STATE FORESTRY CONVENTION. 207 



basis of a rational system of forest management, just such as we attempt to 

 introduce into agriculture ; fourthly, legislation may go so far as to recognize 

 a temporary need of directly encouraging a private activity in planting and 

 caring for forest property by means of temporary financial assistance or other 

 aids, reduction of taxes, etc. 



He advocated provision for an energetic forest commissioner, charged with 

 the forestry interests of the State in all their bearings, who would procure 

 and digest for you the statistics, who shuuld interest himself in seeing fire 

 and forestry laws executed, who should furnish such information as is needed 

 by forest planters, legislators, manufacturers, etc. 



Last year 110,000,000 worth of property was destroyed by forest fires in 

 Michigan. The State can well afford to spend at least the interest on this 

 annual destruction of property in an attempt to curtail and control it. 



"With regard to encouragement of forest preservation and planting, Mr. 

 Fernow said : 



"A State law which will encourage the holding of forest areas by town- 

 ships or counties, and their administration under direction of the forestry 

 commission or commissioners, is highly desirable. There is no reason why a 

 township or county should not own and manage a forest, when it is in the 

 interest of the commuity to so own forest property, just as they own and 

 build roads, bridges and schoolhouses, or as a city owns its municipal build- 

 ings and other property. The community is not only richer than the private 

 man, but it is longer-lived, and can more conveniently wait for returns. Let, 

 then, where public interest should demand afforestation, the community 

 step in and plant the forest, charging the outlay in the form of a lien or 

 mortgage upon the growing forest, with all the rights and liabilities that 

 usually pertain to such investments, except that the interest may accumulate 

 until the crop is ripe and ready to be marketed, when the loan with accumu- 

 lated interest, must first be repaid before the owner reaps any benefit. Any 

 such forest planting, now begun, will at the time when the crop becomes 

 useful prove such a satisfactory investment that no further encouragement 

 for careful forest management will be required by the harvester." 



Dr. W. J. Beal quoted losses by forest fires from the last census as follows : 

 /, 



Acres Burned. Prop. Destroyed. 



California-. 356,^00 $440,000 



Colorado. 113,800 935,500 



Michigan... 238,000 985,980 



Minnesota 250.000 1,398,000 



Montana 88,00 1,128,000 



Pennsylvania 685,700 3,643,000 



Tennessee 985,000 5,253,900 



Wyoming 83,000 3,255,000 



The loss by fire in the United States is about one-twelfth the value of fuel 

 consumed, and one-seventh the value of timber cut for lumber, ties, posts 

 and bridges. But the greatest loss is in the destruction of young growing 

 trees, seeds, etc., which are ready to do the most of reforesting when the 

 mature timber is removed. 



In a general discussion upon forest fires, it was generally conceded that the 

 State should take hold of the matter, and from the experience of older States 

 which had enacted laws, draw up a plan that will at least mitigate the pres- 

 ent enormous destruction of property from this cause. 



Mr. Fernow advised in general the adoption of a combination of the Penn- 



