REVIEWS 



State of Montana, Fifth Biennial Report of the State Forester, 

 ipi/-i8. Helena. 1918. Pp. 99. 



This report is notable chiefly because of the inclusion of an unusually 

 comprehensive and far-sighted contribution from J. F. Preston, Assist- 

 ant District Forester, U. S. Forest Service, entitled "Economic Use of 

 the Forests of Montana." The report proper, however, also contains 

 much interesting information. We learn from it, for example, that 

 during the fiscal year ending November 30, 1918, the 326,000 acres of 

 State forests in Montana yielded a return of over $30,000. This was 

 sufficient not only to pay the expenses of the State Forester's office, but 

 to leave a net return of more than $11,000. In other words, the State 

 forests are on a sound footing financially and much more than pay for 

 themselves. In addition to these receipts, the counties received over 

 $76,000 from the National Forest "Reserves" for the fiscal year ending 

 June 30, 1918. The commercial value of the forests of the State under 

 all ownerships is estimated at approximately $1,400,000,000. The total 

 stand is estimated at 58 billion board feet, 29 per cent of which is pri- 

 vately owned, 4 per cent is owned by the State, and the remaining 67 

 per cent is owned by the Federal Government. Over 70 per cent of 

 the annual cut, however, comes at present from private lands. 



The greater part of the State Forester's report, as is usual in such 

 reports, is devoted to fire protection. The needs of the State in this 

 respect are outlined at considerable length, and a draft is submitted of 

 a proposed law to prevent burning during the dry season — from June i 

 to September 30 — except under permit. In the absence of such legisla- 

 tion at present, the Montana Council of Defense, in June, 1918, issued 

 an order along these lines effective for the duration of the war. 



Among the miscellaneous topics discussed are the white-pine blister 

 rust, the "red-belt" injury, farm and city trees, qualities and uses of 

 the more important Montana woods, and the proposed timber-land 

 exchange with the Federal Government. 



Several specific recommendations of a progressive character are made 

 by the State Forester, as follows : 



(a) The enactment of a forest-fire law preventing burning during the 

 period from June i to September 30, except under permit. 

 556 



