A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 743 



1874. Illinois law authorized counties to offer bounties for forest planting. 



1875. Idaho Territory law to encourage forest planting through tax exemption. 



1876. Minnesota made an appropriation to promote the objects of the Minnesota 



Forest Association, which offered premiums for tree planting. Reports 

 showed 10 million trees planted in 1876 and estimated 1877 planting of 

 another 10 million. 



Colorado constitution provided that the legislature "shall enact laws to 

 prevent the destruction of, and to keep in good preservation, the forests 

 upon the lands of the State, or upon lands of the public domain the con- 

 trol of which shall be conferred by Congress upon the State." 



Colorado constitutional convention memorialized Congress reciting the 

 calamitous consequences of forest destruction, the lack of Federal pro- 

 tection of, care for, or interest in the forests of the public domain in 

 Colorado, and the need for forest planting in the treeless parts of the State 

 if it were to be redeemed for agriculture and populated; and praying 

 that the State be given control not only of "all the Government forests 

 on our mountains but also at least one fourth of all the Government 

 lands on our plains." 



Federal law passed inaugurating provision for forestry investigations in the 

 United States Department of Agriculture the origin of the present 

 Forest Service. 



1877. Southern Pacific Railroad undertook experiments in tree planting. 

 Washington Territory law to encourage forest planting in two counties 



in the treeless portion of the State through tax exemption. 

 Wyoming Territory law to encourage the artificial establishment of timber 



growth through tax exemption. 

 Recommendations by the Secretary of the Interior that all public domain 



timberlands be permanently reserved and placed under administration 



for forestry purposes. 



Connecticut made provision for an inquiry and report upon forestry. 

 Connecticut law to encourage forest planting through tax exemption. 



1878. Massachusetts law to encourage forest planting through tax exemption. 

 Rhode Island law to encourage forest planting through tax exemption. 



1879. Nebraska law to encourage forest planting through bounty. 



1881. Colorado exempted from taxation increased value of irrigated lands due to 



tree planting. 

 New Hampshire created a temporary commission of inquiry. 



1882. Vermont created a temporary commission of inquiry. 



Massachusetts authorized towns and cities to establish municipal forests. 

 New Mexico Territory law to encourage forest planting through tax exemp- 

 tion. 



1883. New York law prohibited further sales of State lands. (Through acqui- 



sition under tax sales the State holdings had risen from less than 40,000 

 acres in 1873 to more than 700,000 acres.) 



1884. New York appointed committee of experts as a commission of inquiry. 



This list shows 



(1) That shortly after the Civil War a very general belief prevailed 

 that public action was needed on behalf of forestry. 



(2) That the major objective during this period was to promote 

 forest planting (then often called " timber culture", "tree culture", 

 "forest culture", and even "forest orcharding"). 



(3) That the interest in this was keenest in the prairie region, but 

 was by no means absent in the eastern part of the country where the 

 natural timber growth was originally everywhere abundant. 



It is worth while to ask what were the impelling forces back of the 

 forestry movement in its formative period. 



REASONS FOR WANTING PUBLIC FORESTRY 



Sixty years and more ago fear of an impending timber shortage and 

 a supposition that the forests of the country were being very rapidly 

 swept away were widely prevalent. Local shortages had actually 



168342 33 vol. 



