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AMERICAN FORESTRY 





VOL. 27 



FEBRUARY, 1921 



NO. 326 



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EDITORIAL 



FOREST PROGRAM REACHES CONGRESS 



/~\N December 22, 1920, Congressman Snell, of New 

 " York, introduced in the House of Representatives a 

 bill (H. R. 15, 327) "to provide through co-operation 

 between the Federal Government, the States, and owners 

 of timberlands for adequate protection against forest fires, 

 for reforestation of denuded lands, for obtaining essential 

 information in regard to timber and timberlands, for ex- 

 tension of the National Forests, and for other purposes, 

 all essential to continuous forest production on lands 

 entirely suitable therefor." This bill aims to put into 

 effect the so-called "coalition forest program" agreed 

 upon last fall by representatives of the American Fores- 

 try Association, lumber and wood-using industries, and 

 others, and more recently endorsed by the Western For- 

 estry and Conservation Association and the California 

 White and Sugar Pine Association. 



Congressman Snell's bill aims at two main objects, 

 the development with Federal co-operation and financial 

 assistance of adequate forest fire protection and forest 

 renewal in the various States, and the material extension 

 of Federal forest ownership and production. In order 

 to secure the first of these objects the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture is authorized and directed to recommend for each 

 forest region the requirements essential for the protec- 

 tion and continuous production of timber on timbered 

 and cut-over lands, to co-operate with the various States 

 in bringing such requirements into effect, and to make a 

 survey of the forest resources of the United States. 

 The sum of $2,000,000 is provided for these purposes of 

 which not less than $1,000,000 is to be used exclusively 

 for forest protection and renewal in co-operation with 

 the States. Such co-operation is to be contingent on at 

 least equal expenditures by the States and the Secretary 

 of Agriculture is authorized to withhold co-operation 



from any State which does not comply in legislation or 

 administrative practice with the requirements which he 

 may determine to be essential. 



As a means of achieving the second object, the acqui- 

 sition by the Federal Government of lands chiefly suit- 

 able for forest production, irrespective of whether or not 

 they are on the watersheds of navigable rivers, is pro- 

 vided for, with an appropriation of $10,000,000 a year 

 for five years. Provision is also made for the extension 

 of the National Forests by the acquirement of forest 

 lands not now owned by the Federal Government in ex- 

 change for equal values of National Forest land or tim- 

 ber or assignable certificates for timber; and $250,000 a 

 year is proposed for the classification of all federally 

 owned lands not now embraced in the National Forests 

 or National Parks, with a view to the inclusion of those 

 chiefly valuable for timber production or watershed pro- 

 tection within the National Forests. Finally, provision 

 is made for forest research of all kinds, including the 

 establishment of experiment stations, by an appropriation 

 of $1,000,00 a year, and a similar amount is provided 

 for the establishment of forest nurseries and the sowing 

 and planting of denuded lands within the National 

 Forests. 



A comprehensive forest program representing the views 

 of a wide variety of interests has thus reached the stage 

 of pending legislation. A National Forestry Program 

 Committee has been organized to push the measure and 

 every effort will be made to secure favorable action at 

 the earliest possible date. The passage of the proposed 

 legislation would mark a tremendous advance in the 

 handling of our forest problems. It deserves and should 

 receive the active support of every citizen sincerely in- 

 terested in the perpetuation of our forest resources. 



TWENTY YEARS OF SERVICE 



A N event of more than usual significance in the forestry 

 -^*- world was the recent celebration by the alumni of 

 the Yale Forest School of the twentieth anniversary of 

 the founding of the School. The meeting was unique in 

 two important respects it commemorated twenty years 

 of service on the part of the oldest forest school in con- 

 tinuous operation in this country, and it brought together 

 more professional foresters than have ever before been 

 assembled in one place. Nearly 100 alumni, or approxi- 

 mately 20 per cent of the total number, returned to 



New Haven to renew old friendships, to learn first hand 

 of the progress made by their alma mater during the 

 decade since the last reunion, and to pledge their support 

 in helping the School to realize its plans for a still great- 

 er future. 



The importance to the country as a whole of a body 

 of professional foresters such as that represented at 

 the Yale reunion is difficult to overestimate. Americans 

 as a class have been slow to realize the benefits of pro- 

 fessional training for public service and to take ade- 



