MICHIGAN ROADS AND FORESTS 



NORTHERN FOREST PROTECTIVE 

 ASSOCIATION FORMED. 



With the appointment of Thomas B. Wyman 

 as its chief of foresters, the Northern Forest 

 Protective Association is mapping out the final 

 plan of the campaign upon which it is about to 

 embark. The association is a newly formed or- 

 ganization of big land owners, most of whose 

 holdings are in upper Michigan, but who con- 

 trol a considerable acreage in northern Wiscon- 

 sin also. Its purpose is the protection of the 

 standing timber of its members, and chiefly its 

 protection from forest fires. Mr. Wyman at 

 present is the chief forester of the Cleveland 

 Cliffs Iron Company, with headquarters at Mu- 

 nising. He will resign this position and will 

 give his whole time to the work of the associa- 

 tion, of which he practically will be the execu- 

 tive head. 



As Mr. Wyman is probably the best authority 

 on forestry in upper Michigan, both as regards 

 technical and practical knowledge, the directors 

 (f the association are delighted at his decision 

 to accept the position of chief forester in their 

 empjoy. While all the details of its execution 

 have been left to Mr. Wyman, the general plan 

 of work adopted by the association is that of 

 a patrol of the lands of the members. This plan 

 is in line with the forest ranger system adopted 

 h.' the United States government in the west- 

 ern states, as well as by several organizations 

 (>' private timber owners. By such a patrol it 

 is expected *:o put put many incipient fires and 

 by education and timely precautions to prevent 

 what otherwise might result in serious confla- 

 Kiations. 



To obtain the funds with which to carry out 

 this forest patrol plan, the directors have voted 

 to levy an assessment of one-half cent an acre 

 on the landc in the association, in addition to 

 v hich each member rays a membership fee of 

 As there are now aporoximately 2,000,000 

 :>cres of land signed up, the amount available 

 for the coming; year's use will be about $10,000. 

 I* is stated howecer, tHt timber owners whose 

 aggregate ">l_in. s ure as much more are on,y 

 waiting unt'l th plans of the association tAe 

 definite shap-, when they will become members. 

 This addition w< ul<! b-in- the to'.il ac'<aje of 

 the asfo-i.-.ttion up tj 4,' v '0,000 and the amount 

 of the assessment for 1911 would be $20,000, a 

 sum 'vh-ch should at least be sufficient to make 

 a big start in this, work 



Accor 'ng to T. A. Green, president of the 



assoc'iti'm, an acreage of 4,000,000 is larger 



than that of any private forest prote -tive a'sr- 



ciation in this country. Fortunately, it happens 



that the holdings of the present members of the 



ussociation are fairly contiguous, being located 



principally in Alger, Marquette, Baraga, 



loughton and Ontonagon counties, which fact 



uakes the patrol proposition much more feas- 



ble and less expensive than were the lands 



widely scattered. Most of the lands that it is 



ixpected shortly to enroll in the association are 



ither adjoining or adjacent to land already 



jigned up. 



I Mr. Wyman will at once get busy on his plans 



"or work the coming summer. As fires broke 



! >ut in March last year, an effort will be made 



; u get things in readiness for actual work as 



,<>on as possible. The chief forester will en- 



agc t number of assistant foresters and ca- 



.rols, but where they will be stationed or the 



'xact nature of their employment have not yet 



\en determined. As the association will be one 



f the largest of the kind in the United States 



and perhaps the largest) his will be a gigantic 



. sk, hut the directors of the association be- 



jove that he is equal to it and that by another 



L-ar all of the forest interests of the upper 



iiimtry will be clamoring for admission to the 



-ociation. 



Protection from and precautions against for- 

 tl fires, however, will not be the sole purppse 

 f the association. A campaign of education 

 ill be conducted to impress upon the public 

 ,ie value of forest protection and conservation, 

 ,>t only to timber owners but to the public at 

 ,rge. Homesteaders and campers will be 

 lught to take precautions that will prevent 

 res, and the necessity of prompt action to 

 nench them when once they get a start. No 



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effort will be made to keep hunters and fisher- 

 men off, but the patrols will see to it that all 

 trespassers take due and timely precautions 

 regarding fire and will endeavor to enforce the 

 state laws pertaining thereto. 



The Northern Forest Protective Association 

 was organized in Marquette some time ago and 

 comprises among its members most of the 

 li'.rge timber owners in that part of the upper 

 peninsula, among them being the Cleveland 

 C'iffs Iron Company and the Ayer & Long- 

 vcnr interests, the latter of Boston, Mass. All 

 owners of timber lands, whether of 40 or 40,000 

 or more acres, are invited to join the associa- 

 tion, and all the lands enrolled will receive as 

 nearly eqiul protection and benefit from mem- 

 bership as their location will permit. 



FORESTRY, NATURAL AND ARTIFI- 

 CIAL. 



It would, perhaps, be too much to expect at 

 this time that there should be perfect agreement 

 a? to the wisdom of the policy adopted by the 

 government for the preservation of the remain- 

 ii.p: forests and the promotion of tree growth on 

 public lands. All thinking people will continue 

 t(> sympathize with the Roosevelt and Pinchot 

 view that waste in the timbered areas is de 

 piorable and that conservation of the forests is 

 absolutely necessary to the well-being of the 

 ration. But there seems bound to be a dif- 

 ference of opinion with regard to the methods 

 to be employed in carrying on the work of res- 

 toration. 



Hundreds of thousands of acres have been 

 burned over in the public woodlands since the 

 establishment of the forest service, and this has 

 meant the destruction of millions of valuable 

 tries. These fire losses recur annually with 

 striking regularity. It is held in some quarters 

 that fires would not be of such common occur- 

 rence, and would not spread so rapidly when 

 s-.arted, if the government rangers were left to 

 pi-rform their proper duties It is charged tha- 

 when they should be engaged in patroling the 

 frrest reserves durng the fire season they are 

 employed upon wl.at is ca'led "improvement 

 work," such as fence building in the interest of 

 the sheep-grazing industry, which, it is claimed, 

 so far as its contribution to the government is 

 concerned, does not pay. However this may be, 

 the fact that hundreds of thousands of acres of 

 burned-over timberland are now enclosed in the 

 forest reserve is admitted. The forest service 

 recently, it seems, has determined on the plant- 

 ing of these burned areas with black walnut 



and red oak seeds from Arkansas, and the pre- 

 diction is credited to that bureau that inside of 

 25 years, as a result of this planting, commer- 

 cial black walnut and red oak lumber can be 

 marketed. 



Here is where a correspondent of the Port- 

 land Oregonian, who claims to be a practical 

 forester, takes issue with the forest service. 

 Nature, he insists, will do its own planting, and 

 do it better than man can dp it, if left alone. 

 Nature will grow the right kind of trees in the 

 far northwestern forests. "They go away south 

 into Arkansas," this writer says, "and ship into 

 Oregon, Washington and Idaho hundreds of 

 pounds of black walnut and red oak seeds to 

 plant and restock our burned areas, when com- 

 mon sense knows that commercial success can 

 never come from such a venture. Any lumber- 

 jack knows that trees taken from a warm cli- 

 mate and moved to the far north and out of 

 their natural range cannot possibly do well. 



The answer likely to be made to this by the 

 forest service is that any lumberjack does not 

 know anything about it, unless he has experi- 

 mented along this line. It is a fact within the 

 ken of people who lay no claim to the posses- 

 sion of special knowledge in this particular that 

 trees of other lands and other climates have 

 been successfully grown in the United States. 

 Trees of foreign origin are plentiful in the 

 eastern states, and are becoming quite common 

 in the middle west. Why not in the Pacific 

 northwest? 



If this is a weak point in the criticism di- 

 rected against the forest service by the practi- 

 cal forester, it does not detract from the force 

 of his argument that if the forests as they are 

 today were carefully protected they would soon 

 restock the burned districts. The destruction 

 of millions of young trees annually by unneces- 

 sary fires is the thing calling for first attention. 

 If this destruction can be checked or wholly 

 prevented, the logical thing to do is to take 

 every possible measure to that end. 



While this is going on it is hard to see an\ 

 valid reason why tree planting should not pro- 

 ..eed. There are vast denuded districts from 

 which no natural growth can be reasonably ex- 

 pected. The forest service is justified in experi- 

 menting with seed in those areas, whether it 

 comes from Arkansas or Argentina. Monitor. 



The Standard Oil Company will probably 

 spent several thousand of dollars in Michi- 

 gan next spring and summer, in the interests 

 of good roads. 



