portion of the program of the Conservation Congress, invited Mr. George S. Long, of Tacoma, Washing- ton, to present “The Lumberman’s View of the Forestry Question.” Mr. Long is identified with timber-holding interests of the Pacific Coast, and has given as. much sincere thought to this subject as any other lumberman of the country. He was detained at home, and I was asked to substitute for him by the committee who did not know at the time that Mr. Irvine had been assigned the subject of the “Attitude of the Lumberman Toward Forestry” by the officers of the Con- gress. I asked to be relieved from representing Mr. Long under the circum- stances, but the committee has been insistent, and if I shall duplicate some of Mr.. Irvine’s statements, I will ask both you and Mr. Irvine to pardon me. I have not the slighest idea what Mr. Long would have presented to you, but: I know that he has very mature views on the problem before us, and I trust that he may be prevailed upon to express them in writing, so that they may be made. a part of the records of this congress. I can give you only what I believe to be the views of the average lumberman toward forestry. . There is, of course, considerable difference of opinion among them on this subject, as upon all others, and what I say may not represent the: views of certain individuals, but of the lumbermen as a class. | HAVE been intensely interested in the splendid address delivered by Miss FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 391 The lumbermen are engaged in their business for the purpose of making a living, and as much of a fortune besides as possible. To this extent they are not unlike any other class of business men. Their business from the first has pro- ceeded along the easiest possible lines. Ours has been a wood-using nation. Lumbermen have engaged in the business for supplying the demand, and to realize therefrom the largest net returns to themselves. The values of standing timber in this country are almost universally fixed by the prices from lumber, for, obviously, standing timber is worth no more than can be realized from its manufacture. Timber must constantly increase in value, or it cannot be held for investment. The carrying charges, which include interest on the original investment, annual taxes and cost of protection, are constantly increasing, so that the average tract of timber must double in value at least every seven years, or it will represent a loss. The public should know that timber prices do not set the price of lumber. It is fixed by the demand that exists for it, the quantity of any certain species and grade available, as well as the general commercial and business conditions which affect the prices of all other staple commodities. Few articles of general utility fluctuate in value as widely as does lumber. There is no trust or combination which fixes the whole- sale price of lumber. The manufacturing end of the business is represented by many thousands of mills, and all of the different producing sections of the coun- try are in keen competition with each other. The impossibility of bringing about any thing like a concerted action among the number of individuals engaged in business to the extent of fixing a uniform wholesale price is apparent to anyone. The value of standing timber does not fluctuate as do the values of lumber, simply becatise timber is not bought and sold in small quantities, and the general tendency of the price of lumber, over a period of years, is upward. A manu- facturer is obliged to buy a quantity of timber sufficient to stock his mill for a number of years. He would not be justified in putting the amount of money into the necessary equipment without doing so. Because trees are a slow growing crop, and are being cut in America faster than they are reproducing themselves, it is of course inevitable that timber prices will continue to advance. While lumber will fluctuate, its general tendency will be upward, and timber values will follow. Higher prices mean closer utilization of the raw material. Operators in the Northern Lake States originally cut the white pine only, as there was no demand for anything else. As values advanced they were able to sell the lumber from Norway pine, and today many species of timber formerly considered worthless are cut. Lumbermen use every portion of the raw material from which a profit can be obtained. They generally have all of their own money invested in their operations, and all the money they can safely borrow, and conduct their operations with as much regard to economy as any class of manufacturers. They resent the criticism that they have wasted and looted the Nation’s timber resources. Men are not in the habit of destroying material which can be sold even for the cost of handling. If there has been any waste of forest material in America, the public must share its full responsibility, for lumbermen have sold everything the public would buy. 392 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE We find that the utilization of raw materials depends largely on the location of the saw mill with reference to markets. For instance, in New England, where the saw mills are located more closely to large consuming centers than those of any other section of the country, they are able to transport their products to the consumer with the least expense. White pine timber is so closely utilized that 30,000 board measure feet per acre is obtained. This simply means that there is a market for practically every portion of the tree. The same timber in the Lake States, farther removed from the market, will produce not to exceed eight to ten thousand feet per acre of marketable material. On the Pacific Coast millions of feet of good material are wasted either in the woods, or at the saw mills, because the cost of handling and shipping it to the markets where it could be used would be more than the price obtainable. As the consumption of lumber increases in closer promixity to the mills, it is possible to sell a greater portion of the trees. Lumbermen are studying their markets as closely as the producers of any other material. They are not particularly alarmed about the inroads of substi- tutes, for they are willing to concede their markets to those substitutes which perform a greater service. Many present will remember when the sidewalks of the smaller towns and cities were made of wood, and while this represented an enormous consumption of lumber, the lumbermen have made no complaints about the loss of this market, simply because they have recognized that the cement walk, now universally used, is a superior article. They further know that lumber pos- sesses qualities not inherent in any other material. They are engaging in the advertising of their products for the purpose of edu- cating the public how it can cooperate in using forest materials for which no market now exists. The manufacturers can influence custom to only a slight de- gree. There are several customs now generally in vogue, which could be changed with a swing of material, and without any detriment to the consumer. ‘There is now a large amount of raw material wasted at the saw mills because the public will purchase only even lengths and widths in standard building sizes. It is only in those sections of the country where lumber prices have reached the highest point that this is not true. Throughout more than two-thirds of the United States it is impossible for the lumbermen to sell anything but boards and dimen- sion lumber in even lengths, the odd foot being cut off and wasted at the mill, and the same is true of widths in inches in all but the highest grades. The lumber manufacturers are anxious to educate the public to the fact that by cooperation with the carpenters, contractors, architects, retail dealers and lumber jobbers, much material now wasted at the mills can be utilized. The question is asked why lumbermen do not practice forestry. They do not feel that economic conditions have reached a point where the application of so-called scientific forestry methods can be undertaken without financial loss. Lumbermen are practicing the first step of forestry in the measures which they are taking to prevent fires. The conditions on the Pacific Coast are most favorable for the easy reproduction of the forest because of the climatic condi- tions, and the species of timber. Where fire has been successfully eliminated the young forest is growing rapidly. This work, which has been so successfully FIFTH NATIONAL CONSERVATION CONGRESS 393 done by the Pacific Coast lumbermen, has been undertaken by the timber owners of the Lake States and other sections. The fire problem has been practically settled. Except in years of extreme dryness, and when the conditions get beyond human control, there will be no great loss from forest fires. As the prices of timber and forest products advance, lumbermen will conduct their logging operations with more and more regard for future crops of timber. Lumbermen are too intelligent a class of business men not to undertake those methods which will perpetuate their supplies of raw material, and thus prolong their business. The public must realize, however, that until forestry can be undertaken with practical results, it cannot be considered at all, as individuals cannot engage in a work of this kind at a loss to themselves, no matter how much they may be prompted by sentiment or regard for future generations. The professional forester fully agrees with this view. Indeed it is he who is doing more than the lumbermen to educate the public that no material progress in forestry can be made in this country as long as the wholesale prices of timber products remain where they are. Representing the lumberman, I am pleased to acknowledge the great value of the reports which have been submitted to the Forestry Section of this congress. They constitute what I am sure is the most intelligent, exhaustive and practical review of forest economics that this country has ever had, and throughout all of them the obstacles with which the lumberman is faced when considering any other than existing methods in handling his business are fully recognized and explained. The public must realize that the price of lumber must reach a point where it will pay to grow trees, or forestry cannot be thought of. The lumbermen will be glad to do whatever they can to afford the virgin timber a chance to repro- duce itself, and that is what they are already doing to a greater extent than even they, themselves, realize in their efforts to eliminate fire. The planting of a new crop of trees, however, must be done by the State or the Federal government, for, in no sense, is it a private enterprise. It takes too long to mature a crop of timber from the seed to interest capital. The great risk, and the cost of carrying such an investment make it impossible. Individuals are obliged to pay taxes in some form or other, while the State is not. The State should be interested in taking all measures necessary to safeguard the future, while individuals cannot be expected to do more generally than take care of their own interests. In the holding of young timber for further growth, lumbermen feel the con- stantly increasing burden of taxation. The present method of taxing timber annually is a handicap, which makes the consideration of any forestry methods in connection with private logging operations absolutely impossible. Many lum- ber companies would be glad to hold large areas of cut-over timber land, and to pay the cost of keeping out the fire were they given some relief from the annual tax. No other civilized nation treats the owners of private forest land as does America in this regard. Lumbermen realize that there is much land from which they have taken the timber, which is more suitable for agricultural crops than for trees, and these they are holding and paying the taxes on for the purpose of eventually selling them for agricultural development. Land suited for farm 394 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE crops should not, of course, be held for trees, because the income from a few annual farm crops is as much as would be realized from the sale of timber after many years’ growth. Many timber owners are very much discouraged over the attitude of the public toward the taxation problem. ‘They do not believe that the American people will ever be willing to concede changes in present methods of taxation until the present timber supply is so nearly exhausted as to make prices of forest products very high. They are looking to the forester to educate the public to the correct view of this important matter. Their motives have so often been questioned when urging some relief from taxation, that as a class, the lumbermen generally are unwilling to agitate the matter. It is a very hopeful sign that the States of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have recognized the necessity of encouraging timber owners to hold trees for future growth by changing the methods of taxing could afford to carry these immense areas of timber land, and that they would be compelled to dispose of large parts of them. Lumbermen much prefer, however, to see the timber of the National Forests managed as it is at present, because they are abso- Jutely certain that it will result in the utmost advantage to the greatest number of people in the long run. I hope it will be seen from what I have said that the lumbermen are abso- lutely dependent upon the foresters and upon organizations like the National Conservation Congress to show the public that they cannot adopt those methods. which will make it possible to perpetuate growing timber until there are radical changes in existing economic conditions. Because of the confidence which I have in the intelligence and patriotism of the American people, of which those citizens engaged in the production and handling of forest products constitute a very large and important element, I am entirely certain that conditions which will make possible the practice of forestry in its best sense, will be conceded, and will be developed, and that the supremacy of the United States among the nations of the earth will not be threatened be- cause of a famine of her timber supply. LUMBERMEN AND FORESTRY By WILLIAM IRVINE. GREAT many of the lumbermen of the United States are interested in aN the science of forestry believing that thereby intelligent information is being supplied as to the best methods of conserving the forests of the country while furnishing their products in response to the country’s commercial needs. Scientific lumbering was not favorably received for quite a period by a great many practical lumbermen, but gradually they have been awakened to the fact that forestry is a science that should be cultivated to the utmost extent. The public prints, voicing public sentiment, condemn the lumbermen in no uncertain terms for the destruction of the forests, ignoring the fact that the lumber con- suming public should be held equally accountable, for the reason that it has furn- ished the demand for the forest products, without which they would not have been produced. The view-point has changed materially within a comparatively brief period, and the conditions obtaining a few years ago are not the conditions of today. The earlier lumberman was in a constant struggle with the wolf and had no time for questions of reproduction, care of smaller growth and kindred subjects. The great question in the forests was that of getting to market the merchantable product in such manner as to permit the operator to pay his labor and supply bills with the hope of a reasonable return upon his investment. The products of the forests were used in the building of railroads, cities and towns, and to supply the manifold requirements of the people in general; and to the ob- server of the period the best interests of all classes were advanced by the methods then in effect. Millions of acres originally covered with trees that have been felled to supply the people’s needs are now fertile fields supplying homes and em- ployment for thousands of husbandmen, who in turn are furnishing food and raiment for countless citizens of the republic. No great fortunes were accumu- lated by the makers of lumber of a few years ago, and as a matter of fact the increase in the value of stumpage which has followed the diminishing supply, has. furnished the major part of the lumbermen’s profits during later years. Lumber- men who have bought trees for their commercial value have very naturally cut the trees into saw logs, and will undoubtedly continue to do so in response to the demand for the product. The cutting of today, however, is done on more eco- nomical lines than in the past. and each succeeding year will see improvement in this regard. Gifford Pinchot and his successor, Mr. Graves, of the Federal Forest Service have labored hard, and with a great measure of success, in the effort to induce more economical cutting, and the sparing of the smaller growth. A good many operators are making an effort along the lines suggested, but in many instances the owners are not convinced that they can afford to leave any portion of their merchantable standing timber, the tax gatherer offering a very substantial bar to such a course in the majority of instances. Conservation and. 396 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE forest restoration would be advanced by the adoption of tax laws in line with the suggestion of the Federal forest service, relieving from taxation areas de- voted to the growing of trees and providing for taxation at the market value when the crop shall be harvested. The best inducement that can be offered for the production of any crop is the reasonable assurance that it will pay, and the planter and cultivator of trees must have the same prospect of eventual profit as that which stimulates to action the planter and cultivator of cotton or corn. Individual effort in the line of forest preservation will aid, but will not accomplish the desired result, by far the most important factor being the policy of the gov- ernment, both Federal and State, as to the treatment of the public timbered lands. The action of many States in establishing forest reserves is commendable and it is eminently proper that the Federal reserves should include all vacant lands on which there is any species of standing timber, and that the eventual cutting of the trees should be done under supervision of men trained to the work of fores- try, to the end that the ripe trees only shall be cut, and the smaller growth con- served and permitted to grow to reasonable maturity. Travel through the forests discloses the fact that nature is everywhere endeavoring to reproduce, and her efforts in that direction would show greater results were it not for the ravages of fire—the arch enemy of the forest. In the earlier logging a large percentage of the timber was left in the woods, for the reason that the cost of delivering low grade logs to the mill exceeded by far the value of the product. The oper- .ators were legion and without organization or cummunity of interest and in the -absence of Federal or State supervision, destructive fires were of frequent occur- ence. The burning of old cuttings also destroyed in most instances the smaller ‘trees that had been left standing, and the new growth of all varieties of timber. The system of fire patrols now in vogue in most timbered localities is giving good results in the line of protection, and it is to be hoped that there will not be a recurrence of the destructive forest fires of the past. Finally the forests have no better friends than the lumbermen, and while the lumbermen will continue to cut the trees, thereby supplying the material necessary to the country’s needs, ‘they will constantly strive toward increased economy in cutting and decreased waste and will support the practice of rational forestry, to the end that the full wealth of the forests may be conserved and utilized in supplying the constantly ‘increasing demands of the constantly increasing population. WHAT THE CONSERVATION CONGRESS ACCOMPLISHED By Cuaries LATHROP Pack President of the National Conservation Congress the Fifth National Conservation Congress were more foresters than had ever heretofore attended any similar meeting in this country. The forestry work accomplished, as evidenced by the twelve printed reports in pamphlet form prepared under the direction of the Forestry Committee, is considered by forestry experts and lumbermen to be the best work that up to this time has been done for American forestry and lumbering. These results alone would justify all the effort that has been made and the presence in Washington of such a repre- sentative body of men. ee the fourteen hundred delegates present in Washington at The adoption by the Conservation Congress of the recommendations unanimously presented by its Committee on Water Power was a long step forward in the development of a definite governmental policy, recognizing clearly the principle of Federal control; and also recognizing clearly the necessity of offering to the investor opportunity to invest his time and money in the development of water power under conditions which safeguard both the public interest and his investment. The Committee on Water Power comprised ten men, exceptionally qualified by knowledge of this subject in all its aspects. Under the able chairmanship of Dr. George F. Swain, President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, it worked out and presented not a mere declaration of principles, but concrete and specific recommendations which should be of great value to the Government in framing the legislation that is needed to convert the present comparative inactivity in water power development into a period of active Conservation by use. The fact that a committee comprised, not only of professional experts of the highest distinction, some of whom are actively associated with the water power interests, but also such men as ex-Secretary Stimson, Mr. Gifford Pinchot and Mr. Lewis B. Stillwell were able to agree upon a definite and constructive program, and that this program received the emphatic endorsement of the Conservation Congress, is a demonstration of the public spirit of the Committee and the ability of the Congress to accomplish effective and constructive work. All true Conservationists will hope that our National Government will promptly enact the legislation that is so greatly needed.