STATE FOREST PROBLEMS IN MARYLAND 



By F. \V. BeslEy, State Forester 



QOT many years ago the Federal 

 Government was practically the 

 only agency for organized for- 

 estry work in this country. Since then, 

 however, not less than twenty-seven 

 States have taken up the practice of 

 forestry in a more or less systematic 

 way and are at the present time ex- 

 pending over a million dollars annually 

 in the effort. 



When we recall the many years of 

 hard fighting by a few men whose 

 names are familiar to all of you, that 

 was required to establish a forest policy 

 for the Government upon the millions 

 of acres that the Government owned, 

 it is not surprising that the States have 

 been unseemingly slow in adopting a 

 forest policy which involved lands 

 owned by private individuals who have 

 little or no interest in this general 

 ])roblem of forest conservation. Here- 

 in lies one of the chief difficulties and 

 accounts in a large measure for the 

 slow development of forestry in the 

 states. Few states have large holdings 

 of forest land upon which they are 

 free to practice forestry without re- 

 striction. Practically all of the land is 

 held by private individuals who can 

 only be appealed to by showing them 

 that the practice of conservative fores- 

 try will pay and in face of the fire risk, 

 the low value of stumpage, the hap- 

 hazard system of taxation, and lack 

 of reliable data as to what may be 

 financially expected, this is difficult to 

 figure out to the satisfaction of the 

 landowner. At the same time the land- 

 owner will continue to hold his land 

 in timl:)er growth, and is generally will- 

 ing to adopt means for greater protec- 

 tion and measures to improve growth 

 conditions when such improvement 

 does not involve much of an outlay. 

 This opens up a wide field of useful- 

 ness which the state can, and does, 

 supply and which means real progress 

 even though it be far from the ideal 

 we hope to attain eventually. 



Organized forest work began in 

 Maryland in 1900 through the activities 



446 



of a few people, who succeeded in se- 

 curing the necessary legislation to es- 

 tablish it, and did not come because 

 there was a demand for it on the part 

 of the people at large. It started in an 

 inconspicuous way, with a small ap- 

 propriation, too small in fact to attract 

 the notice of the politicians. Like many 

 other states the promoters of the for- 

 est movement in Maryland had the co- 

 operation of the United States Forest 

 Service which offered a model law, 

 that, with a number of modifications 

 to suit the circumstances, was adopted. 

 One of the good features of the law 

 was the provision reltaing to a non- 

 partisan State Board of Forestry, con- 

 sisting of the Governor, the Comp- 

 troller, the president of the Johns Hop- 

 kins University, the president of the 

 State Agricultural College and two ap- 

 pointees of the Governor, one of whom 

 shall be a citizen of the State interested 

 in the advancement of forestry and the 

 other a practical lumberman, engaged 

 in the manufacture of lumber within 

 the state. Notwithstanding the fact 

 that Maryland has the reputation of 

 great political activity within her state 

 Ijoards, the Board of Forestry has been 

 entirely free from it, and ever since 

 the work was organized there has been 

 absolutely no political interference and 

 it is not believed that with an ex-officio 

 board of this character, such a thing is 

 j)robable. The forest law has been 

 amended in two or three particulars, 

 but in the main it stands to-day as 

 representing nearly everything that is 

 needed from the standpoint of legisla- 

 tion, and its successful working has 

 prompted other states to adopt many 

 of its provisions. Forestry in Mary- 

 land has a promising field and while 

 progress has been slow, a substantial 

 foundation has been laid which will 

 enable the state to proceed in the de- 

 velopment of a forest policy along con- 

 structive lines. The first appropriation 

 was $7,000 for the two years 1907- 

 190S; $8,000 for the two following 

 vears ; $9,000 for the next two vears 



