THE STATE'S RESPONSIBILITY IN A FOREST PROGRAM 



785 



adequate to meet our needs, somehow and in some way, 

 they must be forthcoming. 



It is my judgment that the only course that will make 

 for regrowth on an adequate scale is an appreciation on 

 the part of the public that sustained yield even in privately 

 owned forests is its concern and not wholly that of the 

 private owner, and a willingness on its part to work out 

 and put into operation a workable plan of cooperation 

 under which reforestation and protection on privately 

 owned forest land is a burden to be assumed by both the 

 public and the private owner but with the public exacting 

 the requirements essential to attain the object in view. 



// the public is te secure the benefits flowing from the 

 -anse tise of privately oivned forest lands it must offer 

 its cooperation and assistance to the extent of making it 

 economically practical to the private owner. 



As the growing of lumber cannot be left to private 

 initiative, authority imposed on the private owner of 

 forest property in order to attain the regrowth essential 

 for the perpetuation of our forest industries must come 

 through the nation or state. Mandatory laws, however, 

 imposed by either the nation or state, which place finan- 

 cial burdens on the private owners of fores't property 

 would be ineffectual in my judgment in attaining the 

 object desired. Our economic structure is built on the 

 inviolability of private property and just compensation 

 when such property is restricted in its use in order that 

 the public may benefit. // mandatory regulations are im- 

 posed on privately owned forests in order that the public 

 may benefit and at a financial loss to the owner, it is reas- 

 onable to ask the public to pay for the benefit received to 

 the extent of this financial loss. 



Although I see the danger in mandatory laws regulating 

 the management of privately owned forests if unwisely 

 applied, I see nothing but great good in such laws if wisely 

 applied. Mandatory regulation is essential in any ade- 

 quate forest program but such regidation must rest on 

 public assistance and cooperation. 



Generous public aid must be available to the private 

 owner in controlling the fire hazard attendant in growing 

 an inflammable crop which takes a generation or longer to 

 mature. Public aid must be available in the adjustment 

 of taxation in harmony with the nature of forest crops. 

 Public aid must be available in attaining regrowth by 

 modern silvicultural methods. In short, the public must 

 make it economically practical for the private owner lo 

 grow fully stocked stands of timber and not attempt to 

 coerce him in groiving them at a financial loss. 



The Snell bill emphasizes the cooperative principle and 

 the need for public assistance in establishing forestry 

 on privately owned timberlands. This bill as it is now 

 drawn does not recognize the mandatory princi])le as ap- 

 plicable to privately owned timberland. It recognizes, 

 however, that the nation, the state and lesser govern- 

 mental units must work together in attaining regrowth. 

 It is a good bill in many respects but in my judgment 

 has one serious defect. It does not recognize the funda- 

 mental necessity for public regulation of operations on 

 privately ox^'ned forest property. In providing for coop- 

 eration and general financial assistance to private forest 

 owners through the several states it does not provide 

 that the states before benefiting by its provisions shall 

 first pass regulatory state laws covering the important 

 forest districts within the state. 



In my judgment it is the function of the state to de- 

 termine the essential requirements for regrowth, to work 

 out the cooperation plan with the national government and 

 determine just compensation to private owners by the 

 public in the form of tax adjustment, fire prevention and 

 control, planting stock at cost and other assistance in 

 state-wide reforestation and improvement of cut-over 

 lands. When the public is willing to do its part, state 

 mandatory laws essential for regrowth adequate for our 

 future needs, will meet little opposition and on the whole 

 they will be effectively carried out. 



A PICTURE "PAINTED" WITH WOOD 



BY HARRIS SAMOINISKY 



JOHN T. PERKINS, of Wilmington, Delaware, has 

 completed one of the most unique pictures in the Uni- 

 ted States, in which he used 37 varieties of wood, collected 

 over a period of nearly forty years, with not a single drop 

 of paint used in the entire "])hotograph." The wonderful 

 work of art is 22 inches by 24 inches and required about 

 six months of steady work for its completion. 



The picture, called, "Pals," represents a scene of boy- 

 hood days, with the many kinds of wood inlaid to repre- 

 sent the scene. All coloring and variations of effect are 

 produced by the natural color of the various woods. The 

 picture consists of wood entirely, with a coat of shellac 

 over the surface. The principal figures in the picture are 

 the "Pals," a barefoot bf)y with worm can and fishing pole 

 and his dog looking up with an expression of inquiry. 



The boy is about to cross a brook, while behind is a land- 

 scape with roads and trees, sky and clouds. 



The idea came to the unusual artist, a skilled wood- 

 worker, while he was on a trip to Washington last year, 

 when he saw a wonderful work of sculpture. He thought 

 then that if a sculptor could accomplish such results with 

 stone, he should do as well with wood. Upon his return 

 he started to work on his picture with different bits of 

 vari-colored wood he had been collecting since 1882. The 

 'work is now on exhibition at the home of the artist. 



While no photograjih can do full justice to the picture, 

 owing to the many hues of wood contained and the va- 

 rious shadings, the representation given here will convey 

 some general idea of the work. The thirty-seven different 

 kinds of wood used are: African mahogany, amaranth, 



