EDITORIAL 



The Magazine's Owners 



WHO are the owners of this maga- 

 zine? That is a question easily 

 answered — the members of The Amer- 

 ican Forestry Association. They are 

 the ones who, absokitely and without 

 question, own the magazine. Of the 

 whole body of owners, however, only a 

 portion exercise the right that is theirs 

 — the right to make suggestions and 

 the right to see that these suggestions 

 are carried to execution. In the case 

 of any publication it is the same ; the 

 editor, or those in charge of the pro- 

 duction of the publication, can only 

 know the wishes of the owners when 

 those wishes find expression. If a cer- 

 tain portion of the readers of a publica- 

 tion take the trouble to write to the 

 editor, telling of their appreciation and 

 approval, while another portion fails to 

 say anything whatever, either in ap- 

 proval or disapproval, it is fair for the 

 editor to conclude that he is, at least 

 in great measure, producing the sort 

 of publication his readers wish — there 

 is nothing else for him to conclude, as 

 there is no other ground upon which 

 to base conclusions than the expres- 

 sions received from readers in the edi- 

 torial correspondence. 



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Members Should Help 



IT IS the duty of every member of 

 The American Forestry Association 

 to take an active interest in the affairs 

 of the Association and in the conduct 

 of the magazine. Members should bear 

 in mind the fact that it is not for the 

 fees they pay that they are valuable to 

 the Association and to the conservation 

 movement generally. The membership 

 fees are the very smallest part of the 

 value of a connection with the Associa- 



tion ; it is the active, helpful coopera- 

 tion of interested members that makes 

 the Association a power, and that en- 

 ables it to do whatever of good it does 

 and has done. No organization can be 

 truly influential or really worthy of 

 continued confidence if its membership 

 is not actively interested in the objects 

 for which it stands — interested to the 

 point of taking an active part in shap- 

 ing its policy, suggesting improvements 

 in its methods, and working earnestly 

 for its success. Will all our members 

 take this to heart, and will they act on 

 the suggestions contained herein ? 



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The President's Message 



' I 'HE special message of President 

 ■*■ Roosevelt, embodying the report 

 of the National Conservation Commis- 

 sion, has been sent to Congress, and the 

 country knows the approximate con- 

 dition of our natural resources — knows 

 the wasteful extravagance, the criminal 

 carelessness, that has characterized our 

 exploitation of timber, mineral, water 

 and land resources. The meat of this 

 message was given in the report of the 

 Joint Conservation Conference, printed 

 in the January issue of Conservation; 

 the report of the Section of Waters, 

 crowded out of our January issue, be- 

 ing published in this number of the 

 magazine. These reports, and the 

 message of the President, based upon 

 them, constitute the gravest indictment 

 that has ever been returned against a 

 civilized people. We have ravaged our 

 forests as a horde of devastating sav- 

 ages never would have done ; we have 

 given away, and have permitted to be 

 stolen, hundreds of thousands of acres 

 of forest lands that have now passed 

 forever beyond the control of the Gov- 

 ernment, away from the public, and 



