52 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



overlook. We cannot stop the cutting of timber, because 

 we need the material, but we must take steps to insure 

 a better utilization of what we have, and a future re- 

 placement. 



"For purposes of administration, I suggest the division 

 of the state into ten forestry areas. Each of these areas 

 should be placed under the supervison of an experienced 

 forester, acting under the direction of the Division of 

 Lands and Forests of the Conservation Commission in 

 the same way that district forest rangers in the Forest 

 Preserve counties now administer their forest areas. 

 With this organization, the work to be accomplished 

 would be as follows: 



"i. Forest Protection. This is fundamental in all 

 forest work, and is absolutely indispensable if invest- 

 ments in forest property are to be safeguarded. Experi- 

 ence in the Adirondack and Catskill sections has 

 demonstrated that this protection can be secured by 

 the proper organization of a fire fighting machine. The 

 forester in each of the districts of the state would effect 

 such an organization. 



"The protection of forested areas from the ravages of 

 disease and insects should be an important function of 

 the forester. For the last three years the Conservation 

 Commission has been engaged in the detection and eradi- 

 cation of white pine blister rust in the state at large, as 

 well as in the Forest Preserve counties, and has carried 

 on a systematic study for the permanent control of this 

 disease, in co-operation with the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. As a result of eradication work and 

 studies, it has been decided that white pine, which is the 

 most valuable timber crop of the entire state, can be 

 successfully grown in the future if proper administra- 

 tive steps are taken to protect it from the blister rust. 

 The division of the state into ten districts, with a forester 

 in each, will provide the machinery for making this 

 protection effective. The forester will also be able to 

 give much advice and assistance to private land owners 

 regarding the protection of their forest crops from other 

 diseases and from insect attacks. 



"2. Forest Survey. The timber needs of the war 

 strongly emphasized our great lack of information re- 

 garding forestry resources, and indicated clearly the need 

 for a careful survey of such resources, as one of the first 

 steps in a comprehensive plan for forest development. 

 An inventory of forestry resources should be made in 

 order that adequate information may be available for 

 working out the details of a proper plan of management 

 of forest lands. Besides the inventory of standing tim- 

 ber resources, a comprehensive soil survey of the state 

 should be made, for the purpose of determining the lands 

 fit for agriculture, and those that should be used for 

 permanent forestry purposes. 



"3. Reforesting. There are two types of forest land 

 in this state: One has some sort of forest cover, and 

 the other has practically none. Reforesting of the non- 

 forested area is vital to the welfare of the state. The 

 forest is a crop. This is a truth which we have failed 

 to realize while we have exploited with a lavish hand the 

 free gift of nature accumulated through the vast un- 



measured past. Already the Commission is operating 

 six state nurseries, from which each year between eight 

 and ten million trees are distributed for reforestation of 

 denuded land. At the present time between four and 

 five million of these trees are being planted upon state 

 owned land of the Forest Preserve, while the remaining 

 four or five million are distributed free of charge to 

 state institutions and at cost of production to private land 

 owners throughout the state. The plan for forest de- 

 velopment accordingly contemplates a further develop- 

 ment of this system, with enlargement of the state 

 nurseries, and with increased attention on the part of the 

 foresters to the planting of the trees. This work of 

 wide-spread reforestation would be directed to several 

 ends. 



"The development of community forests in New York 

 State is already under way, and much interest has been 

 shown in the planting of forests on lands owned by 

 municipalities, townships, counties, and school districts. 

 For example, lands which the counties have acquired 

 through the non-payment of taxes, lands which are owned 

 or have been given to cities or villages, lands owned by 

 municipalities, such as water works, and state land ac- 

 quired through non-payment of taxes and foreclosure 

 of loan commission mortgages, can very readily be made 

 productive by forest planting. In many isolated cases, 

 such lands have already been reforested with trees from 

 the state nurseries, and it should now be one of the im- 

 portant activities of the district forester to make this 

 wide-spread and effective on a broad state basis. 



"Highway planting is important, and has for years 

 been recommended by the State Department of High- 

 ways. Appropriate trees should be planted along state 

 roads, not only for the purpose of increasing their scenic 

 beauty, but also for conserving a proper amount of mois- 

 ture by shading the roads, thus preventing the deteriora- 

 tion of the highways. The forester in each district could 

 prepare the necessary plans, supervise the work of plant- 

 ing the trees, and see that after planting they are properly 

 protected, this work, of course, being done in co-operation 

 with the State Department of Highways. 



"Increased interest is being taken in the care of existing 

 shade trees, and in the increase of shade trees for the 

 future. The district foresters could give a certain 

 amount of advice to the communities in regard to this 

 matter, and assist in the organization of shade tree asso- 

 ciations, thus adding materially to the welfare of 

 the state. 



"4. Scientific Cutting. The average owner of timber 

 land, and particularly the owner of the farm woodlot, 

 does not fully understand the proper method of cutting, 

 thinning, or selection of trees to be taken or left upon 

 the land, in order that the greatest net return may be 

 had from the land throughout successive years and gen- 

 erations. It is accordingly of the utmost importance that 

 there be established a proper silvicultural treatment of 

 woodlands. The private owners should be shown how to 

 differentiate between useful and weed species, thereby 

 bringing their lands to a far higher state of productivity 

 of useful kinds of wood. The farm woodlot can be 



