SPREADING THE FORESTRY IDEA 



By Philip W. Ayres 



Forester for the Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests 



TrIE Forestry niovenient has entered upon a new 

 phase in the United States. Returning from France, 

 Col. Henry S. Graves, while Chief of the United States 

 Forest Service, called together the foresters and lumber- 

 men of the country in a series of conferences throughout 

 the land, pointed out to them the serious depletion in 

 our timber supply, its unequal distribution, and asked 

 their advice and cooperation in finding adequate remedies. 

 This was followed by the publication in June, 1920, of 

 Col. Wm. B. Greeley's illuminating report to the United 

 States Senate on the timber supply. These efforts, taken 

 together, separate the new forestry from the old. They 

 gave us the facts about the standing timber in this coun- 

 try, its location, the amount of idle forest land in the 

 midst of a great population, and the enormous freight 

 rates that the Eastern states and cities are paying to 

 bring wood material from the West. 



Prior to these statements and publications, the for- 

 estry movement was based upon less definite knowledge 

 and made a less definite appeal to all citizens. Many 

 thoughtful people were interested in it; all were proud 

 of the achievements of the Forest Service on the great 

 forest reserves at the West ; it was realized by few that 

 these reserves will hardly meet the growing needs of the 

 West, and that in the five or six eastern states that still 

 export timber in excess of imports, the amount pro- 

 duced by all of them is not enough in a single year to 

 meet the needs in a state like New York or Pennsylvania. 

 Now the facts have been clearly stated for the whole 

 country. The inevitable timber shortage is clearly be- 

 fore us affecting our whole economic structure. The 

 situation is brought home to every business man and to 

 every citizen. There is a new patriotic appeal to the 

 whole country to arouse itself. 



Many new problems appear. What is the Government's 

 duty in providing timber for the people of the country ? 

 What must the states do? Has the time arrived when 

 the private owner has new obligations and responsibili- 

 ties to the pubHc? Who is to bear the burden of the 

 new systems and methods that are proposed ? How shall 

 we reforest 81,000,000 acres of waste and idle land in our 

 midst equal in area to all of New York and Pennsylvania, 

 or to the Kingdom of England, Scotland and Wales? The 

 time has come to change from the old destructive lum- 

 bering, and where shall the burden fall ? 



These problems and relationships give a new oppor- 

 tunity and a new importance to the several forestry as- 

 sociations. It is not surprising that states hitherto un- 

 organized, like Georgia, are starting new popular move- 

 ments to educate the people and to secure immediate leg- 

 islation. We welcome the new Georgia Forestry Asso- 

 ciation. The new forestry association in Maine has had 



two successful meetings at which thoughtful men have 

 emphasized the need for a wide awakening. The older 

 associations, like that in Pennsylvania which was the 

 first in the field, are organizing new branches. The call 

 for forestry associations as an educational force in 

 spreading the forestry idea has never been more clearly 

 apparent. An association is needed in every state, with 

 the American Forestry Association leading and inspiring 

 them all. The entire nation must be aroused to co- 

 operative action. 



It was in this spirit that the recent meeting of the So- 

 ciety for Protection of New Hampshire Forests occurred 

 at Keene, N. H., August 29 to 31. It brought together 

 a group of people equipped with the facts and acute in 

 suggestion and criticism of the methods to be adopted. 

 The State and National programs were considered. Col. 

 Greeley spoke in no uncertain terms of the need for a 

 National forest policy that will bring the Federal Gov- 

 ernment, the several states, and the individual land own- 

 ers and lumbermen all into close cooperation to meet the 

 ever-present demand for wood material. Dr. Henry S. 

 Drinker, newly appointed Forestry Commissioner in 

 Pennsylvania, and President of the Pennsylvania For- 

 estry Association, brought a statement of the situation 

 in the Middle Atlantic States. Mr. R. S. Kellogg, of 

 New York, spoke for the National Forestry Program 

 Committee on the Snell bill that is pending in Congress. 

 Mr. O. M. Porter, of New York, represented the Ameri- 

 can Paper & Pulp Association. Mr. D. L. Goodwillie, 

 of Chicago, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of 

 the United States, sent a message urging a great popu- 

 lar movement for the planting of trees. Elwood Wilson, 

 accomplished forester of the Laurentide Company, in 

 Quesbec, showed how the timber areas in Canada are 

 being mapped by airplane photographs and utilized by 

 Canadian manufacturers. He stated that there is no great 

 hope for the States in the definitely limited Canadian 

 supply. 



At this meeting the New England states were well rep- 

 resented. Philip P. Wells, president of the Connecticut 

 Forestry Association, spoke of the attack that certain 

 interests in New York State are making through the leg- 

 islature upon the National Waterpower Law. Professor 

 Terry, of Middlebury College, who has charge of 30,000 

 acres in the college forest, represented Vermont. Pro- 

 fessor Grose represented the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 College and the goodly college forest under his direction. 

 The new forest taxation law in Massachusetts was tersely 

 set forth by Harris A. Reynolds, the vigorous Secre- 

 tary of the Massachusetts Forestry Association, which 

 precipitated a very active discussion, for in New Hamp- 

 shire timber is still taxed under the old General Property 

 taxes of one hundred and fifty years ago. The Gov- 



