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The Fifth Conservation Congress 



The fifth annual meeting of the National Conservation Conj;ress, 

 which met in Washington, U. C, Nov. 18, considered numerous topics, 

 but the subject of chief interest to lumbermen and workers in wood 

 was covered by the reports of ten subcommittees appointed by the 

 general forestry committee. The reports were made to tlic congress 

 and called forth discussion during several hours. 



The publicity committee, of which E. T. Allen of Portland, Ore., 

 ■was chairman, suggested that the various forestry associations and 

 Tvorkers should take measures to acquaint the public with what is 

 being done, because (he success of all great movements depends on 

 popular approval. The i)ublic is interested, and it may lie counted 

 on to back \ip a cause that is on the right track. 



The committee on state forest policies in its report outlined the 

 general features of laws which should be in force. The state forest 

 service should be free from politics, and the spoils system should 

 have no room in it. Workers who prove themselves efficient ought 

 to hold their places without annoyance from job hunters. Civil service 

 regulations should be in force. The forestry work ought not be under 

 the control of boards or commissions composed of men who are not 

 acquainted with the work, otherwise the real workers are liable to 

 be hampered instead of helped, l^y meddlesome interference. William 

 T. Cox of Minnesota was chairman of this committee. 



The report on lumbering was presented by R. C. Bryant, chairman 

 of the committee. The purposes of the report were to furnish a 

 basis on which to calculate cost and stumpage values; explain how 

 scientific management can be employed in lumber operations; recom- 

 mend standard values for log and lumber measurements; and set 

 forth the advantages of forest engineering. 



The committee was unable to submit a report satisfactory to itself 

 because the time had been too short and the means inadequate to 

 collect data on which to base the report. Less than five per cent of 

 the lumbermen replied to the request sent them for information, and 

 the committee had no appropriation to pay for field work. For these 

 reasons the report was chiefly suggestive, and indicated lines along 

 which it may be profitable to conduct future work. It was pointed 

 out that though lumbering is one of the oldest American industries, 

 it is still undergoing rapid change in methods. 



The committee on forest utilization answered critics who are accus- 

 tomed to blame lumbermen for waste in woods. It was declared that 

 a market for forest products equal to that in Germany would result 

 in as close timber utilization in the United States as exists in Ger- 

 many. Five principal conditions make for closer utilization, and these 

 are: Ready markets, cheap transportation, good timber, efficient 

 management, and proper equipment. Of these the lumberman can 

 control only the last two. Nothing can be saved unless there is a 

 market for it, and the difference between no waste and large waste 

 is the difference between being near and far from market. Trans- 

 portation charges enter into a decision as to whether the mill should 

 be near the timber or near the market, and often determine whether 

 material will be utilized or thrown away. 



The ever-recurrent problem came up again in the convention: What 

 shall be done with the cutover land? A report by the committee 

 on forest planting, of which Earle H. Clapp is chairman, brought the 

 matter before the convention. According to that report at least 

 $65,000,000 are lost annually because denuded forest lands remain 

 unproductive. The problem of reforestation should be met squarely 

 by entering upon a comprehensive plan covering at least a fifty-year 

 period. Such a plan should include federal and state activity, federal 

 aid for states, and state aid for counties, cities, and towns, and the 

 encouragement of private planting. At the same time forest planting 

 is not usually attractive as an investment to the small private owner. 

 Therefore, the long-time nature of the investment makes planting 

 most fer^sible for federal, state, or more local governments, or for 

 long-lived corporations. There are, however, many examples of 

 successful plantings though the area planted each year is very small 

 in contrast to the millions of acres which require reforestation. It 

 is particularly pointed out in the report that one of the first require- 



ments is to make sucli ]jlauting investments safe from loss, especially 

 from fire. Organized fire prevention and control have minimized 

 losses from this source. Adequate fire protection is bound to come 

 if extensive planting is undertaken, because the investment will 

 require such protection. 



There was a report on the fire situation by a conmiittee of which 

 C. .S. Chapman of Oregon was chairman. While forest fires in the 

 United States have taken a yearly toll of seventy lives and $2.^,- 

 000,000 in property, the greatest advance in forest work in this 

 country has been along the lines of fire prevention. "There are now 

 ten patrolmen," continues the report, "where there was only one 

 five years ago. During the past five years there has been an increase 

 of over .3,000 per cent in the area of private land jiatrolled against 

 fire. ' ' 



The committee specially condemns the so-called "light-burning" 

 theory advocated by certain timber owners in California saying that 

 it is not only unpractical from a financial standpoint, but causes 

 destruction of young timlier and makes for carelessness with fire on , 

 the part of the public. 



The subject of forest taxation is an ever fruitfid field for discus- 

 sion in conservation congresses and meetings of like kind. It was 

 brought up by the report of the committee which had that subject 

 in hand. The systems of forest taxation in this country are not 

 uniform, but they are generally wrong, according to the findings 

 of the committee. Present methods tend toward forest destruction 

 rather than perpetuation; tout the ideal system would stimulate the 

 owner and the community to bring about the greatest production, 

 best protection, and fullest utilization. Such a policy tends toward 

 the principle of a tax on yield. 



The report of the committee on forestry took a stand in favor of 

 more practical training of foresters, or rather more foresters with 

 practical training, and fewer with only theoretical training. "Too 

 many schools are turning out professional foresters and not enough 

 are teaching forestry to the layman, ' ' was the way the committee 

 stated the case, and added: "It is much as if with too many med- 

 ical schools there were not enough schools teaching hygiene and sani- 

 tation. The great need at the present time is better facilities for 

 secondary forestry education, an education which wUl ultimately 

 reach every man who has to do with the growing of timber or its 

 harvest. Conti'asted with the overcrowded field of technical education 

 of the highest order, the field of secondary education is almost unlim- 

 ited, and in comparison with large interests involved, almost un- 

 touched." 



U. S. Forester Graves, in his address, laid special emphasis on the 

 fact that forestry in its larger aspect is a problem for the government 

 rather than for the individual. It should be taken up by federal, 

 state, and municipal governments. 



Underlying the forestry problem are two fundamental considera- 

 tions which should be emphasized and reiterated untU thoroughly 

 driven home. One is its public character. The public has a peculiar 

 interest in the benefits of forestry. Both in the matter of a con- 

 tinued supply of forest products and in that of the conservation of 

 water resources the public welfare is at stake. In each ease purposes 

 vital to the prosperity of the country can be accomplished only with 

 the direct participation of the public. Private owners will secure 

 results only on a limited scale in the long run on their own initiative. 

 It takes too long, from fifty to two hundred years, to grow a crop of 

 timtier trees. Most private owners in face of fire risk, bad tax laws, 

 and uncertain future markets will not make the necessary invest- 

 ments. 



Mr. Graves quoted Secretary of Agriculture Houston's instructions 

 which set forth his forest policy, as follows: 



"Establish permanent boundaries. Classify your lands; segregate 

 the agricultural land and fix right limits for what is needed as pro- 

 tective and productive forests. Develop permanent policies based on 

 full recognition of lasting public interests, and settled forestry prac- 

 tice fitted to the individual needs of each forest and locality. Study 



