Editorial 



NATIONAL FORESTS IN THE EAST 



WITH the exhaustion of the remainder of the 

 present appropriation under the Weeks Law, 

 the work of acquiring forest lands by the 

 National Government in the East will be halted until 

 such time as Congress provides means for its continu- 

 ance. Up to the present time, some 1,250,000 acres have 

 been acquired in the Appalachians and White Mountains. 

 Since the fundamental purpose of these reservations is 

 to protect the headwaters of navigable streams, prevent 

 erosion and regulate flow for navigation and power, it 

 is obvious that these objects will never be satisfactorily 

 obtained until a substantial per cent of the mountainous 

 non-agricultural lands within which these streams have 

 their source are brought under proper management. 



The nation has put its shoulder to the wheel at the 

 request and with the sanction of the states concerned, 

 and has selected by thorough examination the areas, 

 seventeen in number, within which it has concentrated 

 its purchases. But in most of these forests the amount 

 of land actually acquired is merely a nucleus for the final 

 goal a few thousand acres scattered throughout a much 

 larger area, practically all of which must be eventually 

 held in Government ownership if fires are to be con- 

 trolled and forest cover restored. 



Perfect title is demanded before these lands will be 

 accepted by the Government. Many times this condition 

 cannot be fulfilled and friendly condemnation is the only 

 possible solution. The process of appraisal, survey to 

 establish boundaries, examination of title and acceptance 

 of final purchase price by the Purchasing Board and the 

 owner involves delays which greatly hamper the work 

 of acquisition. This work requires expert services and 

 during its progress a force of capable land examiners, 



surveyors and others has been secured and trained. 

 Active measures of administration and fire protection 

 have been inaugurated on the chosen areas, in some 

 instances with the sanction of the owners, while pur- 

 chases were pending and before the Government owned 

 a foot of land. The personality of the local supervisors 

 is already making itself felt among the mountaineers and 

 backwoods farmers in an educational campaign against 

 forest fires. 



To sum up the situation, everyone, settler, lumberman, 

 town dweller, in the regions afifected knows that the work 

 of the Government has only just begun and that to be 

 effective it must be pushed to completion. Those who 

 have sufifered inconvenience at the normal delay in pur- 

 chasing lands have become skeptical of the possibility of 

 doing business with the Government at all. Fire protec- 

 tion on areas not yet owned is being tolerated for the 

 time, but this condition cannot last. There must be a 

 . show-down. 



If Congress repudiates this great undertaking now, by 

 neglecting to make the necessary appropriations for its 

 continuance, the effect will be much the same as if appro- 

 priations for the Panama Canal had been discontinued 

 when the enterprise was half completed. The scaffolding 

 has been erected and the foundations laid. We must 

 proceed with the superstructure. 



The nation which is forced to economize by suspend- 

 ing operations on important public works midway of 

 completion is exhibiting financial folly unworthy of a 

 great and prosperous people. Let us proceed without 

 such interruptions along the lines so thoroughly and 

 carefully thought out, to a rehabilitation of our Eastern 

 mountain forests and our Atlantic Coast waterways. 



GETTING CLOSER TO FOREST PROBLEMS 



FOR the first time since its inception the American 

 Forestry Association will, on October 20, hold a 

 meeting on the Pacific Coast, and the day will 

 be known at the Panama-Pacific Exposition as Ameri- 

 can Forestry Association Day. This meeting is designed 

 to bring the officials in closer touch with the western 

 conservationists, foresters and lumbermen and to make 

 them better acquainted with the work which the Asso- 

 ciation is doing all over the country. The members on 

 the Pacific Coast are awaiting the event with keen antici- 

 pation and hundreds are expected to attend. 



It is the desire of the officials of the association to 

 keep in close touch with the forest problems in every 



section of the United States. The annual meeting in 

 New York City last January gave a clear insight into 

 the conditions in New York State. The meeting at 

 Boston in January next will be appropriate because it 

 is expected that the question of providing a further 

 appropriation for the operation of the Weeks Law will 

 then be pending. The meeting in San Francisco will 

 be at a time when the fire season in the great Pacific 

 slope forests is practically over and when the reports 

 on the progress of fire protective work will be available. 

 As fire protection is the greatest forest problem on the 

 Pacific Coast it will be possible at the coming meetings 

 in San Francisco for the officials and members of the 



1003 



