The Association's New President 



Charles Latliro[> Pack. Purcstcr, Coiiscnvtioiiist and Financier, Elected President of the American Forestry 



Association 



MR. CHARLES LATHROP PACK, of Lakewood, 

 N. ]., was elected president of the American 

 Forestry Association at the thirty-fifth annual 

 meeting, held in Boston, ;\Iass., on January 17 and IS, 

 and accepted in a happy inspiring address, which was 

 received with applause and followed by proffers by the 

 members of hearty co-operation in the work which he has 

 undertaken. 



Few men possess the qualifications that will be brought 

 to the office by Mr. Pack. His training has been broad 

 and comprehensive and his ability as an executive is 

 widely recognized. In the various fields of forestry, 

 finance, and the details of general business organization, 

 the new president has qualified as a specialist. His 

 administration will be well rounded for the simple reason 

 that he will see every part in its relation to the whole. 

 On his work he will bring to bear a mind quick to grasp 

 probems as they may arise and a keen sense of propor- 

 tions that will enable him to achieve ready appraisal of 

 relative values. To these are added a vast capacity for 

 work, a determination that overcomes difficulties and the 

 ability to command tireless cooperation from those with 

 whom he may be associated. Thus equipped, he enters 

 office with broad achievement assured. 



In matters pertaining to forestry Mr. Pack is a figure 

 of national prominence. His interest dates back to the 

 time when the scientific forester was unknown in this 

 country. It was as long ago as 1878 that he made his 

 beginning as a specialist along this line. His e.xperience 

 and training before that time had made him familiar 

 with trees as such, and with forests as a basis for lum- 

 bering operations. In his boyhood he had spent much of 

 his time in the white-pine forests of Northen Michigan, 

 and in the woods along the Spanish River in Canada. As 

 early as 1874, 1875 and 1876. he lived in the woods with 

 Tom Smith, a veteran of the forests, under whom he 

 received his first instructions in estimating timber. One 

 of the most vivid memories of these days has to do with 

 the keenness and accuracy of Smith's judgment as to 

 quantity and quality of standing timber, and Mr. Pack 

 has always considered himself fortunate in having had 

 this expert as his first instructor. 



The year 1878 found Mr. Pack in the forests of North- 

 ern Bohemia and in the Black Forest. It was his good 

 fortune to have a letter of introduction to Herr Katz, 

 who lived at Gernsbach, Baden. Herr Katz invited him 

 to remain for some time at Gernsbach, and extended 

 many social courtesies, as well as giving him unlimited 

 professional opportunities as a student. It was here 

 that Mr. Pack had his first real vision of conservation, 

 a vision that was destined to have an important influence 



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on his after years. He says himself that theretofore he 

 he looked upon the trees of the forest simply from the 

 standpoint of their potential value in money. Now he 

 began to see their value as a permanent national resource. 



During his period of European study he formed the 

 acquaintance of the forester of Karlsbad and spent the 

 larger part of the summer with him in the forest property 

 belonging to the city of Karlsbad and in visiting other 

 similar properties. 



In 1882 Mr. Pack spent a good deal of time in the 

 forests of the Southern States, particularly in Mississippi 

 and Louisiana. It was in December, 1882, that he first 

 discovered that the long-leaf pine is only slightly injured 

 by forest fires. As an experiment he set fire to the forest 

 floor in several localities and watched the result. He had 

 been accustomed to see white pine seriously injured and 

 even killed by small fires, and his enthusiasm was intense 

 when he found that the large, long-leaf pine remained 

 almost uninjured after a hot fire. This discovery had 

 an important bearing on Mr. Pack's career. When he 

 had convinced himself that the financial risk from loss 

 by fire was relatively slight, he realized that the ownership 

 of long-leaf timber could not fail to be profitable. Thus 

 entrenched, he was able to induce a number of men to 

 make investments in Southern timber. His efforts played 

 an important part in the development of the Southern 

 territory. 



It was in 1883 that Mr. Pack received what is believed 

 to have been the first large fee ever paid in this country 

 for the technical services of a forester. The fee was paid 

 by Jay Gould, then a conspicuous figure in the railroad 

 and financial world. Mr. Gould was considering the 

 purchase of a large area of land from some land-grant 

 railroads and required technical advice. At that time 

 the forestry expert or engineer was unheard of in the 

 United States. At the request of Mr. Gould, Mr. Pack 

 gave the information and opinions that were needed, and 

 he takes a pride in the recollection of the check for 

 $1,000 sent him by Mr. Gould for his services. 



Mr. Pack was an early advocate of perpetuating the 

 forest resources of the nation. He was one of the first 

 in the country to maintain that a forest should be regarded 

 as a crop, that the ripe timber should be harvested, and 

 that it was the young trees that demanded protection and 

 encouragement. His early views on this question are 

 now universally accepted and have played an important 

 part in the National Conservation movement in which 

 Mr. Pack has been one of the recognized leaders. 



The American Forestry Association has reason to feel 

 an especial debt to Mr. Pack for his achievement in the 

 interests of forestry during his term as president of the 



