1908 



ANNUAL REPORT OF DIRECTORS 



161 



Enos A. Mills has brought forestry 

 truth and inspiration to thousands. In 

 Portland, Oregon, an evening school 

 of practical forestry has been con- 

 ducted under the auspices of the 

 Young Men's Christian Association, 

 and is now regarded as a permanent 

 institution ; while the press, that 

 mightiest of educational factors, may 

 now be regarded as practically a unit 

 in favor of forestry. 



Outside the areas of State and Na- 

 tional control, forest fires have again 

 raged, much as in the past. Among 

 those recorded in Forestry and Irri- 

 gation may be mentioned one at Cape 

 May, N. J., covering fifty acres ; one 

 at Bellingham, Wash., calling out 500 

 men for its extinguishment ; one at 

 Amagansett, L. L, destroying a half 

 million dollars' worth of timber ; one 

 at Strawn, Tex., which ran over 

 three square miles ; one in Venango 

 County, Pa., covering over ten square 

 miles, and destroying $75,000 worth 

 of timber; one near Plymouth, Mass., 

 burning over from 5,000 to 6,000 

 acres, and destroying old and fine es- 

 tates, including historical landmarks 

 antedating the Revolution ; one at 

 Visalia, Cal., devastating 75 square 

 miles; one at San Raphael, Cal., burn- 

 ing over 1,000 acres; and, finally, fires 

 in the White Mountains which, fol- 

 lowing in the wake of the lumberman, 

 have scoured 35,000 acres. Mt. Bond 

 has been swept clean, the easterly 

 slope of Mt. Garfield burned over, 

 the southerly slope of Mt. Guyot was 

 seriously damaged, and Mt. Lafayette 

 was also affected. In States maintain- 

 ing fire warden systems, however, the 

 ravages of fire are materially dimin- 

 ished, while in the National Forests 

 the fire damage has been reduced to 

 $26,000 — a negligible quantity. 



The question of forest taxation is 

 more and more coming to the front, 

 and increasing numbers are realizing 

 the unwisdom of taxing growing for- 

 ests out of existence. Connecticut, 

 New Hampshire, Colorado, Indiana, 

 Maine, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin 

 have enacted laws reducing or ex- 



empting from taxation to encourage 

 the growing of forests. In Iowa, for- 

 est reservations (in private owner- 

 ship) are assessed for taxation at one 

 dollar an acre. The disposition is 

 growing to tax not the growing tim- 

 ber, but only the land upon which it 

 grows, taxing, finally, the timber 

 when it is cut. Some State consti- 

 tutions expressly exempt growing- 

 crops. By treating forests as grow- 

 ing crops they may be permitted this 

 exemption. 



Notable addresses on the taxation 

 question were made at the Saginaw 

 meeting, above mentioned. 



The Appalachian bill, unanimously 

 passed by the Senate, unanimously rec- 

 ommended for passage by the House 

 Committee on Agriculture, and 

 strongly urged by the President, failed 

 again to reach a vote in the House. 

 The brevity of the last session and the 

 lack of an adequate survey of the 

 areas proposed to be purchased were 

 urged as reasons. We are now in the 

 midst of the long session ; a complete 

 survey has been made and the report 

 of the Secretary of Agriculture, ac- 

 companied by maps, is before Con- 

 gress. Within the last twelve months 

 the tide of Appalachian sentiment has 

 mightily risen. A flood of articles, ed- 

 itorials, resolutions and petitions de- 

 manding this measure has been poured 

 forth. The time at last has come 

 when this legislation should, without 

 fail, be written upon our National 

 statutes. 



A final word. Viewed from one 

 standpoint, the progress made within 

 the last year is most encouraging. 

 Viewed from another, however, the 

 situation is serious. Four-fifths of the 

 forests of the United States still re- 

 main in private hands or are likely to 

 pass into private hands. Experience 

 infallibly teaches that forests thus 

 owned and controlled are, in the ma- 

 jority of instances, in danger of de- 

 struction. The work of destruction is 

 now in progress. While we wait, our 

 resources are disappearing, many of 

 them never to be restored. If these 



