4.vS 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



STATE NEWS m 



CALIFORNIA 



Tl 1 \T camping, now recognized as a 

 national pastime, has reached its high- 

 est development in the National Forests 

 of California, is the opinion expressed by 

 District Forester Paul G. Redington. For 

 proof, Redington points to the fact that in 

 California, where the free automobile camp- 

 ground originated, there are today a greater 

 number of more attractive mountain camp- 

 grounds than in any other one State. 



'There is, moreover, no question as to 

 the popularity of these campgrounds, nor 

 of the National Forests as California's rec- 

 reation grounds," he says, "for last year 

 more than 800,000 people camped within 

 them. And this year members of the camp- 

 ing fraternity will find new camps pre- 

 pared for their convenience. 



"In fact the demand for campgrounds 

 equipped with some of the simpler modern 

 conveniences has so far outstripped the 

 financial resources of the Forest Service 

 that we were threatened at one time with 

 the possibility of being unable to care for 

 this year's crop of recreationists. 



"Fortunately, however, public and semi- 

 public organizations including Boards of 

 Supervisors, Chambers of Commerce, Au- 

 tomobile and Motor Car Dealers' Associa- 

 tions, and even, in some cases, individual 

 motor car dealers, realizing the big oppor- 

 tunity for public service, have come to our 

 aid. In the last two months, some $10,000 

 has been contributed from such sources and 

 the work of installing the new camps is 

 now progressing in full swing." 



LOUISIANA 



A SPECIAL legislative committee of the 

 Louisiana Forestry Association, besides 

 taking the action referred to in the edi- 

 torial section of this issue, also approved 

 changes in the present reforestation law 

 of the State, liberalizing several of its 

 terms. The present law permits a land 

 owner whose holdings are not assessed at 

 more than $5 an acre to enter into a con- 

 tract with the State Department of Con- 

 servation requiring the owner to reforest 

 his lands ; in return for the owner's effort 

 at timber growing, the State agrees to 

 reduce the taxes upon the land to $1 an acre 

 for a period of 30 to 40 years, and to keep 

 them at this level throughout the con- 

 tract period. The amendments proposed 

 raise the $5 limitation to $10, and permit 

 contracts for as short a term as 15 years. 

 The assessment placed upon the land under 

 a 15-year contract is $3.50, however, and is 

 reduced by 50c. for each 5-year period in 

 excess of 15 years, down to the present 

 rate of $1 per acre for 40 years. Other 

 minor changes in the laws were also ap- 

 proved. 



The legislative committee which made the 

 above recommendations for amendments 

 and additions to the forestry laws was au- 

 thorized and appointed at the spring field 

 meeting of the Louisiana Forestry Associa- 

 tion held at Urania, Louisiana, on May 6. 

 On that day about 200 persons were the 

 guests of President Hardtner, of the For- 

 estry Association at an open-air meeting 

 and picnic lunch near Urania. The meeting 

 which was the most successful in the his- 

 tory of the Louisiana Forestry Association, 

 was featured by addresses by President 

 Hardtner, M. L. Alexander, Commissioner 

 of Conservation, State Forester E. O. 

 Siecke, of Texas, R. C. Bryant, President 

 of the Society of American Foresters, Pro- 

 fessor J. G. Lee, of the State University, 

 and Miss C. C. Dorman, Chairman of the 

 Forestry Committee of the Louisiana Fed- 

 eration of Women's Clubs. Before and 

 after the meeting, inspection trips were 

 made of the reforestation and experimental 

 work being done at Urania by Mr. Hardt- 

 ner, the State Department of Conservation, 

 and the United States Forest Service. The 

 senior class of the Yale Forest School, 

 which is undergoing its final training at 

 Urania, were among the many interested 

 guests of the association. 



At the business meeting in the afternoon, 

 President Hardtner and Secretary R. D. 

 Forbes were unanimously re-elected, and 

 vice-presidents and an executive council, 

 together with special committees, were new- 

 ly named, after an interim of three year's 

 comparative inactivity in association 

 affairs, due to the war. 



The Louisiana legislature is now in ses- 

 sion at Baton Rouge, and with the Hon. 

 John M. Parker, a life-long conservationist, 

 in the governor's chair, prospects are very 

 bright for the progress of forestry in 

 Louisiana. A feature of the new governor's 

 financial program, whereby large additional 

 revenues are to be raised for the support 

 of a Great Agricultural College and bet- 

 tered state institutions, is the 2 per cent 

 levy advocated by Gov. Parkei on all of 

 the natural resources of the state. This 

 levy is to be placed upon these resources at 

 the time of their utilization, and the revenue 

 derived is expected to be about $3,000,000. 

 In the case of forest products, the 2 per cent 

 tax is levied upon stumpage valuations at 

 the time of cutting, and it is anticipated that 

 between $400,000 and $500,000 will be raised 

 in this way. The present tax upon forest 

 products, which was the first levied by any 

 state in the Union, amounts to only about 

 $65,000 a year. At present, one-fifth of the 

 so-called severance tax on forest products 

 goes to the support of the forestry work of 

 the Louisiana Department of Conservation, 

 and while the same ratio may not be main- 



tained with the greatly increased tax, the 

 new governor has announced himself in 

 favor of a substantial appropriation for 

 forestry work. The governor's 2 per cent 

 tax on natural products is very popular, 

 and has been agreed to by all of the large 

 users of natural products, including not 

 only the lumbermen, but the oil and gas 

 interests. It is not likely, therefore, that 

 the governor's program will meet with any 

 substantial opposition in the legislature. 



NEW JERSEY 

 HPHE New Jersey Department of Con- 

 servation and Development has just 

 published an attractive and well illustrated 

 circular entitled "Why Forestry in New 

 Jersey," which presents the subject of for- 

 estry in a popular form. 



It aims to bring about a greater apprecia- 

 tion of the latent value of the State's wood- 

 land, to the end that it may be protected 

 from fire and abuse, and developed by prop- 

 er management into a profitable resource. 



Attention is called to the State Forests 

 in North and South Jersey, which are main- 

 tained for the purpose of demonstrating the 

 practicability and benefits of forestry prac- 

 tice. The public is encouraged to seek 

 State aid in woodland improvement, forest 

 planting, marketing of products, as well 

 as in the planting and care of shade trees. 



NEW YORK 



^TVTEVER before in America has there 

 been such a popular interest in fores- 

 try as is shown in the determination of New 

 York State communities to plant nearly a 

 quarter of a million trees in public forests 

 this spring," said Warren B. Bullock, Direct- 

 or of Forest Extension at The New York 

 State College of Forestry. "This college 

 alone has all it can do with public planting 

 this spring, and in the supervision of several 

 private projects of importance. Here is the 

 list of work already scheduled to be super- 

 vised by the foresters from this institution : 

 In Otsego County, the township forest idea 

 will be started with the planting of 50,000 

 trees, in several localities, with an addi- 

 tional planting of 50,000 by a private owner 

 who wants to do his share toward improv- 

 ing the county. Chenango County is also 

 to have public forests, and plans to plant 

 nearly 50,000 trees this spring. It already 

 has had an acreage given in various parts 

 of the county for five times this number of 

 trees, but the work will be done in annua! 

 installments. Herkimer County will plant 

 probably as many trees, in scattered small 

 tracts. 



"Malone will plant the first tract in what 

 will be a big city forest, planted as are those 

 of the southern counties, to produce a 

 future cash revenue to the public, and its 

 first year's planting will be 40,000 trees. 



"The college itself is completing an ar- 

 boretum of 20,000 trees within the city of 

 Syracuse, and will supervise the planting 

 of 30,000 trees for a lumberman who want 

 to try forestry at Lacona. 



