TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING 



87 



REPORT OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ASSOCIATION FOR THE YEAR 1908 



T 



HE Board of Directors of the The 

 American Forestry Association here- 

 with submits its report for the year 

 1908. 



The customary campaign for new mem- 

 berships was actively conducted the first 

 part of the -year. The following results 

 for the year have been obtained : 



The membership of the Association, De- 

 cember 31, 1907, was 6,555— composed of 

 three patrons, 237 life members, eighty-nine 

 sustaining members, 6,226 annual members. 

 During the year 1908 there were added a 

 total of 1,086 — nine life members, ten sus- 

 taining members, and 1,067 annual mem- 

 bers ; and during the same period there 

 were lost by death, resignation, etc., five 

 life members, eleven sustaining members, 

 652 annual members, making a total of 668 

 lost, or a net gain for the year of 468, mak- 

 ing a total membership of the Association 

 at December 31, 1908, of 6,973 members. 



In the conduct of this membership cam- 

 paign, in 1908, there were sent out 30,403 

 folders and 34,903 form letters. 



Of the declared objects of the Associa- 

 tion, one of the chief is the dififusion of 

 knowledge concerning Forestry and related 

 subjects. To the furtherance of this work 

 the Association has diligently applied it- 

 self. 



The publication of the magazine, whose 

 purchase was last year reported, has been 

 continued. The scope of the publication 

 has been broadened to include the general 

 field of conservation of all natural resources, 

 notably those with which the forests arc 

 connected, nin harmony with this course 

 the name of the magazine has been changed 

 "Forestry and Irrigation" to "Conservation." 

 Each members receives a copy. 



The system of press bulletins, instituted 

 in 1907, has been further employed in 1908 

 with good results. By this meanse some 

 1,600 newspapers and, through them, an in- 

 derterminate but unquestionably large read- 

 ing clientele, have been reached. The ex- 

 tent to which, as shown by clippings and 

 marked copies returned, such matter has 

 been used, is at once a proof of a rapid rise, 

 in the tide of public interest in foresry and 

 conservation, and a factor in further pro- 

 moting this essential interest. 



Educational work through public lectures, 

 begun last year, has been continued and 

 greatly developed. In 1907 the Secretary, 

 in addition to certain isolated addresses, 

 made two extensive lecture tours, speaking 

 thirteen times in four Southern States, and 

 twenty-two times in six Western and Mid- 

 dle States. These addresses were ordinarily 

 given under the auspices of boards of trade, 



chambers of commerce, women's clubs, edu- 

 cational institutions and the like, the audi- 

 ences averaging about 300. In 1908 the 

 Chautauqua field, now so important a 

 medium of popular education in the great 

 Middle West, was entered. Illustrating his 

 subject with lantern slides, the Secretary 

 spoke six times per week in four States — 

 Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri— 

 to a total of sixty-four audiences averag- 

 ing at least 1,000 in number. More than 

 60,000 people were thus reached. A number 

 many times larger was, in addition, reached 

 through the press, in which the lectures 

 were fully and accurately reported. Aside 

 from the Secretary's salary the total ex- 

 pense of this campaign to the Association 

 was $66.92. Opportunity now exists not 

 only to continue this important work before 

 Chautauquas, but to extend it to the Lyceum 

 field. 



The Secretary has also contributed freely 

 to the periodical press, and conducted a 

 large correspondence. 



The movement for the preservation of 

 the forests and related interests in the 

 'Southern Appalachian and White Moun- 

 tains has been pressed with vigor and ag- 

 gressiveness. New England, the South 

 and the West have cooperated as never be- 

 fore. A multitude of associations and in- 

 dividuals have devoted time and effort to 

 create and arouse sentiment, and focus it 

 upon the National Congress. On January 

 30, the day following the last annual meet- 

 ing, a one-day hearing was had before the 

 C'ommittee on Agriculture of the House of 

 Representatives. There were present some 

 200 friends of the measure from 

 twenty states. Among these were many of 

 the most influential representatives of busi- 

 ness and professional, associations and citi- 

 zens' organizations, including a number of 

 governors. The delegations were led by 

 Governors Smith, of Georgia, and Floss, of 

 New Hampshire. The evidence presented 

 was practical, comprehensive and conclusive. 

 Chairman Scott declared that every com- 

 mittee man was impressed with the import- 

 ance of the measure. 



In the House of Representatives the ques- 

 tion of constitutionality of the proposed 

 legislation was raised, with the result that 

 the bill was referred to the Committee on 

 Judiciary of the House. A hearing was 

 had before this Committee on February 27. 



On April 22, the Committee adopted the 

 following resolutions: 



"Resolved. That the Committee is of 

 the opinion that the Federal Government 

 has no power to acquire lands within a 

 State, solely for forest reservation; but 



