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PARAGRAPH XXXI. 



HISTORY OF STATE FOREST POLICY IN THE 



UNITED STATES. 



It is not intended to give in this paragraph a detailed history 

 of the forest policy followed by the various states of the Union. 

 The forest policy, past and present, of the various states and 

 territories is given in detail in another part of "Forest Policy." 



At this point, it is necessary only to make a few historic 

 remarks on the salient features of state forestry in the past. 



The forestry problem of the United States is like the railroad 

 problem, the tariff problem, the water-way problem, and the 

 race problem an interstate rather than a state problem. 



The influence of the forests in one state extends directly and 

 indirectly over the adjoining states, and beyond them. Wood 

 goods are shipped from one state to the other; and it is safe 

 to say that the majority of the wood goods produced in one 

 state are consumed in another state. Similarly, the sources of our 

 rivers and their mouths belong in rare cases only to one and 

 the same state. It seems, as a consequence, as though the 

 federation, rather than the state, should be charged with the care 

 of American forestry. 



The Weeks Bill, mentioned in Paragraph XXIX, breaks for 

 the first time in the history of the nation with the principle of 

 non-interference by the nation in matters of state forestry. In 

 this innovation there are involved three new principles: 



1. Any "group of states" is authorized to form, by special 

 agreement or compact, a union of its own, not in conflict with 

 any law of the United States, for the purpose of conserving the 

 forests and the water supply. 



2. The Secretary of Agriculture is authorised (appropriation 

 $200,000) to co-operate with any such group of states, and also 

 with any individual state in the maintenance of a system of 



