220 COUNTY, TOWN, AND COMMUNITY FORESTS 



New York a law was passed providing for state contributions up to 

 $5000 per year to any county for land purchase and reforestation 

 and protection. That state has 34 county forests with a total acreage 

 of 18,000 acres. Other states having county forests are Illinois, with 

 7, and New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and New Hampshire. 

 In Wisconsin tax-delinquent lands revert to the county. A large share 

 of the county forests have been organized from this form of acqui- 

 sition. 



Several counties in California have made substantial progress in 

 forestry, notably Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. The first 

 has annually appropriated as much as $1,000,000 for forestry work, 

 chiefly fire protection for the nearby mountain watersheds. Fire fol- 

 lowed by floods has done enormous damage in parts of the Sierra 

 Madre and other ranges in southern California. Cooperation with 

 federal, municipal, and private agencies has been active and effective. 



An excellent opportunity for luncheon clubs, civic organizations, 

 chambers of commerce, boy scouts, and other local groups is provided 

 in the purchase, planting, protection, and operation of community 

 forests on the outskirts of nearly all our communities, except the 

 largest urban centers and those located in regions of rich agricultural 

 soils. More than 50,000,000 acres of land, located in nearly every 

 state, are idle and abandoned, some of which could be profitably de- 

 voted to county, town, or communal forests. Many water depart- 

 ments of communities have planted millions of trees about the water- 

 sheds to insure a clean and adequate supply of water for the future. 



