MICHIGAN 



ROADS ^'FORESTS 



DETROIT, MICH., DECEMBER, 1909. 



MICHIGAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



The Michigan Forestry Association was organized in Grand Rapids August 30, 1905, having 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, Hon. Chas. W. Garfield, of Grand 

 Rapids; Vice-President, John H. Bissell, of Detroit; Secretary, Filibert Roth, of Ann Arbor; Assistant Secretary, Henry G. Stevens, Detroit; 

 Treasurer, W. B. Mershon, Saginaw, W. S. Board of Directors Hon. J. E. Beal, Ann Arbor; J. J. Hubbell, Manistee; Mrs. Lena E. Mautner, 

 Saginaw; Prof. James Satterlee, Lansing; Fremont E. Skeels, Cadillac; W. E. Williams, Pittsford; Dr. Lucius L. Hubbard, Houghton; Mrs. 

 John C. Sharp, Jackson. 



To the Members of the 



Michigan Forestry Association 



The publication of our list of members 

 would reveal the fact that the Michigan For- 

 estry Association is one of the most select 

 bodies of citizens in our country. For the 

 very reason that we never have been able to 

 get together in one place and meet face to 

 face, this fact is not as fully appreciated, even 

 among the members themselves, as it should 

 be. The secretary is deeply impressed with 

 this fact, and he feels his duty as no light 

 burden. He realizes that this select body of 

 men and women, representing every district 

 in our state, is looking for results; expects 

 work and good work, and expects to know 

 the object and the plan of action. For this 

 reason the secretary calls for help; for ex- 

 pression of opinion, for suggestion. 



Every member has local knowjedge, local 

 experience, local needs which he or she would 

 like to present for information or discussion, 

 o call for advice. Let us have these things, 

 let us get them into "Roads and Forests" that 

 we all may learn and benefit, and that our 

 action is net that of a few, but the concerted 

 action of the entire Association. 



The secretary has been asked: "What 

 next?" From our gathering at Jackson it 

 would seem that our efforts need to be con- 

 tinued; that we are just barely beginning to 

 have results; that our small victories will be 

 unless we follow them up most untir- 

 ngy. For the immediate future these efforts 

 iiiay well center about the following: 

 Michigan's Needs In Forestry. 

 I. We need a state forester; a man of 

 -arts a man who knows and can tell what he 

 mows; a man of proper training and right 

 deals. This man should devote all his time 

 and that of a few helpers) to the state work, 

 le should go wherever he is neded and 

 vanted; he should preach the gospel of the 

 ree and the forest; he sljgol'd give advice 

 ,nd assistance, and he shoijjd be active, the 



sho;,j< 



executive part of our new Commission of 

 Public Domain. We need him; we must have 

 him; but at the same time we need a good 

 man, and the best is none too good. 



2. We need better forest protection. This 

 subject is not half understood; it is not half 

 discussed; it is not half attempted in our law, 

 and it is entirely and absolutely neglected in 

 fact and execution. 



3. Our farm forest, the woodlot which 

 makes our land beautiful and homelike, needs 

 encouragement. It should receive protection 

 against the ordinary vandal; it should be 

 taxed uniformly and reasonably, and not, as 

 in the case at present, be taxed to compel the 

 owner to clear it away. 



4. The larger forests which still exist in 

 parts of our state deserve attention. They 

 are worth more than ten times the area in 

 uncertain plantations. Why should we go on 

 in the old way, which has proven destructive? 

 Why can not the state and the owner get to- 

 gether and devise a method of right treat- 

 ment which will preserve what should be pre- 

 served of these forests? 



.">. We need an awakening. We in Michi- 

 gan need to learn what they have just learned 

 in Maine and New Jersey that the state has 

 powers and has duties; that it is proper for 

 the state to say where timber exploitation be- 

 comes forest devastation, and that the state 

 has a right to tell the individual where the 

 interests of the people require conservative 

 use in place of ruthless, greedy destruction. 

 Other states have begun to look into this mat- 

 ter why should Michigan be last? 



White Pine Planters, Beware! 



The New York State Forest Commissioner, 

 Hon. J. S. Whipple, is starting a campaign 

 against the WHITE PINE RUST, apparently 

 imported from Europe in recent years. This 

 <l\~<. .se is a serious menace to the white pine, 

 old and young, and everyone interested in re- 

 forestation or in trees in general should take 

 every precaution not to use infested plant 

 stock and thereby help to spread this trouble. 



Meeting of the M. F. A. 



The next annual meeting of the Michigan 

 Forestry Association will be held at Kalama- 

 zoo under the auspices of the Commercial 

 Club of that city. Suggestions with regard to 

 program are in order. 



Forestry Educators Meet. 



Gifford Pinchot held a conference of the 

 teachers of forestry at Washington, D. C., 

 December 30 and 31. The principal topics 

 dis'cussed were "The Demands Made on the 

 Forester, "the "Subjects to be Taught in a 

 Forest School and the' Best Methods to be 

 Pursued in Teaching Them." The object was 

 to secure more uniformity and quality in the 

 schooling of the forester. That this is a most 

 timely move is evident from the great variety 

 of forestry courses offered by different schools 

 in our country. 



Arthur Hill. 



Saginaw mourns the loss of one of its best 

 men; Michigan has lost a good citizen, a man 

 of capacity, character and culture, forestry 

 has lost one of its strongest friends, and the 

 Michigan Forestry Association one of its most 

 liberal and active members. 



As a member of the State Forestry Com- 

 mission Mr. Hill was ever ready to spare 

 some of his precious time, and as regent of 

 the University he did more than anyone else 

 to build up the Forestry School which today 

 numbers over 200 men. Every year this 

 school is sending out well prepared men with 

 right ideals who will take up the great task 

 of building up the forests of our country and 

 who, in doing so, will set eternal living monu- 

 ments to the memory of Arthur Hill. 



AID FOR MICHIGAN FORESTS. 



The secretary of the treasury, in sending 

 the estimates to congress, has included $3,743 

 for the Michigan national forest and $2,450 

 for the >farquette national forest. 



