CHAPTER XI 



PROGRESS IN STATE FORESTRY 

 The rapid depletion and threatened exhaus- 

 tion of the timber supply in the more thickly 

 populated sections of the East has prompted 

 several of the states to initiate action looking 

 toward the conservation of their timber resources. 

 As far back as 1880, a forestry commission was 

 appointed in New Hampshire to formulate a 

 forest policy for the State. Vermont took simi- 

 lar action two years later, followed within the 

 next few years by many of the northeastern and 

 lake states. 



These commissions were mainly boards of 

 inquiry, for the purpose of gathering reliable 

 information upon which to report, with recom- 

 mendations, for the adoption of a state forest 

 policy. As a result of the inquiries, forestry 

 departments were established in a number of 

 states. The report of the New York Commission 

 of 1884 resulted in forest legislation, in 1885, 

 creating a forestry department and providing for 

 the acquisition of state forests. Liberal appro- 



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