NEW YORK'S FORESTRY PROGRAM 



53 



greatly improved by proper cutting, while at the same 

 time a profit is realized. 



"5. Marketing. The marketing of various forest 

 products is at present not working to the advantage of the 

 people of the state. Logs are sawed at mills without a full 

 conception of the needs of the market, and the products of 

 valuable forest trees are thereby materially reduced in 

 value. The collection of information throughout the state 

 as to the demands of the market and the distribution of 

 this information among the producers of timber would 

 jointly benefit the producer of the timber, the manu- 

 facturer, and the ultimate consumer. 



"6. Forest Recreation. Within the last few years 

 it has come to be realized more clearly than ever before 

 that one of the most important uses of great forest areas 

 is their recreational use. In fact, so important has this 

 use become in the Forest Preserve counties that the 

 business of caring for vacationists far exceeds even the 

 lumber business itself, in the capital invested in it, in the 

 wages paid, and in the annual turnover. Demands for 

 maps and guide books have been insistent, and never 

 before have the people manifested such a deep interest 

 in the recreational facilities of the forests. Each year 

 large numbers of permits are issued for camps upon 

 state land, while the number who camp for short periods 

 without permits is far greater. This interest in healthful 

 out-of-door recreation has become a national characteris- 

 tic, and is being met by the Federal government in all 

 of the great national parks by the creation of a special 

 department for attention to the needs of vacationists. 

 The administration of the state-owned Forest Preserve 

 for vacationists is now an important function of the Con- 

 servation Commission. In addition, the Commission has 

 jurisdiction over the Cuba Reservation in Allegany 

 County, which, by the leasing of its cottage sites, pays an 



annual net revenue. While the district foresters in the 

 Forest Preserve counties would necessarily give more 

 attention to the recreational development of their terri- 

 tories than the foresters in other counties where state 

 land is not located, it is nevertheless true that the for- 

 esters in every district could do much to stimulate prope' 

 development of forest recreation throughout the state, 

 and distribute information regarding the recreation ad- 

 vantages of the Forest Preserve. 



"Free Trees for Reforestation. In addition to the ad- 

 ministrative measures outlined above, I believe that the 

 state should supply trees for reforestation free of charge 

 to private land owners, under agreements with the land 

 owners that the trees will be properly planted and 

 cared for. 



"Constructive Forest Taxation. I believe also that our 

 forest taxation laws should be revised so that the private 

 land owner may be encouraged to permit his forest crop 

 to grow to maturity. 



"A full summary of the benefits that will accrue to 

 New York State upon the adoption of a broad plan for 

 forest development will reach into practically every phase 

 of the life of the people. Hardly an industry can be 

 named, which is not in one way or another dependent 

 upon supplies of wood. With the development of our 

 water resources, the need for wood supplies will be even 

 greater. A decrease in the production of wood products 

 and a relocation of mills elsewhere will all tend to in- 

 crease the cost of products to the consumer. We must 

 accordingly maintain and develop our forests, and thus 

 protect our industries, and employ our labor. We must 

 insure permanency in industry, and not allow parts of 

 the Empire State to become deserted villages. This is a 

 social and economic problem, which a broad plan of 

 forest development can do much to solve." 



LANDOWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS FAVOR FORESTRY 



THE following account has been only recently 

 received by American Forestry of an important 

 meeting held in New Orleans on September 4: 

 Managers of landowners' associations in a number of 

 Southern States held an important meeting in New 

 Orleans, recently. Those in attendance were: George 

 R. Wheeler, manager, South Carolina Landowners' 

 Association, Charleston, South Carolina; W. A. McGirt, 

 vice-president and general manager, North Carolina 

 Landowners' Association, Wilmington, North Carolina ; 

 F. H. Abbott, secretary, Georgia Landowners' Associa- 

 tion, Waycross, Georgia ; Dr. W. F. Blackman, manager, 

 Florida Cattle Tick Eradication Committee, Jacksonville, 

 Florida ; C. S. Ucker, executive vice-president, Southern 

 Settlement and Development Organization, Baltimore, 

 Md., and A. G. T. Moore, director, Cut-Over Land Utili- 

 zation Department, Southern Pine Association, New 

 Orleans. Mr. H. E. Blakeslee, chairman of the organi- 

 zation committee, Mississippi Landowners' Association, 

 Gulfport, Mississippi, was also present, and his organi- 

 zation has since then, come formally into existence. All 



of these organizations are directing their efforts toward 

 the development of the resources of the South, as a 

 means toward the improvement of the value of the lands 

 owned by their respective organizations. Their activities 

 take the form of substantial backing of the movements for 

 good roads, tick eradication, improvement of rural con- 

 ditions, etc. Upon request of Mr. Ucker, State Forester 

 R. D. Forbes, of the Louisiana Department of Conser- 

 vation, laid before the meeting the forestry work which 

 is being done by Louisiana. Mr. Ucker's attitude toward 

 forestry and fire protection had been previously stated in 

 correspondence with Mr. Forbes as follows : 



"Personally, I have long since reached this conclusion, 

 that the home of the long-leaf yellow pine and the slash 

 pine, of the naval stores, turpentine and resin, that is 

 the South Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain area from 

 south side Virginia to the Gulf coast of Texas, would 

 reforest itself in a very few years, naturally, if it were 

 not for the continued fires, and on the contrary, if we can 

 protect all of that area by co-ordinated Federal and 

 State effort from fires for a period of five or ten years, 



