Conservation at the Pan-American 

 Scientific Congress 



A MARKED feature of the Pan-American Con- 

 gress held recently at Washington, D. C, was the 

 correlation of work between departments having 

 sympathetic features. Thus the president of the Ameri- 

 can Forestry Association was asked to deliver an ad- 

 dress before the American Civic Association which held 

 its annual convention in conjunction with the Congress, 

 and in this address, after presenting the general for- 

 estry situation and the work of our association in the 

 promotion of forestry conditions, President Drinker par- 

 ticularly touched on the association's advocacy of the 

 creation of tree commissions and other civic organiza- 

 tions for the planting and care of trees, and on its edu- 

 cational campaign among the children of the country to 

 promote interest in the growth and care of our trees and 

 woodlands. 



In the Conservation Section the addresses included 

 several on forests and water power. Henry S. Graves, 

 Chief Forester of the United States, in a paper on "The 

 Forest Policy of a Nation," summed up his presentation 

 of the subject as follows : 



"A forest policy for a nation, then, as shown by the 

 experience of the United States, would be based on the 

 following considerations : 



"1. Private ownership cannot be counted upon to con- 

 serve the forests. 



"2. In its own protection a nation must take steps to 

 prevent forest destruction. 



"3. The forest land in agricultural regions should be 

 handled as a farm crop; timberlands at the headwaters 

 of streams should be owned or controlled by the public. 

 "4. Public lands should be segregated at least in a gen- 

 eral way according to their chief use before beginning 

 to dispose of them. 



"5. The cost of correcting mistakes is always very 

 great, as in buying back lands and in building works to 

 check erosion. 



"6. Public ownership does not retard development. 

 It insures permanent industry. Private ownership re- 

 sults in temporary occupancy followed by exhaustion and 

 depopulation. 



"7. Unless there is a strong organization of public 

 timber resources, their protection will remain largely a 

 dead letter. 



"In most of the South American countries the bulk 

 of the forests are still in public ownership and so every 

 opportunity is presented for a wise National Forest 

 policy." 



In an address on "Forest Problems and Economic De- 

 velopment in South America," Raphael Zon, Chief of For- 

 est Investigatipns of the Forest Service, said: "Before 

 the utilization of the forests of South America can be 



placed on a permanent basis, more knowledge is needed 

 as to the botanical identity of the species, their life his- 

 tories, and the best methods of management. This can 

 be accomplished only by forest investigations, experiment 

 stations, and efficient forest organizations for the protec- 

 tion and management at least of all public forests. The 

 experience of the United States and of other European 

 countries shows that such investigations, if properly con- 

 ducted, are indispensable to the intelligent utilization ot 

 the timber resources of a country." 



The system under which the National Forests are 

 used for grazing was outlined by Albert F. Potter, of 

 the United States Forest Service, in a paper on "Govern- 

 ment Control of Grazing on the Public Lands," as 

 follows : 



"1. Limitation in the number of stock grazed and the 

 portion of the year during which the range may be used. 



"2. Division of the range between the different kinds 

 cf stock and its owners. 



"3. Permits on a per capita basis instead of leases on 

 an acreage basis. 



"4. Free grazing for milch and work animals of 

 settlers and all animals used in operations upon the 

 forests. 



"5. Charges for ranging stock at moderate rates fixed 

 by the Government instead of at market values fixed by 

 competitive bid. 



"6. Preference to small owners and prior users. 



"7. Renewal of permits to purchasers. 



"8. Maximum limits to prevent monopoly. 



"9. Exchange in the use of private lands. 



"10. On and off permits for ranges only partially 

 within the forests. 



"11. Cooperative construction of range improvements. 



"12. Recognition of advisory boards to represent 

 users of the range in the adjustment of range matters." 



Dr. Elias Leiva Quiros, of Costa Rica, recommended 

 in his paper on forestry that all the Latin-American 

 countries interested in the conservation of forests pro- 

 mulgate forest codes, and that a general director of for- 

 ests be made part of the organization of the Ministry of 

 the Interior. He called attention to the danger of grant- 

 ing concessions ad libitum for the exploitation of forests, 

 and recommended that forest reserves be formed. 



In conclusion, he solicited of the Congress its approval 

 of the following declaration: 



First. That governments devote the greatest attention 

 possible to the forest problem. 



Second. That those governments of Latin-America 

 which have not already done so proceed to the formation 

 of a forest code and to the division of the limitation of 

 public forests. 



117 



