AMERICAN FORESTRY 



redwood forests now left to be preserved as National 

 and State Parks for the enjoyment not only of this, but 

 of all future generations. These redwoods lie in Hum- 

 bolt, Del Norte, and Mendocino Counties in northern 

 California along the route of the new State Scenic High- 

 way. Many of them tower 300 feet into the air, the tall 

 est of living things. Many of them have witnessed the 

 coming and going of untold generations of men. The 

 opening of the Scenic Highway has made them for the 

 first time readily accessible to the general public, and at 

 the same time has emphasized the imminence of their 



complete destruction by commercial interests. The ob- 

 ject of the Save the Redwoods League to preserve 

 adequate areas of these majestic trees in National and 

 State Parks, as well as to establish memorial groves and 

 to protect the redwoods and other timber along the 

 Scenic Highway, deserves the heartiest support. The 

 two Sequoias, the redwood and the bigtree, remnant> of 

 a species that once flourished in many parts of the 

 world, are now the unique possession of the United 

 States. They are a heritage that should be preserved 

 for the enjoyment of generations yet to come. 



FOREST EXPERIMENT STATIONS 



FOR over a year the American Forestry Association 

 has been endeavoring to further forest research in 

 the United States through the estab.is vent of a com- 

 prehensive series of properly manned : rid adequately 

 equipped forest experiment stations. 



European countries long ago recognized the necessity 

 of experimental work as a basis for the intelligent man- 

 agement of their forests. Agricultural experiment Eta- 

 tions in the United States have proved their value 

 through the development of better methods and increased 

 yields. The most progressive industrial organizations 

 have ackuowledged the importance of research by estab- 

 lishing research laboratories as private enterprises. For- 

 est experiment stations are as necessary to forest man- 

 agement. They will furnish the basis for better methods 

 of planting trees, of securing natural young growth on 

 cut-over and burned-over areas, of increasing the rate 

 of growth and yields of our existing forests, and of pro- 

 tecting them from the ravages of fire, disease and in- 

 sects. If our forests are to be effectively perpetuated as 

 sources of the wood so universally used in manifold 

 forms in American economic life and as conservers of 

 the water so essential to agricultural development on 

 irrigated lands, the best methods for handling them must 

 be determined by thoroughly organized and systematically 

 conducted research. 



Each important forest region of the United States 

 should have an experiment station located within it, to 

 study the local problems. The plan which the Associa- 

 tion hopes to see adopted provides for ten such stations 

 so distributed that practically the entire permanent for- 

 est area of the country can be conveniently studied. It 

 includes a station for the northeastern States, one for 

 the Allegenies, one for the Lake States, one for the 

 southern pine forests of the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States, one for the Southern Appalachian hardwood 

 region, one for the Inland Empire, one for the central 

 Rocky Mountains, one for the southwest, one for Cali- 

 fornia, and one for the Pacific Northwest. 



Not only is the improved management of these forests 

 which can be made possible through research important 

 to the industries and communities directly dependent 

 upon thqm for their continued welfare and even exist- 

 ence, but also to the people situated far from the forests. 

 Those in the prairie regions, for example, receive a lanje 



part of the lumber necessary for building purposes of all 

 sorts from the southern pine forests of the Gulf States 

 and from the Douglas fir forests of the Pacific North 

 west. Even such regions as New England and the 

 Central States now receive a considerable share of their 

 timber from the South and West. 



During the sessions of last winter and spring bills 

 were introduced in both Houses of Congress providing 

 funds for the establishment of forest experiment stations, 

 under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture 

 through the Forest Service, in five of these regions, 

 namely, the Northeastern States, the Southern Appala- 

 chian Mountains, the Southern pine region, the Lake 

 States, and California, in the last two regions in co-opera- 

 tion with the Universities of Minnesota and California. 



The bills were referred to the Committees on Agri- 

 culture and Forestry, where they are still reposing, 

 awaiting a call to action. Many local people in various 

 regions took an active interest in these projects last year 

 but it was not sufficient to force them to the front. Are 

 we to secure their passage during the coming session of 

 Congress? It will require greatly increased efforts to 

 secure favorable consideration for these bills among the 

 many that are demanding early attention. 



Not only were these bills not acted upon last year 

 but the appropriation for forest investigations of the 

 Forest Service, an item in the Agricultural Appropriation 

 Bill, was cut more than a third. As a result the experi- 

 mental work at the Forest Service experiment stations 

 which have been established on a small scale for several 

 years in Arizona, Colorado, Washington, and Idaho, had 

 to be practically abandoned. This winter the Associa- 

 tion is working also to secure the re-establishment of 

 adequately supported forest experiment stations in these 

 four regions. This season's campaign is well started. 

 Encouraging responses have already been received, but 

 much more general and more active support must be 

 obtained in order to secure the introduction and passage 

 of measures to realize the establishment of these stations. 



Forest experiment stations are one of the essential 

 parts of a national plan to assure the perpetuation of the 

 forests. Their value should be evident to every user of 

 wood or its products whether city dweller or farmer, 

 whether he lives in the shade of the forest or in the 

 cities hundreds of miles from the source of supply. This 



