THE FOREST AND THE NATION 



By HON. GIFFORD PINCHOT 



MR. Pinchot said in part : I don't 

 wish to talk upon ' 'The Forest 

 and the Nation " today except 

 in a very general sense, but I do want 

 to talk upon the formation of a New 

 York State Forestry Association and I 

 want to say .something to the Forest 

 Students who are about to enter their 

 profession. 



First, as to the object for which you 

 are here the formation of a New 

 York State Forestry Association. It 

 has happened to be my luck to come 

 into contact with the work of other 

 similar organizations in other states. 

 Take, for instance, the Pennsylvania 

 Forestry Association. The work of 

 getting together the superb State Forest 

 Reservation of Pennsylvania would 

 have been entirely impossible if it had 

 not been for the Pennsylvania Forestry 

 Association. 



In the early days before Forestry had 

 come to mean anything to the great ma- 

 jority of people, the Pennsylvania For- 

 estry Association under Dr. Rothrock 

 had begun to bring together a few men 

 who knew what Forestry actually was, 

 who had a definite plan in their minds 

 and who were so devoted that they were 

 willing not only to put their money but 

 their time into the work. They got at 

 first scant attention, but afterward se- 

 cured a strong hold on the citizens 

 throughout the State. This is one of 

 the State Forestry Associations which 

 is directly responsible for the advance 

 of the States in Forestry, so far as land 

 reserved for state use is concerned. 

 And so I might cite other State Forestry 

 Associations which have helped in a 

 very important degree the advancement 

 of Forestry in other States. 



IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

 THERE IS NEEDED A SINGLE 

 STRONG BODY ABLE TO 

 HANDLE WITH AUTHORITY 

 THE THINGS WHICH WE HAVE 

 BEEN FIGHTING ABOUT IN 



FORESTRY FOR A GOOD MANY 

 YEARS PAST. When in 1882 the 

 first Forest law was passed in New 

 York and then in 1885 the law was 

 passed setting aside lands for the 

 Adirondack and Catskill Preserves, 

 Forestry in New York was still a very 

 vague and uncertain thing. The Forest 

 Commission which was then appointed 

 furnished a temporary focus toward 

 which men and women anxious for 

 good work in Forestry might bend 

 their efforts, but since that time through 

 all the fights which were so necessary 

 to prevent bad forest management, 

 through the passage of the constitu- 

 tional amendment which prevents today 

 the cutting of any timber on State land 

 and UNTIL TODAY THERE HAS 

 BEEN ENTIRELY LACKING ONE 

 CENTRAL BODY THAT COULD 

 SPEAK WITH AUTHORITY AS 

 TO WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE 

 STATE NEED AND DO NOT 

 NEED TO HAVE DONE. 



We are not entirely a unit by any 

 means. There are vital questions on 

 which we do not agree. The top-lop- 

 ping law is an example. There are 

 many men in the State who take the 

 position that the top-lopping law is un- 

 necessary and that the forest is safer if 

 the tops are not lopped. I take the 

 position, and I take it with vigor, that 

 the top-lopping law is absolutely neces- 

 sary and that unless it can be enforced 

 effectively forest destruction by fire is 

 certain to continue. There will be laid 

 before you the plan of the Camp Fire 

 Club for the control of private forests 

 through taxation; so will a number of 

 other plans. The great gain is that 

 there will be one central body in which 

 all of these questions can be discussed. 



I have long been a member of the 

 Camp Fire Club and I had the honor to 

 make for it a report as to what was 

 needed in the Adirondack forest but 

 that report did not unite all factions by 



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