THE FORESTS OF LOUISIANA 



19 



Woodmen are cutting down our val- 

 uable forests, and then cutting them up 

 and the cry now is beginning to be, 

 "Woodman, spare that tree." It has 

 been a hard matter to get the people of 

 the state interested in the subject of 

 reforestation, and it is only at meetings 

 of this kind that we can awaken the 

 interest of the lumber people and get 

 them to thinking of the conservation of 

 our forests. Our state in this respect 

 is behind the others, but within the last 

 vear we are beginning to interest our 

 legislators and through their means, at 

 the last session of the legislature, we 

 got a bill through establishing a chair 

 of forestry at the Louisiana State Uni- 

 versity, located at Raton Rouge, and 

 there is now a feeling that we should 

 cooperate with the National Govern- 

 ment and do something to assist in re- 

 foresting the denuded pine, cypress, and 

 hardwood lands of the state. 



Governor Sanders has appointed a 

 state conservation commission of Louis- 

 iana, of which he has made Hon. Henry 

 E. Hardtner, one of the prominent lum- 

 bermen of north Louisiana, the presi- 

 dent ; our honored young friend. Hon. 

 Harry P. Gamble, a prominent attorney 

 of Winn Parish, the secretary ; and 

 Hon. Robert Roberts, Jr., of Minden, 

 treasurer. These three officers have 

 taken a great deal of interest in or- 



ganizing conservation societies in dif- 

 ferent parts of the state. We have 

 several prominent women in north 

 Louisiana, and no movement for up- 

 building the state achieves success with- 

 out the help of the women, among 

 whom I might mention Mrs. J. D. Wil- 

 kinson and Mrs. A. B. Avery, who 

 have been instrumental in organizing a 

 great many of these conservation socie- 

 ties in different parts of the state. 



On account of her numerous inland 

 bayous and lakes which form almost a 

 complete chain of waterways through- 

 out the length and breadth of the entire 

 state, it will be of incalculable value in 

 assisting the great purpose of conserva- 

 tion, if our National Government will 

 assist us in opening up the inland 

 streams for navigation. The state, 

 through the governor and the commis- 

 sioner of forestry, has just entered into 

 an agreement with the LTnited States 

 Forest Service to have one of its men 

 come down and make an expert report 

 on the forests of this state, which will 

 be submitted to the next session of the 

 legislature. The National Government 

 has been doing this in most of the south- 

 ern states, and it has given a great deal 

 of assistance to the people at large for 

 the valuable information contained 

 therein about the timber interests of 

 each state. 



