942 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



by a judicious preservation of lake shores, trails and 

 road belts has been proved time and again, and the only 

 persons who would be materially benefited by the sac- 

 rifice to the "wilderness" of the entire area are those 

 to whom the mere idea of having prevented the "spolia- 

 tion" of State lands is a moral satisfaction. It does not 

 diminish the game nor decrease the streamflow, since 

 the "brush" cover is as favorable to both as the high 

 forest. Under regulated lumbering, slash is disposed of, 

 fires are kept out and reproduction is secured. No other 

 kind of lumbering is contemplated under State or Na- 

 tional management. Nor are lumbering and clear cutting 

 necessarily synonymous. To note the diflference between 

 logging on private lands without regulation, and cutting 

 under proper public supervision, one has only to inspect 

 the thousands of acres cut over on the national forests 

 in the yellow pine belt of the West, where it takes close 

 observation to discover that there has been any cutting, 

 even after the removal of two-thirds of the merchantable 

 stand. 



We insist that an incorruptible and efficient State 

 forest administration is a possibility in New York under 



the new Constitution, just as it is an accomplished and 

 indisputable fact in the National Forest Service. Such 

 an administration can be trusted with the proper manage- 

 ment of State timber, including the cutting and marketing 

 of mature trees for the utilization and improvement of 

 the forest. We hope that America will eventually show 

 herself as intelligent as continental countries and able to 

 solve the comparatively simple problem of proper utiliza- 

 tion of State forest and waste forest land for the best 

 good of all. But this result will never be obtained, in 

 New York or elsewhere, while any one selfish interest 

 demands the sacrifice of public rights and equity to the 

 fulfillment of a sentimental dream. The American For- 

 estry Association stands squarely on the platform of 

 State and National forests developed to the greatest 

 degree of usefulness to the State and its people, partly 

 by strict forest preservation, partly by utilization of 

 mature timber. It equally opposes those who would 

 disrupt and destroy such forests and those who would 

 condemn them to remain perpetually as wild lands for 

 the preservation of a remembrance of a prehistoric 

 epoch. 



FOREST SERVICE METHODS APPROVED 



IT IS gratifying to see that lumber trade papers believe 

 timberland owners may learn something to their ad- 

 vantage by studying the methods by which the Forest 

 Service so capably administers the national forests. The 

 Southern Lumberman, in an editorial on August 7, sug- 

 gests that the adoption of Forest Service methods would 

 put money in the pockets of private owners of timber- 

 lands. The editorial says : 



"Though the conduct of the national forests by the 

 Government can in no sense be compared with private 

 enterprise as a business venture, the revenues derived 

 from the forests by the Government and turned into the 

 Treasury by the Department of Agriculture through its 

 subsidiarv branch, the Forest Service, are bv no means 



without interest. Though the Government pays no taxes 

 and borrows money at half or less than half of the rate 

 of interest which private enterprise has to pay, some of 

 the sources of revenue from the forests as shown in the 

 report of the service might prove valuable suggestions 

 to other holders of large tracts of timber awaiting devel- 

 opment. It will be noted that grazing and special privi- 

 leges form'a good portion of the sources of revenue from 

 forests. What the Government finds a market for in 

 this way, other timber holders might also find worth 

 exploiting either of their own initiative or by rental, as 

 is the case with the Government. There are certain of 

 these and perhaps other sources of revenue which could 

 be realized as a valuable means of lessening carrying 

 charges on large tracts of timber held either in reserve 

 by manufacturers or for speculation by investors." 



SEND THE MAGAZINE TO YOUR FRIENDS 



E.ACH member of the American Forestry Associa- 

 tion is urged to send to the Secretary the name 

 of one or more friends who might be interested 

 in the American Forestry magazine. Upon receipt of 

 the name and address, a copy of the enlarged and im- 

 proved magazine will be mailed, without charge, for 

 examination. It is the ambition of the Association's 



officers to make the magazine so valuable that the desire 

 for it will produce a large and steady increase in mem- 

 bership. It must be seen and read before its value is ap- 

 preciated, and the members can best assist in having it 

 seen by sending names and addresses of friends, to whom 

 free copies will be mailed. The stronger our membership, 

 the more effective our work for forest conservation. 



