84 



A third element which holds direct relationship to all the people and 

 which cannot be ignored relates to health and recreation. Year by year 

 more individuals and families seek the open woods for vacation purposes, 

 and to these must be added the great numbers of honest hunters and fisher- 

 men who -work hard fifty weeks in the year that they may enjoy two 

 weeks of real life next to the ground in some great open woodland area. 

 Nowhere may this recreation be had with less expenditure of money and 

 energy than in state-owned land, and being the people's land they should 

 have the right so to use it. All this may be done without interfering in 

 any way with the use of the land for timber production or power. 



It would therefore seem to be sound economic policy for the three 

 states here represented to determine at once some comprehensive plan for 

 state ownership and state regulation of land for public uses, adapted to 

 their respective conditions. The time to do it is now. The insistency of 

 the demand is such that delay is but deferring the problem, more easy of 

 solution now than later when the pressure will be greater and the competi- 

 tion more intense. You will no doubt find it more difficult to accomplish 

 the result among the level farm lands of these states than would be the 

 case on the Atlantic seaboard or in the Rockies, but the greater the obstacles 

 the greater the victory in overcoming them. It may be necessary and ex- 

 pedient to apply here in the first instance a form of state regulation for 

 privately owned woodlands, as is proposed in the plan of my good friend 

 Colonel Graves. It may amount to an expropriation of all suitably located 

 private woodland holdings, placing them, if not at once into state owner- 

 ship, at least under state management and control ; and all this on the 

 theory that the interest of the public is paramount. Should such conduct 

 seem like an invasion of the sanctity of old-time private rights, we must 

 remember that new problems demand new solutions and the precedents of 

 the past may not always be found to be safe guides for the future. (Ap- 

 plause) 



THE CHAIRMAN: As I said before, I was very interested in Mr. 

 Williams' paper although I notice that conditions in Pennsylvania are quite 

 different from those in our part of the country, but I feel as though he has 

 made a number of suggestions that we can use. Now this is open for dis- 

 cussion but the hour is very late. 



LT.-COL. GRAVES : I feel that these papers and the whole subject 

 should be discussed pretty freely and thoroughly at this time and I suggest 

 if we do not have time for discussion now that we meet here promptly at 

 two o'clock and take these subjects up before we proceed with the program 

 of the afternoon. 



THE CHAIRMAN : If this is agreeable to you, gentlemen, that is what 

 we will do. And now I want to say just a few words in regard to Pro- 

 fessor Stanley Coulter, who will address us this afternoon. He is a mem- 

 ber of our board of whom we are extremely proud. He probably knows 

 more about forestry than any other member of our board. He is not pres- 

 ent this morning, so I feel free to say these things about him he has 

 something worth while to say to us, something of interest, and so I want 

 all of you to hear him this afternoon. 



Some announcements were made by Mr, Lfeber. 



