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I AMERICAN FORESTRY I 



VOL. XXVI 



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NOVEMBER, 1920 



NO. 323 



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EDITORIAL 



ANOTHER ORGANIZATION TO PREVENT FOREST FIRES 



/"iN the same day that the council of wood-using indus- 

 ^-' tries was being organized in Chicago, representatives 

 of state forest organizations, the Forest Service, private 

 forestry associations, and educational institutions was 

 held at Albany to discuss ways and means of furthering 

 a forest program for the Nation. The final outcome of 

 the conference was the organization of a National Com- 

 mittee for Forest Fire Prevention. Mr. George D. Pratt, 

 Conservation Commissioner, New York State, was made 

 chairman, and Mr. Harris A. Reynolds, secretary of the 

 Massachusetts Forestry Association, secretary. These 

 officers, together with Colonel H. S. Graves, formerly 

 Chief af the Forest Service ; Mr. J. E. Rhodes, secretary 

 of the Southern Pine Association, and Mr. W. T. Cox, 

 State Forester of Minnesota, constitute the executive 

 committee, which is clothed with rather broad authority 

 to take such action as its judgment warrants. It was the 

 sentiment of the meeting that this committee should 

 organize wfth representatives from the various states in 

 order to take common counsel and to bring pressure to 

 bear for the enactment of both Federal and State legis- 

 lation along the lines of fire protection. 



The formation of this new committee is of particular 

 significance because it offers a common meeting ground 

 for those interested in the adoption of a national forest 

 program who do not readily fit into any of the other or- 

 ganizations already in existence. The Forest Service, 

 Society of American Foresters, National Lumber Manu- 

 facturers' Association, American Paper and Pulp Asso- 

 ciation, and the Council of Wood-using Industries, are 

 each composed of individuals having a common interest 



which is not necessarily the same as that of another 

 group. Quite outside of these groups is a large part of 

 the general public which is vitally interested in the per- 

 petuation of our forests but which at present has no 

 affiliations. The new National Committee for Forest 

 Fire Prevention may perform a useful function by serv- 

 ing as a rallying ground for these and affording them an 

 opportunity to make their views known. 



The one unfortunate feature of the new organization 

 seems to American Forestry to be the self-imposed 

 limitation of its scope to forest fire prevention. No one 

 disputes the importance of this. Adequate fire protec- 

 tion is the first essential and an absolute prerequisite for 

 other measures. There are, however, other phases of 

 the forest problem that cannot be ignored. There are, 

 for example, considerable areas now forested on which 

 natural reproduction will not take place following cutting 

 unless an adequate number of properly distributed seed 

 trees are left. These areas must be handled under the 

 methods of forest management found most effective for 

 the particular type of forest in question. There are 

 other large areas of forest land already denuded and 

 needing planting. If the forest and wood-using indus- 

 tries in specific localities are to be maintained, steps 

 must be taken to regulate the cutting of the forests so 

 as to insure a continuous supply of timber. All of these 

 are integral parts of any really comprehensive forest 

 program. It is to be hoped that this new National Com- 

 mittee will see its way clear in the near future to enlarge 

 its present scope so as to include at least the all-important 

 subject of silviculture. 



A COUNCIL OF WOOD-USING INDUSTRIES 



'T'HE movement inaugurated by the conference of 

 * wood-using industries at Madison, Wisconsin, last 

 July is now taking definite shape and gives every promise 

 of playing an important part in shaping the forest policy 

 of the country. On September 28 the steering committee 

 appointed by this conference arranged for a meeting at 

 Chicago which resulted in the organization of a Council 

 of Wood-using Industries. This is in a way a super- 

 organization embracing the sixty odd associations of 

 furniture, veneer, and vehicle manufacturers, wood 

 turners, wood preservers and numerous other wood-users 

 already in existence. In some respects it can be looked 

 upon as performing approximately the same function for 



consumers of forest products as the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association does for producers. The 

 newly formed council at its Chicago meeting adopted a 

 constitution, elected Mr. Edward E. Parsonage, presi- 

 dent of the John Deere Implement Works, as president, 

 and outlined the general scope of its activities. 



The wood-users have two primary objects in view in 

 the step which they are taking. These are, to perpetuate 

 the forests of the country through fire protection, refor- 

 estation, and improved methods of forest management, 

 and to promote the more efficient and economical use of 

 forest products. Both objects _re worthy of the heartiest 

 support from all those interested in forest conservation. 



