EDITORIAL 



367 



The proper solution of this problem demands attention. 

 The American public will not permit the administration 

 of the Forest Service to be rent asunder by wholesale 

 transfers of forest lands to the Interior Department un- 

 der the guise of creating National Parks which are parks 

 in name only. It is the fixed policy of the Forest Service 

 to protect scenic features, lake shores and camp sites 

 from spoliation and to develop to the fullest extent the 

 use of the forests for recreation, which is recognized as 

 the most valuable of all uses for such areas as are 

 endowed with especial features. Over most of the 160,- 

 000,000 acres of National Forest land this problem is 



being solved to the perfect satisfaction of all except for 

 the one element of advertising. 



There are probably other areas beside the existing 

 National Parks, whose exclusive use for park purposes is 

 justified by peculiar natural features. These will in time 

 be set aside as national parks. But to secure the har- 

 monious development of the entire park policy, there 

 should be created a Bureau in the Department of Agri- 

 culture, of equal rank with the Forest Service, which 

 should assume the care and management of these dis- 

 tinctly park areas. By this means, perfect harmony 

 and cooperation may best be secured and the legitimate 

 demands of every locality be determined and satisfied. 



STATE FORESTRY IN MARYLAND 



FOR many years, since forestry became a State and 

 National issue in this country, the attempt has been 

 made, repeatedly and in many sections, to have 

 Boards of Forestry and the Forest Departments of 

 various States consolidated with other interests. We 

 could almost term it absorption instead of consolidation, 

 for while forestry may continue to labor along with 

 a certain degree of success under or with fish, game, agri- 

 cultural or other fields of work, it never is the vital sub- 

 ject which may be expected when it is independently 

 conducted. 



It is most unfortunate that efforts made from one or 

 another motive, should ever be able to jeopardize work 

 satisfactorily carried on for years, work planned and con- 

 ducted by an out-and-out Forestry Service on a substan- 

 tial footing of its own. In Maryland, this year, a strong 

 attempt was made to have the status of the present Board 

 of Forestry, now in its eleventh year, absorbed by a new, 

 untried Board of Agriculture which had a few argu- 

 ments to favor it, and a great deal of experienced pro- 

 fessional opinion dead against it. 



Testimony of recognized experts in the profession was 



brought to bear upon this question before the legislative 

 bodies of the State, and the showing made proved so 

 conclusively that this absorption, if tolerated, could only 

 be a step in the wrong direction, that the move was at 

 once dropped by those who had been backing it. Next 

 a cut in appropriations was considered, until it was shown 

 that, even with the present general appropriation, funds 

 were insufficient to adequately carry on the field of work 

 open to the Board. Especially was it desired to secure 

 funds for fire protection, and the fact that the General 

 Assembly finally did vote $5,000 to this latter purpose, 

 in addition to a fair general appropriation measure, and 

 a smaller one for the care and improvement of a newly- 

 acquired State Reserve, is regarded as reasonably satis- 

 factory in a year when "economy and efficiency" were 

 made to figure in every bill and appropriation that was 

 passed. 



As for the proposed absorption, the prompt disposal 

 of it only adds to the weight of experienced and un- 

 biased opinion that forestry is sufficiently large, and ad- 

 mittedly vital enough, to have a department by itself. 



THE SPIRIT OF COOPERATION 



READERS of American Forestry will be inter- 

 ested in knowing more of that spirit of true 

 cooperation which is becoming so manifest in the 

 National Forests of the West, as evidenced by the sub- 

 stance of a letter to District Forester Riley at Denver 

 from Supervisor Langworthy of the Uncompahgre 

 Forest in Colorado. The letter, date May G, reads as 

 follows : 



"Upon a recent trip to the Cimarron district I was told 

 of the assistance rendered last summer by Mrs. E. A. 

 Duling on the Jackson fire which I consider worthy of 

 mention. 



"The Jackson fire was probably the most difficult to 

 control of any which has occurred on this forest. It 

 burned for eight days, fifteen men being employed to 

 extinguish it. Ridgeway, the point where supplies were 

 purchased, is 2iy 2 miles distant eight miles of wagon 

 road, the balance trail over Owl Creek Pass. The 



rangers on this forest carry quite a stock of supplies at 

 their stations, but so many men at the Jackson ranger 

 station soon caused a scarcity of some of the staples, and 

 the ranger 'phoned to the Duling ranch on Owl Creek 

 asking that someone be sent for food. Mrs. Duling 

 was alone at the time and instead of waiting for the 

 men folks to return and go to Ridgeway, which would 

 have caused a day's delay, she got together what she had 

 at the ranch, borrowed the balance from neighbors, 

 caught up horses, packed them in approved style, and 

 rode with the much needed supplies to the top of Owl 

 Creek Pass a stiff G-mile climb where she was met at 

 5 p. m. by a ranger. 



"Mrs. Duling is a typical Colorado girl a good rider, 

 a good shot, and knows how to pack, as evidenced by her 

 help at the Jackson fire. She is a fine type of American 

 womanhood, and has been a great help on many other 

 occasions." 



