PHILIPPINE FORESTRY 



539 



Rollins, Robert E. Faulkner, Winston 

 Churchill. 



Resolutions were adopted authorizing 

 the executive officers to accept gifts of 

 forest lands to the society, if provision 

 be made for the attendant expenses ; pro- 

 viding for a committee of two to con- 

 sult with railroad officials concerning 

 methods of avoiding forest fires ; ex- 

 pressing the thanks of the society to 

 the New Hampshire delegation in Con- 

 gress for their efforts in behalf of the 

 Weeks bill and expressing hopes for its 

 success ; requesting President Taft to 

 urge upon Congress early action upon 

 the W^eks bill ; authorizing a commit- 

 tee of three to meet individuals and rep- 

 resentatives of corporations to plan bet- 

 ter cooperation in forestry matters. 



This was the first meeting of the so- 

 ciety since its incorporation, which is 

 in itself an act of some significance, since 

 the society was incorporated to enable, 

 it to become the custodian of forest 

 lands. Residents of the Lake Sunapee 

 country have been exerting themselves 

 to prevent the stripping of a tract of 

 several hundred acres on Sunapee 

 Mountain. Their efforts are about to 

 be crowned with success, and the land 

 when acquired will be placed in the 

 hands of the Society for the Protection 

 of New Hampshire Forests. Thus the 

 work of the society will acquire a new 

 value, and it will have an opportunity to 

 put into practice the principles it has 

 advocated. 



THE PHILIPPINE BUREAU OF FORESTRY 



AND ITS WORK 



Prepared under the Direction of George P, Ahern, Director of Forestry, by 

 W, D. Sterrett, Forester, Bureau of Forestry 



[In the February and March numbers of American Forestry, Barrington Moore dis- 

 cussed the conditions and problems of forestry in the Philippines. The present article, 

 prepared several months ago for this magazine, is a statement of conditions from the men 

 who are facing these problems.] 



PURPOSES FOR WHICH CREATED, 

 AND POWERS 



THE Bureau of Forestry is in- 

 trusted with the control and man- 

 agement of all public forest land, 

 and no public land of any kind can 

 pass into private hands without the 

 sanction of this bureau. The follow- 

 ing sections of "The Forest Act" of 

 May 7, 1904, will serve to show in a 

 general way the purposes for which the 

 Bureau of Forestry was established, and 

 its powers : 



"Sec. 2. The public forests and forest 

 reserves of the Philippine Islands shall 

 be held and administered for the pro- 



tection of the public interests, the utility 

 and safety of the forests and the per- 

 petuation thereof in productive condi- 

 tion by wise use ; and it is the purpose 

 of this act to provide for the same. 



"Sec. 3. The public forests shall in- 

 clude all unreserved public lands cov- 

 ered with trees of whatever age. 



"Sec. 4. Upon the recommendation 

 of the Chief of the Bureau of For- 

 estry, with the approval of the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior, the civil governor 

 may set apart forest reserves from the 

 public lands, and he shall by proclama- 

 tion declare the establishment of such 

 reserves and the boundaries thereof. 



