IO 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Michigan Forestry Association. 



At (.rand Rapids, Mich., August 29 and 

 30, the Michigan Forestry Association was or- 

 ganized. The officers chosen were as follows: 

 John H. Bissell, Detroit, president; Thornton 

 A. Green, Ontonagon, vice president; T. M. 

 Sawyer, Ludiugton, secretary, and John J. 

 Hubbell, Manistee, treasurer. The Board of 

 Directors for one year includes: Mrs. Louisa 

 A. King. Alma; Hon. C.J. Monroe, South 

 Haven; Dr. L. L. Hubbard, Houghton; Wal- 

 ter C. Winchester, Grand Rapids; H. X. 

 Loud. An Sable; Hon. Geo. B. Horton, Fruit 

 Ridgo. With the election of these able offi- 

 Luid directors, the Michigan Forestry 

 Association becomes a fact and not a theory. 



Probably no movement in the .state has 

 brought out a more generous response than 

 ihis project. Arthur Hill, a member of the 

 commission, has visited Europe for the pur- 

 of studying forestry conditions there, 

 and rei to use any of the state appro- 



"Next to the earth itself, the forest is the 

 most useful servant of man." — Pinchot. 



On the back of the program appeared the 

 following paragraphs, giving the facts con- 

 cerning Michigan *s denuded lands and stat- 

 iug the plans and purposes of this much- 

 needed association: 



The original forest of Michigan was among 

 the finest in the world. It suggested the 

 motto upon our shield. 



Part of this destruction was necessary in 

 the interest of settlement. Much of it was 

 inexcusable waste, for scarcely one-half the 

 state is settled and a scant one-third of the 

 land is improved. 



About one-third of the state is cut and 

 burned over — an unproductive waste area. 

 Every acre of this might and should bear a 

 forest cover, growing a dollar's worth of tim- 

 ber every year. 



More than six million acres of this area Is 

 stale tax title lands. 



This enormous loss appeals to our people. 

 They demand that something shall be done. 



Fair in the light of mein'ry shines, 

 Michigan, my Michigan. 



While not numerically imposing, the high 

 character of the men and women in attend- 

 ance at the convention dignified the gather- 

 ing to a rare degree. The National Bureau of 

 Forestry at Washington was represented by 

 Alfred Gaskill, while T. F. Borst, consulting 

 forest engineer of Massachusetts, was on 

 hand to tell of the work in that state. The 

 University of Michigan sent Prof. Filibert 

 Roth, head of its forestry department, also 

 state forest warden, and regents L. T. Bar- 

 bour of Detroit and Loyal E. Knappen of 

 Grand Rapids. President J. L. Snyder and 

 Professors Beal, Bogue, Smith and Taft of 

 the Michigan Agricultural College were pres- 

 ent, as well as some of the leading educators 

 from other state institutions. Geo. G. Whit- 

 worth of the Berkey & Gay Furniture Com- 

 pany and (has. R. Sligh of the Sligh Fur- 



GROTJP OF MEMBERS OF MICHIGAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATH>\ oN STEPS "I RYERSON LIBRARY, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 



priation foi his expenses. More time and 



thought has been givm to irk than the 



promoters will ever admit. 

 The convention was presided over by thi 



Hon. Arthur Hill el' Saginaw. Thornton A. 



prominent lumberman of Ontona- 

 anothei of tie' so 'ailed • • butchi 



'i.i, while Prof. Roth of Ann Ar- 

 bor, i warden, and lion. Chas. W. 

 Garfield ■ Rapids, president of tie 

 Michigan Forestry Commission, wen- hust- 

 lers at every session who kepi things moving. 

 The convention was held at the Park 

 church, the entrance and interior of which 

 were appropriately by the liberal 

 use of the state forestry exhibit used at tie 

 St. Louis fair, new a part "f the Kent mu- 

 seum at Grand Rapids. The i" mi was hung 

 with placards bearing pertinent inscriptions, 

 among which i 



"It takes thin to grow a tree, and 



thirty minutes to cul II down and ilestroy it." 

 ountry without wood is a house without 

 a roo 



i i. the business man, the press, all 

 join in this 'I-". 



The state has felt the pressure of this de- 

 tart. It has improved the 

 Are laws; it has set aside a small portion of 

 these lands as a permanent forest reserve. 

 To increase this reserve; to gather and 

 i information in the interest of a per- 

 nt forest policy; to awaken an abiding 

 interest in reforestation, is the message, as 

 well as the duty of the Michigan Forestry 



Morning Session. 



Tin convention was called t 'der by Mr. 



Id promptly Tuesday morning. The 



- ope I with prayer by the pastor 



"i the I'aik church, after which .Michigan s 

 well-known musical classic was sung in con- 

 cert : 



Home of my heart, I sing of thee, 



Michigan, my Michigan, 

 Thy lake-bound shores I long to see, 



Michigan, my Michigan, 



From Saginaw's tall whlsp'ring pines, 



I" Lake Superior's farthest mines, 



Fair in the light of mem'ry shines, 



Michigan, my Michigan. 



niture Company, two of the largest manufac- 

 turing concerns of Grand Rapids, and some 

 of the leading bankers and business men of 

 the Furniture City, were in attendance. The 

 luster also included nearly every member of 

 the state board of agriculture, the president 

 and secretary of the Michigan Horticultural 

 Society, Land Commissioner Rose and a num- 

 ber of prominent ex-state officials. 



Mr. Hill was selected as chairman and he 

 handled the meeting with the grace and skill 

 of the born parliamentarian. It was the feel- 

 ing of the earnest men and women present 

 that there had been too much talk and that 

 it was time to do something toward perpet- 

 uating the forests of Michigan. There were 

 no tedious talks and the poetic and senti- 

 mental side of tree culture was merely 

 touched on. Speeches were limited to five 

 minutes. The speakers of the morning ses- 

 sion were: Thornton A. Green of Ontonagon; 

 Dr. W. .1. Beal of Lansing; the Hon. Geo. B. 

 Horton of Fruit Ridge; Mrs. L. A. King of 



