EDITORIAL 



A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESS 



SPEAKING at a banquet in honor of the Associa- 

 tion of State Foresters by the commercial club of 

 Hibbing, Minnesota, a few weeks ago, Henry C. Camp- 

 bell, Assistant Editor of the Milwaukee Journal, said : 

 "If I am in any way a judge of the public mind, 

 times have changed greatly for the better. There 

 is a new fine spirit in the land, and a better day 

 and a real opportunity for achievement are at hand. 

 In every state, however, the cause of forestry needs 

 leadership forceful, determined, constructive lead- 

 ership. In every state, the state forester is the 

 logical leader. I hope that he, forgetting the gloomy 

 past, will realize that the present is cheering, and 

 the future is bright indeed. Let him take heart 

 and buck up. The time to do big things is near. 

 The glory of doing them ! Shall it pass from one 

 and go to another?" 



These words convey a timely and heartening message 

 not only to state foresters but to foresters generally. 

 Disappointed and often discouraged at the seeming slow- 

 ness with which the public embraces forestry, the 

 average forester has had to struggle against a natural 

 drift towards passiveness a state of mind which holds 

 him self-centered upon his own particular tasks and 

 not only satisfied but preferring to be thus restricted in 

 his efforts. He has had to fight against an influence 

 which tends to dull his vision and to dampen his en- 

 thusiasm. Too often he has retired into a sort of tech- 

 nical shell and fallen apart from the slow current in- 

 stead of persistently doing his shift at the front to 

 help widen the channel for a larger, stronger and swift- 

 er current of public opinion. 



It is a dull forester, indeed, who does not recognize 

 that the success of his profession depends upon public 

 understanding, public sympathy, public confidence. Ig- 

 norance, as Mr. Campbell says, is the chief foe of for- 

 estry. No longer is the need of forestry a disreputable 

 issue. The great obstacle is public ignorance of that 

 need. The great task is to enlighten the public. Even 

 now, it means years of hard and persistent work on the 

 part of those competent to present forest subjects in 



their true importance and in their true perspective. 

 Road side planting, tree surgery and the like are legiti- 

 mate pursuits but unless wisely handled in an educa- 

 tional way, they are apt to give the public a misconcep- 

 tion of the real economic vitality of forestry. And 

 misconceptions are usually more difficult to correct than 

 plain ignorance. 



After all, it is the foresters who, having studied our 

 forest problems in their entirety, have the knowledge 

 which the public needs and wants. The press is the first 

 to feel the public pulse. Mr. Campbell knows whereof 

 he speaks when he says there is a new spirit in the 

 land. It is the almost universal spirit of interest in 

 forestry which one encounters nowadays wherever he 

 goes. The call is for leadership the leadership of 

 those who understand the country's forest needs. Do 

 foresters fully recognize their opportunity yes, their 

 responsibility. Every forester can be a leader in tell- 

 ing the public the story of his work and he can do it 

 without interfering one whit with his technical pursuits. 



Mr. Campbell says that one difficulty about forest 

 publicity is that the foresters who possess the power of 

 writing in a way that appeals to the popular mind are 

 too few while professional writers with the art of pop- 

 ular appeal and in addition a working knowledge of for- 

 estry are still fewer in number. So far as foresters are 

 concerned, the explanation probably is that they have 

 not made an effort to develop the art of writing for the 

 public. There is no good reason why they should not 

 be interesting writers. They are engaged in a work 

 which, for its public appeal and diversity of inter- 

 ests is unexcelled. The actual and potential sentiment 

 for constructive forest action in the country today rep- 

 resents an unlimited force. It invites leadership. With 

 a pen and a camera, every forester can, and should, be a 

 leader. And he will find that with few exceptions, the 

 press is his ally and his medium. 



But the forester who waits on ]niblic sentiment is a 

 follower. He is not giving his cause or his profession 

 the best that is in him. He is letting the other fellows 

 blaze the way. 



REFORESTATION IN THE MINNESOTA NATIONAL FOREST A 



SUCCESS 



i^HARGES that reforestation by the Government of 

 ^^ pine lands in the Minnesota National Forest has 

 been a failure, are clearly discredited by the Association 

 of State Foresters, whose members recently met at 

 Itasca Park, and, as a part of their meeting, visited the 



Minnesota Forest to examine conditions on the ground. 

 The party numbered some twenty-five or thirty forest- 

 ers from different parts of the United States and Can- 

 ada, and uix)n completion of their trip they passed the 

 following resolution : 



