108 Alaskan Science Conference 



directly to the withholding of governmental encouragement- 

 including funds— for substantial, comprehensive research on 

 Alaskan botany, in spite of its extremely practical importance 

 at the moment. This Conference, for the first time, gives us 

 hope that this situation may be corrected, through the educa- 

 tional effect of the recommendations and resolutions drafted 

 by the members of this section, who represent the botanists 

 most active in Alaskan research. 



All of us here should feel ourselves obligated to strive for the 

 coordination of researches not only within the field of Alaskan 

 botany but between this and other fields. In my opinion, this 

 desirable objective may be attained only through free inter- 

 change of ideas at regular and not too infrequent intervals. 

 The establishment of research and information centers in 

 Alaska and the United States would greatly further the integra- 

 tion of research, on a year-around basis. I have already ex- 

 pressed a pious hope that further Alaskan science conferences 

 be held. Such conferences might conceivably develop into a 

 self-propagating organization or society of real importance and 

 influence. Under any circumstance, my final suggestion for a 

 successful approach to the problem of integration and coordi- 

 nation of research in Alaska— perhaps conditioned by my long 

 experience in editorial work— would be the establishment of a 

 journal dedicated exculsively to the scientific problems of 

 Alaska. Such a journal would not, of course, pretend to pub- 

 lish all original papers based on Alaskan research but would 

 render its greatest service through the publication of reviews, 

 abstracts, bibliographies, outlines of research projects, and a 

 complete coverage, in the news sense, of all scientific activities 

 concerning Alaska. 



REFERENCES 



1. Anderson, J. P. Flora of Alaska and adjacent parts of Canada. 



Iowa State Coll. Journ. Sci., 18-21; 23-24. 1943-50. 



2. Bartram, E. B. Mosses of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Bot. 



Not. 1938: 244-256. 1939. 



3. Baxter, D. V. Occurrence of fungi in the major forest types of 



Alaska. Papers Mich. Acad. 5/: 93-115. 1948. 



