180 FORESTRY INVESTIGATIONS U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



for such redemption, with a description of each tract as required by section one of this act, and thereafter such 

 lands shall not bo subject to f'irther taxation while the same .are owned by the Commonwealth. It shall be the duty 

 of the secretary of agriculture to keep a record in a book, to be especially provided for that purpose, of all the lands 

 so acquired by the Commonwealth, with full description of each tract, tlie character of the same, the date of 

 purchase, the price paid, when the title became absolute, or, if redeemed, the date of redemption. 



SEC. 5. The lands so acquired by the Commonwealth shall be under the control and management of the 

 department of agriculture, but assigned to the care of the division of forestry, and shall become part of a forestry 

 reservation system having in view the preservation of the water supply at the, sources of the rivers of the State, and 

 for the protection of the people of the Commonwealth and their property from destructive floods. 



SEC. 6. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. 



Approved the 30th day of March, A. D. 1897. 



AN ACT to secure State forestry reservations, anil ]irnviding fur the rx]imsos thereof. 



Be it enacted, etc.: 



SECTION 1. That a commission, to be composed of the commissioner of forestry, the chairman of the State 

 board of health, the deputy secretary of internal affairs, and two other persons, one of whom shall be a lawyer or 

 conveyancer of at least ten years' professional experience, and the other one a practical surveyor, to be appointed 

 by the governor, be hereby created. 



SEC. 2. The said commission shall, after examination, locate and report to the governor, or to tlie legislature if 

 it be in session, the following forestry reservations: 



(1) One of not less than forty thousand acres upon waters which drain mainly into the Delaware River. 



(2) One of not less than forty thousand acres upon waters which drain mainly into the Susquehanna Kiver 



(3) One of not less than forty thousand acres upon waters which drain mainly into the Ohio River. 

 Prorided, That each of these reservations shall be in ouo continuous area so far as the same is practicable. 

 SEC. 3. That the lands selected shall be of a character better suited to the growth of trees than to mining or 



agriculture, and that at least fifty per centum of the area of each reservation shall have an average altitude of not 

 less than six hundred feet above the level of the sea. 



SEC. 4. That the said commission shall have full power to take by right of eminent domain and condemn the 

 lauds it has selected for the purposes aforesaid as State reservations for the use and behoof of the Commonwealth, 

 and wherever it shall be necessary to have a recourse to a jury to assess the damages for any property to be taken 

 as aforesaid the said jury shall consist of such number and shall proceed, and their award shall be reviewed 

 and enforced, in the same manner as now provided by law for the taking of land for the opening of roads in the 

 respective counties in which said property is situated. And all the lands acquired by the State for public reserva- 

 tions by the action of said commission shall be paid for by the State treasurer, upon a warrant drawn by the auditor- 

 general of the Commonwealth, after approval by the governor. 



SEC. 5. The commissioners appointed under this act shall serve without compensation, except so far as the 

 officials designated hereby are compensated by the continuance of their salaries as such officials while serving as 

 commissioners; hut the necessary expenses of travel and all other necessary expenses incurred under the provisions 

 of this act shall be paid by the State treasurer, on the warrant of the auditor-general, after due certification. 



SEC. 6. Provided, That nothing herein contained shall authorize the taking, for the purpose of this act, of any 

 land held by any corporation created for the purpose of the preservation of forests. 



Approved the 25th day of May, A. D. 1897. 



The forest reservations provided by this law have been in part and will soon be all located. 

 It is already being realized that their area is too small and that increase at ouce is indicated. 



In North Carolina a similar provision to that in New Jersey has existed since 1891 in the laws 

 appropriating for the State geological survey, requiring of the same reports on the forest resources. 

 Three bulletins (Nos. 5, G, and 7) have been published, one on the "Forest, forest lauds, and 

 forest products of eastern North Carolina," another on "Forest tires: Their destructive work, 

 causes aud prevention," and the third giving a comprehensive survey of the " Timber trees and 

 forests of North Carolina." 



In the West Virginia legislature a well-considered bill was introduced last year providing for a 

 forest commission and State forest reserves. The State geological survey has functions similar to 

 that of North Carolina. 



In Ohio a forestry bureau was instituted in 1885, its functions being of an educational aud 

 advisory nature. It published four or five annual reports containing information on a variety of 

 subjects, but for a number of years these reports, and probably the bureau, have been discontinued. 



Michigan had a commission of inquiry, created in June, 1887, by constituting the State board 

 of agriculture a forestry commission for the purpose of formulating the needed legislation. The 

 report of this commission, published in 1888, remained without any active measure as a 

 consequence. 



