FURTHER VIEWS ON THE COMMITTEE'S REPORT 



March 9, 1920. 

 The Editor, Journal of Forestry. 



I have read carefully and with much interest "Forest Devastation 

 and a Plan to Meet It" and wish to offer the following: 



One point it seems to me our Committee has not taken into account 

 is the large numbers of private foresters working in the field today. 

 It may be true results seem slow in developing, but they are being 

 brought about nevertheless. The facts are certain that the largest 

 owners of timberland today have their force of foresters and are to 

 a great extent doing what they can to promote to future value of their 

 lands to any extent that is consistent with good business policy. Further 

 than this you could not expect them to go. The higher the value of 

 the product the more this is being done. 



The question of reforestation in the Northeast particularly has not 

 as yet reached a business basis. Why should an individual pay ten 

 dollars an acre to reforest when he can still go into the open market 

 and purchase mature timber for the same price? 



It seems to me the best policy to pursue is for the Forest Service to 

 put competent men in the field in the various sections of the United 

 States to study conditions and to consult with the various private for- 

 esters and timber interests. With this co-operation, which I believe 

 would be welcome, a broad plan could be worked out in harmony. 

 Definite recommendations could be made for each section and the 

 private forester would have a better basis on which to work. 



These policies or recommendations when they were decided to be of 

 practical help to the country's timber interests could be put before the 

 private interests and advertised sufficiently so that I believe they would 

 be adopted in a very short time. Private interests with the money that 

 they have invested in mills and timberland are not going to sit by and 

 have some one tell them how much timber they can cut and in what 

 way. They would, I believe, work on definite recommendations. I 

 believe if some of the time which the Forest Service has put in in 

 research work and other scientific data were expended toward the 

 more practical end of forest management our timber situation would be 

 in a better condition today than it is. We want definite poHcies and 

 recommendations for the private interest to work on, but it is only 



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