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MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS. 



Michigan Forestry Association. 



The Michigan Forestry Association was organized in Grand Rapids August 30, 1905, having for its object the promotion of a rational system ot 

 forestry in Michigan. The society is managed by the following roster of officers : President, John H. Bissell, of Detroit, Vice-President, C. S. Udell, 

 Grand Rapids; Secretary, Henry G. Stevens, Detroit; Treasurer, J. J. Hub bell, Manistee. Board of Directors, Mrs. Francis King, Alma; L. L. Hub- 

 bard, Houghton ; S. M. Lemon, Grand Rapids; H. N. Loud, Au Sable; Thos. B. Wyman, Munising; Mrs. J. C. Sharp, Jackson; C. D. Lawton, Lawton. 



The State Forestry Commission Charles W. Garfield, Grand Rapids ; Hon. W. B. Mershon, Saginaw ; William H. Rose, Lansing. 



COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. 



The appointment by the governor of a com- 

 mission of inquiry to take up the matter of state 

 tax and forest lands, marks an epoch in the 

 forestry agitation in our state. The Forestry 

 Commission, organized something over eight 

 years ago, has been doing active service and 

 painstaking work under the provision of the 

 statute which covers its activities, and the selec- 

 tion of this new commission is simply in further- 

 ance of this work, having for its object the for- 

 mulation of a definite land and forest policy for 

 our state and its enactment into law. 



The commission selected by the governor is as 

 follows : Robert D. Graham, Grand Rapids ; 

 C. V. R. Townsend, Negaunee ; George B. Hor- 

 ton, Fruit Bridge ; A. B. Cook, Owosso ; A. L. 

 Palmer, Kalkaska ; Francis King, Alma ; D. B. 

 Waldo, Kalamazoo ; W. E. Osmun, Montague ; 

 and Carl E. Schmidt, Detroit. This commission 

 not only represents geographically all portions of 

 the state, but it also stands for a wide range of 

 activities and interests. The members met, at 

 the call of the governor, in the executive cham- 

 ber at Lansing and the Forestry Commission 

 was invited to be with them at this initial gath- 

 ering. 



The president of the Forestry Commission, Mr. 

 Garfield, addressed the gentlemen upon the his- 

 tory of the agitation and accomplishments in the 

 interests of forestry in our state which led up to 

 the legislation which provided for this new com- 

 mission. Prof. Filibert Roth, the state forest 

 warden, spoke of the importance of securing as 

 a basis for the work of the commission an array 

 of facts gathered originally by themselves and he 

 also emphasized the importance of personal ob- 

 servation on the part of the members of the 

 commission, particularly into the present status 

 of the large volume of delinquent tax lands. Mr. 

 Mershon, the newly appointed member of the 

 Forestry Commission, explained somewhat at 

 length the Canadian methods of dealing with for- 

 ests and game, advising that at least a commit- 

 tee visit our neighbors in Canada and learn by 

 observation the facts concerning their very suc- 

 cessful method of handling forest lands and the 

 making of their game privileges of large remuner- 

 ative value to the province and dominion. 



The commission in organizing very properly 

 selected Robert D. Graham as president. He is 

 at the head of the Michigan board of agricul- 

 ture, has had wide experience in matters of 

 legislation, is a practical farmer and is deeply 

 interested in the responsibilify of the state con- 

 cerning the management of her waste lands. 

 Charles B. Blair, of Grand Rapids, was chosen 

 as working clerk of the organization because 

 of his peculiar ability in centralizing effort upon 

 the right phases of the problem and his experi- 

 ence in the preparation of bills for enactment. 

 Mr. Garfield, who has been engaged in the pro- 

 motion of forest intelligence in our state for 

 more than a quarter of a century, in speakintr 

 of this latest movement, says that he feels more 

 hopeful today with regard to the future of Michi- 

 gan forestry than at any time before in the his- 

 tory of the agitation of matters connected with 

 reforestation. 



Really this new commission will have little 

 to do as far as convincing people of the import- 

 ance of growing timber. It can center its exjr- 

 tions upon a definite state policy which shall have 

 for its object not simply the reforestation of cer- 

 tain waste lands, but the segregation of the lands 

 devoted to forestry so that they can be managed 

 economically and the handling of delinquent tax 

 lands so that as soon as the decision is reached 

 that they are not of agricultural value, that they 

 can quickly be placed in a permanent forest do- 

 main. Incidentally, the commission can, by 



means of maps and photographs, put in shape for 

 the legislature a very graphic presentation of the 

 geographical distribution of lands in this sta'.e 

 which would naturally go into a permanent forest 

 domain ; and they can gather with very little diffi- 

 culty information which will fortify the conten- 

 tion that a permanent forest domain is in the in- 

 terest of added population and will furnish a 

 more even and continuous support for a larger 

 number of people than if these same lands were 

 exploited agriculturally. 



One of the most interesting and important fac- 

 tors in the problem of maintaining forests in in- 

 dividual control is the one of taxation as affect- 

 ing wooded area. At present the practice puts 

 a premium upon deforestation whereas a rational 

 system of taxation would, in no wise diminish the 

 volume of taxes but would make such a distri- 

 bution of them as to stimulate the investment in 

 forest lands by individuals and the co-operation 

 of individuals and the state in a practical plan 

 of protection from fire and trespass. 



The new commission enters enthusiastically 

 upon its work, and every citizen of Michigan in- 

 terested in the future prosperity of the state, and 

 particularly in the support of its wood-working 

 industries and the protection of its water powers, 

 should render all the assistance and sympathy 

 possible to the commission in its service to the 

 state. 



MICHIGAN FORESTRY COMMISSION. 



On July 21 the Michigan Forestry Commission 

 held a meeting at which the commission was re- 

 organized. The friends of forestry will all re- 

 joice in the fact that Wm. B. Mershon, of Sagi- 

 naw, has accepted an appointment on this commis- 

 sion, to fill the place left vacant by the resigna- 

 tion of Hon. Arthur Hill, of Saginaw, whom we 

 shall all seriously miss in this commission. Mr. 

 Hill has devoted a great deal of time and thought 

 to this work and his excellent judgment, his vast 

 experience in business and especially forest af- 

 fairs were of inestimable value in this work. 



Mr. Mershon is a lumberman by training, ex- 

 perience and business. He is also a hunter and 

 fisherman, and lover of nature ; has traveled very 

 extensively, and is quite familiar with every for- 

 est region of our country and Canada. Mr. Mer- 

 shon is better fitted than almost any other man in 

 the state to fi!l the large gap left by the resigna- 

 tion of Mr. Hill. ' He brings to this task not 

 only the experience of the woodman and lumber- 

 man, but of one who has undertaken the woods 

 affairs in various parts of our country, from 

 Michigan to Arizona, and has succeeded well in 

 his enterprises. 



Mr. Mershon is perfectly familiar with the 

 needs and the possibilities of forestry as well as 

 its methods, and is a firm believer in forestry 

 in all its phases. 



Mr. Mershon still holds timber lands in Michi- 

 gan and is earnestly endeavoring to convert them 

 into a permanent forest property, and thus add 

 his mite to stave off the sure to come calamity 

 of a 'timber famine. 



An ardent fisherman himself, Mr. Mershon 

 is also deeply impressed with the possibilities of 

 North Michigan as a land of the tourist and he 

 emphatically pointed out the great incomes de- 

 rived from forests by Quebec and Ontario and 

 by the state of Maine, where as much as $25,000 

 per year is paid for the lease of a single stream. 



In the re-organization Hon. Chas. W. Garfield 

 of Grand Rapids, the Nestor in the fight for Mich 

 igan forestry, was elected president and Hon. 

 Wm. H. Rose, the State Land Commission, sec- 

 retary of the' commission. 



REFORESTATION AND REFORESTA- 

 TION. 



In 1903, when the Michigan Forest Reserves 

 were created, there was considerable misconcep- 

 tion about the aims and possible methods of car- 

 rying out the reforestation that was provided for 

 under the law. Some men asserted that the 1 inds 

 would be fenced and cleared at many dollars per 

 acre and large trees set out at $1 and more per 

 tree, and that in this way millions of dollars 

 would be required to carry out the plan. Frum 

 these extravagant to the most moderate asser- 

 tions there were many intermediates. And even 

 today the very word reforestation usually spells 

 to many, if not most people in Michigan, a regu- 

 lar planting of trees 3 or 4 feet high, with $40 

 to $100 per acre expense. And it is this notion 

 of unusual expense and difficulty which prevents 

 many people from giving the matter the more 

 serious consideration which it deserves, and lias 

 prevented also the legislature from trying the 

 plan on a larger scale. 



For this reason, the following may be of some 

 interest. As is well known from the. reports of. 

 the Forestry Commission the Michigan Forest 

 Reserve is in two parts, one near Higgins Like, 

 the other south of Houghton Lake, the former 

 containing about 10,000 acres, the latter about 

 29,000 acres of actual state lands. As the law 

 provided for examination of the lands, protec- 

 tion and re-stocking, a survey was begun the 

 very first year. Based on this survey it was 

 decided that the two tracts were well suited for 

 an object lesson on a large scale and that one dis- 

 trict might well be treated differently from the 

 other. Accordingly in District No. 1 about Hig- 

 gins Lake, a nursery was started and regular for- 

 est planting begun. This is carried on each year. 



In District No. 2, near Houghton Lake, the 

 work was restricted to protection entirely and 

 an effort was made to put this property on a 

 self-supporting basis at once. A ranger was 

 employed to look after the land the year round. 

 As soon as the snow goes off and the dangerous, 

 time begins, he is authorized to employ as many 

 men as are needed (usually 'three to six) until 

 the green growth or abundant spring rains put 

 an end to the dangers from fire. From the start 

 an effort was made to utilize the dead timber, 

 of which there was a considerable quantity, es- 

 pecially in the swamps, doing no good and merely 

 endangering the living timber about. How this 

 all works out is already quite noticeable in this 

 district. With the fires left out. hundreds of 

 thousands of young trees are starting up every 

 year, the young growth already on the land is 

 progressing, and over hundreds of acres of land, 

 which four years ago seemed practically bare of 

 woods, is beginning to have a decidedly forest 

 appearance. In addition thousands of trees, which 

 had escaped former (ires or had healed up their 

 scars, are rapidly ncaring sizes which are ac- 

 ceptable in our modern markets. In the swamps, 

 the only real forest areas in these cut and burned 

 over districts, the improvement is noteworthy. 

 Formerly some parts of these were touched by 

 fires every year, and especially the edges where 

 the evergreens were spreading from the swamp 

 to dry land and thus extending the forest, were 

 ever being burned by the recurrent fires. 



Today all is different. From the business 

 standpoint the work has been a success also. 

 During. tile last fiscal year (ending June 30, 1907) 

 'his district furnished an income of over $2,900, 

 while the expenses of protecting the land, dis- 

 Tosing of timber, and of considerable improve- 

 ments in way of roads and bridges and some 

 'inilding did not exceed $1,000 in all. We have 

 here a process of reforestation where the land 

 ^id an interest of 2 per cent on a capital of 

 over $3 per acre, and in addition paid for a 



