EDITORIAL 



581 



Fortunately, Governor Phillip's statement was im- 

 mediately challenged by other speakers both at the de- 

 cennial celebration and at the reforestation conference 

 of the wood-using industries. Thus Colonel Greeley 

 came out with the flat-footed statement that, while the 

 growing of timber is a duty of the National Govern- 

 ment, "it is a responsibility that the States also share. 

 It seems to me that Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan 

 have an obligation to their own citizens, to their own 

 welfare, their own future taxable property, and future 

 industry to take an active hand in this proposition of 

 growing timber. I am for State Forests as well as Fed- 

 eral Forests." 



This is sound doctrine. Leaving altruism out of con- 

 sideration altogether, the States, from a purely selfish 

 point of view, have a profound interest in keeping their 

 forest lands productive. Idle lands create no riches. 

 Productive lands support a host of forest and wood- 

 using industries, and contribute in countless ways to 

 the welfare of the entire community. All experience 



contradicts Governor Phillip's assumption that forestry 

 is an unprofitable venture. Certainly those States which 

 have tried it have not found it so. Pennsylvania, with 

 its present State forest area of some 1,100,000 acres is 

 making active plans to increase this to 6,000,000 acres. 

 Massachusetts has just embarked on an ambitious pro-' 

 gram of forest acquisition. New York is steadily in- 

 creasing its holdings. 



To claim that State forestry is an unwise venture and 

 that the States have neither interest nor responsibility 

 in the conservation of their natural resources is to fly 

 in the face of both history and logic. To attempt to 

 put such dangerous doctrine into practice is to threaten 

 the prosperity of the very people whom it pretends to 

 protect. If Wisconsin is wise it will heed the experience 

 of other States and other countries by embracing the 

 first opportunity to enlarge its present holdings of State 

 forest lands and to adopt a comprehensive and progres- 

 sive program of State forestry in general. 



WHERE WE STAND IN FOREST RESEARCH 



rj^HE recent bulletin on North American Forest Re- 

 * search compiled by the Society of American Fores- 

 ters and published by the National Research Council 

 constitutes a real contribution to our forest literature. 

 Prepared primarily to serve as a clearing house of in- 

 formation on current investigative projects, it serves also 

 as a record of progress and a promise of future accom- 

 plishment. 



Systematic forest research in North America had its 

 beginning as recently as 1908, when the Fort Valley 

 Experiment Station was established near Flagstaff, 

 Arizona. In 1909 came the establishment of the Forest 

 Products Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin, and in 1915 

 of the Forest Products Laboratories of Canada at Mon- 

 treal. Today, some 520 projects, covering the entire 

 field of forestry are being conducted by a wide variety 

 of agencies. These include not only the Federal depart- 

 ments of Canada, Newfoundland and the United States, 

 but from 40 to 50 State, provincial, college and corporate 

 organizations and individuals. The comprehensive state- 

 ment of investigative activities furnished by the bulletin 



will be indispensable to those actually engaged in the 

 work, and of marked value to all others interested in 

 the progress of forestry. 



While the bulletin contains no mention of expendi- 

 tures, the results already accomplished and the extent 

 of the work now under way will be a source of wonder 

 to those who are familiar with the very limited funds 

 available for research. The action of Congress last 

 spring in reducing by 36 per cent the already meagre 

 appropriation for experiment stations and other forest in- 

 vestigations is a striking example of the way in which 

 research has been crippled by a niggardly and unprofit- 

 able economy. It is to be hoped that the more thorough 

 understanding of the character, importance and possi- 

 bilities of forest research which will undoubtedly be 

 stimulated by the present bulletin will lead to its sup- 

 port on a more adequate scale. It will be of little avail 

 to adopt the most progressive possible national forestry 

 policy if its practical application is not based on thorough 

 research in silviculture, forest products, forest economics 

 and related lines. *, 



A DOCUMENT WHICH EVERY LUMBERMAN SHOULD READ" 



T^HE editor of the Lumber World Review refers to 

 -* the Forest Service report on Senate Resolution No. 

 311, more commonly known as the "Capper Report," as 

 a "document which every lumberman in the United 

 States who has a lick of interest in his affairs as 

 related to the Government should purchase and read." 

 American Forestry w6uld like to enlarge the editor's 

 circle of readers to include every one interested in the 

 welfare of the nation. The review of the report which 

 appears elsewhere in this issue gives some idea of the 

 principal conclusions reached. Nothing less than a com- 



plete reading however, is sufficient to give the average 

 citizen an adequate conception of our present timber situa- 

 tion. Unlike many Government publications, it is clear, 

 concise and thoroughly readable from cover to cover. It 

 is the most thorough study of the problem of our timber 

 supply and timber depletion from an economic point of 

 view which has not yet been made, and the facts pre- 

 sented furnish an incontrovertible argument in favor of 

 the immediate adoption of an adequate forest policy for 

 the nation. 



