Effects ol a Forest Fire (page b) 



are allowed to run without hiiulrance 

 there will he no ^•ou^i^■ trees coming on 

 to take the place of the older ones when 

 they are cut. State legislation must pro- 

 vide right hre laws and adequate means 

 for their enfurcement. h'orest taxation 

 should be so laid that its burdens do 

 not fall unjustly upon timber. This, 

 again, is a matter for state legislatitjn. 

 The states also have a dut\- which they 

 cannot escape in the management of 

 cut-over lands, which, where not suit- 

 able for farming, often are utterly un- 

 protected and revert to the state for de- 

 lin(|uent taxes. Such tracts should be 

 made into ^tate forest reserves, and 

 other tracts of a similar character 

 which can be ])urchased at nominal 

 ])rices should be added to them. Prop- 

 erly cared for, they will l:)ecome an im- 

 portant source of future timber supply. 

 Along these three lines of fire protec- 

 tion, of right taxation, and of state 

 forests, the states have duties which 

 must he performed if the forest re- 

 sources of the South are to be perpetu- 

 ated. Needless to say, state action on 

 these subjects should be as nearly nni- 



10 



form as ditterences in local conditions 

 wil permit. 



Individual forest owners, and es- 

 pecially the owners of the larger tracts, 

 also have duties which they cannot es- 

 ca]je. Th.e forests which they hold are 

 not merely pieces of ]^rivate property. 

 TlK"^■ are a ])nblic trust, upon whose 

 right admini^tration the welfare of 

 manv de])eiids. L'nless the owners 

 realize this, unless they do then- ut- 

 most to conserve their forests while 

 using them, pul)lic sentiment is likely 

 to force the state governments to exer- 

 cise ]3owers of control which the states 

 undoubtedly have, though these ])0wers 

 have so far lain dormant. 



And, lastly, the Federal Govennnent, 

 too, has a (lnt\' in the maintenance of 

 the southern forests. .More than 150,- 

 000,000 acres of i)ublic forest land in 

 the Western States, essential for the 

 protection of watersheds and of non- 

 agricultural value, have l)een proclaim- 

 ed National Forests, have been made 

 a source of permanent timber supply. 

 and a permanent conserver of water 

 necessary for irrigation and power. Ni^t 



