8 



MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



MICHIGAN 



ROADS AND FOiRESTS 



Official Paper of The Michigan Ruad Makrrs Association and 

 Michigan Forestry Association. 



70 Lamed Street West, Detroit, Michigan. 



Entered as Second-class Matter April 27. 1907. at the Post Office at De- 

 troit, Michigan, under the Act of Congress of March 3. 1879. 



Frank E. Carter Editor 



PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH 



BY 

 THE STATE REVIEW PUBLISHING CO, 



SUBSCRIPTION) ONE DOLLAR A YEAR, 

 PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. 



THE FORESTRY HEARING. 



At the general hearing on the 14th by the 

 Semite Forestry and Public Lands Commis- 

 sion, at Lansing, respecting the several for- 

 estry bills now before the legislature, there 

 was present about thirty business and pro- 

 fessional men from different parts of the 

 state. There were representatives of the 

 Retail Lumbermen's Association, lumbermen 

 and timber owners from Muskegon, Grayling, 

 Bay City and Saginaw, business men of De- 

 troit, Grand Rapids and the Upper Peninsula 

 The most significance attached to the presence 

 of three members of the late Commission of 

 Inquiry who had been appointed under the act 

 of 1907, and who had joined in the commis- 

 sion's report, which is really the basis of all 

 the proposed legislation at this session. The 

 ex-commissioners were: Robert D. Graham, 

 of Grand Rapids, president; Carl E. Schmidt, 

 of Detroit; and C. V. R. Townsend, of Ne- 

 gaunee, in Marquette county. 



It is, of course, impossible to say what the 

 exact effect of the hearing was upon the mem- 

 bers of the committee, but such questions as 

 were asked were very satisfactorily answered 

 by some one of the attending delegation. Very 

 pointed addresses were made by Mr. Graham, 

 Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Townsend. The latter's 

 appeal for some fire protection on the part of 

 the state, as well as the counties and town- 

 ships, was very forcibly presented, and seemed 

 to evoke a response from the committee, al- 

 though to the greater part of the appeal made 

 there was no indication from a part of the 

 committee whether a favorable impression was 

 made or not. 



In accordance with a previous engagement, 

 the same delegation, who had attended the 

 hearing in the senate chamber, called upon 

 Governor Warner at the executive office. 

 They were very cordially received by the 

 Governor, and on the suggestion of Mr. 

 Schmidt, acting as chairman, short appeals 

 were made to the Governor to attest his in- 

 terest in securing needed legislation like that 

 recommended by the Commission of Inquiry 

 and covered by some of the bills already pend- 

 ing before the legislature. The addresses were 

 made by the representative of the Forestry 

 Association, the Michigan Forestry Commis- 

 sion, the Commission of Inquiry and others. 



The Governor reminded his callers that he 

 had, in his general message, submitted to the 

 legislature when it convened in January, urged 

 careful consideration and judicious action 

 along the suggestions of the Commission of 



Inquiry whose report he had esteemed very 

 highly. The Governor doubted whether a 

 .special message, so late in the session, would 

 accomplish any good, but such good offices as 

 he could render would be very gladly given by 

 him. 



What effect the visit of the delegation may 

 have is now only a matter of conjecture, ana 

 can be better told when final action is taken 

 on the measures proposed. It was quite ap- 

 parent that many members of both houses had 

 not read the report of the Commission of In- 

 quiry, or, if they had, had scarcely appreci- 

 ated the logical results of such a study. 



If a Public Domain Commission is estab- 

 lished by the present legislature, from indica- 

 tions to date, it seems likely that it must have 

 as members the Commissioner of the Land 

 Office, the Auditor General, probably, the 

 Governor ex-officio, one of the Board of Re- 

 gents of the University, and a member of the 

 State Board of Agricuture. While the out- 

 look for legislation is not as comprehensive 

 as that outlined and recommended by the 

 Commission of Inquiry, it was the unanimous 

 opinion of those assembled to urge forestry 

 legislation that it was, probably, the best that 

 could be secured and would be, at least, a 

 step in the right direction. 



you satisfied with its enforcement? Let your 

 member of the legislature have your \ 

 Let the press of the state know your views." 

 There ought to be an instant and over- 

 whelming response from the people .>f this 

 state. I'n view of the forest lire damage last 

 year and the loss of life, the legislature should 

 be urged to pass the forest fire legislation 

 outlined by the Commission of Inquiry in its 

 report. 



AROUSE THE LEGISLATORS. 



The following circular letter has been given 

 wide circulation in Saginaw county by a num- 

 ber of prominent citizens of that county: 



''The undersigned deem it essential above 

 everything else that action be taken immedi- 

 ately to preserve and build up our rapidly 

 disappearing forests. There is no time to 

 wait, as two years' delay means not only that 

 much longer before we can hope to have mer- 

 chantable timber once more produced in our 

 state, but also will quadruple the cost of re- 

 forestation. We are not directly or indirectly 

 concerned in lumbering operations nor inter- 

 ested as timber land owners. We have simply 

 the general welfare of our home community 

 at stake. 



"To the end that adequate attention to this 

 all important problem may be given at the 

 present session, we urge upon you to arrange 

 for a conference next Tuesday, if possible, 

 with the greatest number of the legislators 

 at which we and citizens from other parts of 

 the state can attend and have full hearing. 

 We suggest that if feasible the meeting should 

 be arranged for as early as 10 a. m., that suffi- 

 cient time may be had. 



"This is a subject which we, in company 

 with thinking people throughout the state, are 

 more than ordinarily interested in and we 

 have no doubt that you, representing us in the 

 legislature, will co-operate with us to the full- 

 est extent in thus advancing the common 

 good." 



It would be an excellent thing if the advo- 

 cates of forest preservation in all sections of 

 the state would bring similar pressure to bear 

 on legislators. 



PEOPLE SHOULD AWAKEN. 



W. B. Mershon, of Saginaw, treasurer of the 

 Michigan Forestry Association, is sending out 

 broadcast a -copy of Michigan's forest fire law 

 which was passed in 1907. He asks each read- 

 er: "Are you satisfied with this law? Are 



CONSERVATION OF THE FORESTS. 



Henry M. Hyde in the March number of the 

 Technical World Magazine shows the differ- 

 ence between the American destruction and 

 German conservation of the forests. Freuden- 

 stadt. he says, is a town of 7,000 in the Black 

 forest region of Germany. 



Chisholm was a town of 6,000 in the Big 

 Woods country of Minnesota. 



Everj' year, from the tall black pine trees 

 which grow on the ti.OOO acres of publicly own- 

 ed land about Frcudenstadt, a regular crop of 

 lum'ber is cut which pays all the expenses of 

 the city government mayor, aldermen, po- 

 lice and fire department. And that crop will 

 go on forever. The thrifty people of Freti- 

 denstadt may devote their whole attention to 

 their thriving iron and chemical industries, 

 knowing that the beautiful and beneficent for- 

 est will pay all the cost of their municipal ac- 

 tivities. 



For years greedy private corporations sent 

 their hordes into the country about Chisholm, 

 Minn., to loot the great pine woods, leaving 

 behind them a trail of ruin and desolation and 

 piling up the dry slashes like kindling wood 

 ready for the match. Every fall the patient 

 people of Chisholm went to bed with the 

 acrid smell of burning pine in the nostrils, 

 fearing lest before they awakened the forest 

 might take its fiery revenge. Last summer it 

 came. For weeks thick clouds of smoke lay 

 over the town. Then on a Saturday night the 

 hurricane of flame swept down and burned 

 Chisholm to the ground. In the morning more 

 than 500 families were homeless. 



Freudenstadt is a town without taxes. The 

 forest pays them. Chisholm is a town with- 

 out homes. The vandals of the forest destroy- 

 ed them. 



YEAR'S CUT WILL BE HEAVY. 



Despite the pessimistic reports which were 

 sent out early in the season, the logging in- 

 dustry in the upper peninsula is now in full 

 swing, and the indications are that this year's 

 cut will be considerably larger than antici- 

 pated, says a correspondent. In the copper 

 country the operations are less extensive than 

 for several years past, nevertheless there will 

 be a fairly good cut made along the line of 

 the Copper Range Railroad, and in the south- 

 ern part of Houghton county. 



The Worcester Lumber Company's mill at 

 Chassell is now running at full capacity, with 

 day and night crews at work, and Manager 

 Hamar says there will be no let-up until 

 spring. The mild weather has caused loggers 

 considerable trouble. N. M. DeHaas, of Mar- 

 quette ,who operates extensively in Baraga 

 county, and who is one of the best-known 

 lumbermen in Michigan, believes there will 

 be considerably more timber cut this winter 

 than last. He has a contract which this win- 

 ter will mean a cut of over -8,000,000 feet 

 of timber. All these operations are confined 

 to one district near the Huron river. This 

 timber will be cut next summer at the Skance 

 mill and shipped from there by boat. Three 

 camps are being operated. The biggest one 

 will get out over four and one-half million 

 feet of the entire cut. 



There is also another large firm doing busi- 

 ness not far from Skanee. Hebard & Son. of 

 Pequaming, having several camps operating 

 in that immediate vicinity. The largest camp 

 operated by this firm this season is on Point 

 Abbaye, where Oliver Morris has charge. He 

 will get out more than four million feet of 

 timber. 



