MICHIGAN 



ROADS ^FORESTS 



DETROIT, MICH.. SEPTEMBER, 1909. 



MICHIGAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



The Michigan Forestry Association was organized in Grand Rapids August 30, 1905,fiaving for its object the promotion of a ra- 

 tional system of forestry in Michigan. The society is managed by the following roster of officers: President, John H. Bissell, of Detroit; 

 Yice-President, Morrice Quinn, Saginaw; Secretary, Henry G. Stevens, Detroit; Treasurer, W. B. Mershon, Saginaw, W. S. Board of 



Directors S. M. Lemon, Grand Rapids; H. N. Loud, Au Sable; Thos. B. Wyman, Munising; E. C. Nichols, Battle Creek; R. Hanson, Gray- 

 ling; Geo. N. Brady, Detroit. 



CONTROVERSY STIRS cient >' oun g growth to produce in the course and as good, or better, forest soil if we pro- 



IxjTppircT IM FOPFQTRV * t ' me a merchantable, but not a full crop of tect it. 



timber: and 100,000,000 acres or more severely "The necessity for more farm land may 



cut and burned over forests, on which there eventually reduce our total forest area to 



Officials of the forestry service, while re- j s not sumc ient young growth to produce an- 100,000,000 acres less than it is at present. It 



gretting the controversy between Secretary ot h er crop of much value. Taken as a whole, is entirely possible, however, to produce on 



Ballinger of the interior department and Gif- t h e annua ] growth of the forests under these 450,000,000 acres as much wood as a popula- 



ford Pinchot, chief forester, over the question con ditions does not exceed twelve cubic feet tion mucn greater than we have now will need 



of conservation. ,ay that the controversy will acrC; a tota j of ]ess than 7j00 0,000,000 if a11 the fofeSt land is b " ght to j ts higheSt 



not be without good results in this: It will cubic feet producing capac.ty, and , the product is eco- 

 nomically and completely utilized. But to 



R. S. Kellogg, assistant forester, in charge reach the necessary equilibrium between tim- 



service has done, and is doing, in preventing Q{ the office Q forest 5^5^ spe aking on ber production and consumption, it will take 



the wanton waste of the great forests of the {he sub j ect sa ; d . many years of vigorous effort by individual 



west, and in preserving them for generations forest owners, by the states, and by the na- 



to come Three Times as Fast as They Grow. tional government. All must work together. 



The work of conserving the national forests "\Ye are cutting our forests three times as 



, . . \o bureau of the government has developed 



was onlv begun a few years ago, and it was last as they are growing. Ihere is menace in 



so rapidly as that of forestry. From an appro- 

 brought about, it is <aid. by a report from the continuance of such conditions. While we priation of $2 5,000 annually, it has grown to 



Germany showing what that country was do- might never reach absolute timber exhaustion, such proportions that it now requires $6,000,- 



ing to preserve her forests, which had suffered tne unrestricted exploitation of our forests in a year to pay its expenses. And the 



through neglect. This report attracted the ' the past has already had serious effects, and friends and Advocates of forest conservation 



..... . , . . say it is worth every cent expended, lo give 



- it will have much force if it is allowed to con- an idea Q{ the wofk of the {orestry bureaU; it 



tural department, who took up the subject tinue unc hecked." may be said that trained foresters are em- 



with President Roosevelt, with the result that Mf Kellogg called attention to white pine, P^yed to look after 194,500,000 acres of na- 



the president became enthusiastic, and at once ^ ^ considered inexhaustible , tional forest land, and this vast tern 



added forest conservation to his list of poli- , ' ' 1SQn charge of a forest supervisor. These forests 



had fallen off 70 per cent in cuts since 1890, are in the western country, which is divided 



the Pe - and more than 45 per cent since 1900. The into six f ore st districts, each in charge of a 



cut of oak, he said, which produced our most district forester. Every employe connected 



Our Forestry Area. valuable hardwood lumber had decreased 1 with the forestry service is experienced in 



, , , ,, . raising and caring for young trees, ine lam- 

 Since the outbreak of the Ballinger-Pinchot Per cent since 3 r befman who estimates timber , helps to plan 



dispute the correspondence of the agricultural " P er cent - The same stor y' he added . would logging operations, and sees that the scaling 



department has more than trebled, nearly a be told of other woods if they were not con- is correctly done, and that the rules of logging 



t c served are properly observed, is an experienced and 

 third of the correspondents writing for infer- ser\ea. 



. ... t_ . capable woodsman, 



mation relating to the national forests. It is "The fact that timber has been cheap and . 



.,,... , , Another important employe is the torest 



stated that the total yearly dram upon the for- abundant, said Mr. Kellogg, has > rangef HJs duties require a care f u l patrol of 



. not counting losses from fires, storms careless of its production and reckless in its t j je f orest to see tna t fire and trespass are 



and insects, is some twenty billion cubic feet. use. We take 250 cubic feet of wood per prevented: that the range is not over grazed; 



The present forest area of 550.000,000 acres capita annually from our forests, while Ger- that logging regulations are enforced, and that 



may be roughly estimated to consist of 200.- many uses only 37 cubic feet, and France but privileges granted by permit for the use of th 



, , various forest resources are not abused. He 



000,000 acres of mature forests, in which the 25. Germany, having learned her Dn, ^ general , y & ha rd-headed, practical, thor- 



annual growth is balanced by death and decay: makes her state forests produce an average of oug hi y honest and an able-bodied citizen of 



250.000,000 acres partially cut or burned over, 48 cubic feet of wood per acre. We have as tbe west, with plenty of experience in all the 



on which, with reasonable care, there is sum- fast growing species as Germany, or faster, problems with which he may have to deal. 



