COMMENT ON THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR 

 THE APPLICATION OF FORESTRY 



By R. S. Kellogg 



The majority report of the Committee for the AppHcation of For- 

 estry in its suggested legislation suffers from the same illusion that 

 has characterized many other well-intended undertakings, namely, that 

 the panacea for economic and social ills is the creation of a vast 

 National organization with power that may be applied at its own sweet 

 will in detail throughout the length and breadth of the land. The 

 regional administrative organizations proposed with executives and 

 inspectors "to fix standards and promulgate rules to prevent devasta- 

 tion and provide for the perpetuation of forest growth and the produc- 

 tion of forest crops on privately owned timberlands operated for com- 

 mercial purposes" are types of bureaucracy that the American people 

 do not want and are not likely to create. 



More than once have we seen lamentable failures of foresters to 

 secure the adoption of their policies because they have persisted in fol- 

 lowing purely theoretical courses without consideration of practical 

 conditions. I do not mean to imply for a second that in order to suc- 

 ceed a forester must sacrifice his principles to expediency but I do 

 maintain that no forest policy will succeed which basically antagonizes 

 the owners of the land on which it is hoped to have forestry practiced. 



A program of mandatory silviculture prescribed and enforced by the 

 National Government in the manner proposed will antagonize not only 

 the timberland owners but also the State authorities, many of whom 

 are already making commendable progress in the solution of the prob- 

 lems under their jurisdiction. Both Bruce and Tourney share this 

 viewpoint, and to my mind Tourney's reservations set up a program 

 that is far more practical and feasible than that proposed in the ma- 

 jority report. 



Toumey clearly recognizes that cooperation is preferable to compul- 

 sion in dealing with the private landowner, and also believes that assist- 

 ance from the National Government in the working out of the forest 

 program should be through State agencies. It would be most unfor- 

 tunate were any attempt made to supplant the State organizations by 



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