FO.RESTRY MOVEMENT IN UNITED STATES. 401 



and the actions of the federal government no doubt 

 had also an indirect educational influence. 



With the establishment of the Division of For- 

 estry in the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture (1876-1885) an official centre was created for 

 supporting the forestry movement, and through the 

 organization of the American Forestry Congress 

 (changed later to American Forestry Association), 

 in which the officers of the Division of Forestry 

 naturally took a leading part, the sphere of in- 

 fluence was greatly enlarged. These two agencies 

 have moulded public opinion through the past 

 twenty or twenty-five years and brought about 

 the interest now taken in forestry matters. The 

 history of the establishment of these two agencies 

 may be read in the repeatedly cited public docu- 

 ment (H. R. Doc. No. 181, 55th Cong. 3d sess.) 

 and in the publications of the American Forestry 

 Association. 



The main tangible result of the educational cam- 

 paign of these agencies for a federal policy was the 

 inauguration of the forest reservation policy. 



The first suggestion of such a policy appeared 

 in 1876 with a bill (H. R. No. 2075) "for the pres- 

 ervation of the forests adjacent to the sources of 

 navigable rivers and other streams," which never 

 progressed farther than the pigeonhole of the 

 Public Lands Committee. 



Similar bills, introduced from time to time, 

 experienced the same fate in the same or other 



