458 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



EARLY next year, nearly all in 

 January, the legislatures of 

 many States meet. If the 

 American Forestry Association 

 succeeds in its efforts, and there is every 

 likelihood that it will, the legislatures 

 in thirteen States, twelve meeting in 

 January next and one in April next, 

 will be asked to consider forestry laws 

 providing for a State forestry admin- 

 instration, which they now lack. 



In some of these States there is little 

 forest growth but in several the forest 

 products form a very considerable por- 

 tion of the States' wealth and forest 

 departments are vitally necessary. 



The American Forestry Association 

 is now proceeding with the campaign 



for arousing interest in forestry laws 

 in these States and in showing the peo- 

 ple just why they and the State will be 

 benefited by the passage of such laws. 

 If the people are interested the mem- 

 bers of the legislatures have to be, and 

 if the people demand forestry laws the 

 legislators have to give such proposed 

 laws their careful consideration. 



In four States — Delaware, Louisiana, 

 Tennessee and Alabama — there are 

 workable forest laws, but no appropria- 

 tions for making these laws effective. 

 The duty of the American Forestry 

 Association in these States is plain, and 

 the Association will continue urging 

 the legislators to provide proper appro- 

 priations until they do so. 



T 



HE annual report of the Forest 

 Branch, Department of Lands, 

 British Columbia, for 1913, pre- 

 pared by H. R. MacMillan, 

 gives in a very brief summarized form 

 a glimpse of the enormous progress 

 being made in this province in forest 

 organization. Upon the solid founda- 

 tion of retention of ownership of all 

 timber lands bearing stands over a cer- 

 tain minimum per acre, which has 

 always been the policy of Canadian 

 provinces, MacMillan has systematized 

 the business of administering these re- 

 sources according to the best modern 

 office methods, eliminating delays and 

 effecting great economies. The most 

 revolutionary change effected was the 

 organization of eleven forest districts, 

 whose district foresters assumed the 

 immediate charge of all lines of field 

 work in their respective districts, in- 

 stead of having a number of separate 

 bureaus all operating from one central 

 office. The main lines of work have 

 been supervision of cutting and scaling 

 and collection of royalties on timber 

 leases, classification of lands, and pro- 

 tection from fire, with the construction 

 of permanent improvements which this 

 necessitates. The income from all 

 sources for the province, collected by 

 this department, amounted in 1913 to 



$2,832,788, on a total expenditure of 

 $245,754. 



The effectiveness of this new field 

 organization is manifesting itself in fire 

 protection. The methods found so ef- 

 fectual in the Northwestern States are 

 already well advanced in British Co- 

 lumbia. Last year 11,255 permits were 

 issued for slash and brush burning, 

 and but 17 fires escaped control. The 

 department has assumed complete con- 

 trol of fire patrol along lines of rail- 

 way construction, the expense being 

 borne by the railroads. Slash burning 

 after lumbering is not compulsory, but 

 the clearing of fire lines is made so, and 

 loggers prefer to burn all the slash 

 rather than build fire lines. 



The province shows the same far- 

 sighted policy in land classification for 

 agricultural use as marks the entire 

 land policy of Canada. Touching this 

 policy, the report states : "The policy 

 of land classification is a most impor- 

 tant part of land settlement. It pro- 

 tects a permanent source of revenue for 

 the province by ensuring that no bodies 

 of merchantable timber will be acquired 

 except by public sale at a price which 

 guards the public interest, and at the 

 same time it protects the uninformed 

 bona fide settler by preventing him from 

 locating in some timbered non-agricul- 



