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AMERICAN FORESTRY 



association to listen to the reports and participate in the 

 discussions regarding the work of the various fire pro- 

 tective organizations during the season as well as the 

 efforts in the same direction so well made by the United 

 State Forest Service and the State organizations. 



During the next year it is the purpose of the Associa- 

 tion to get in closer touch with the lumbermen's prob- 

 lems, the greatest of which, as affecting conservation 

 of the forests, is the present need of leaving in the woods 

 to rot, or to burn, some 30 per cent of the annual cut 

 of timber. This 30 per cent, if it was possible to sell it 

 at the price of the lowest grade lumber, would be worth 

 some two hundred million dollars annually. If some 



market can be found for this great quantity of wood now 

 wasted, if some means of utilization can be developed 

 which would convert it into a merchantable product, 

 then there would be accomplished a saving of practically 

 one third of the annual cut of timber, a saving which 

 would add one third to the present life of our forests. 

 There are other problems commercial, national, state, 

 municipal and individual which also may be solved, in 

 time, and the best means of studying these is to discuss 

 them with people who are trying to solve them, to co- 

 operate with them, and to give them the aid of the big 

 national association, and that is what the officials of 

 the American Forestry Association expect to do. 



The Weeks Law Conference 



Ox THURSDAY, September 23, the American 

 Forestry Association and several co-operating 

 organizations held a conference with Secretary 

 of Agriculture Houston at his office in Washington to 

 present to him reasons why a further appropriation 

 should be secured to carry on the work started five years 

 ago under the provisions of the Weeks Law, and sug- 

 gested that he urge the importance of such an appropria- 

 tion upon the President and Congress and recommend 

 it in his annual report to Congress. 



Secretary Houston discussed the operation of the law 

 and the proposals to continue the appropriation for the 

 work with members of the delegation from various sec- 

 tions and assured them of his interest in the matter and 

 his very careful consideration of their suggestions. 



The presentation to the Secretary of the arguments in 

 favor of the proposition was made by Dr. Henry Sturgis 

 Drinker, president of Lehigh University and president 

 of the American Forestry Association, and was as 

 follows : 



September 23, 1915. 



To THE Hon. David F. Houston, 



Secretary of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Sir: The movement for an Appalachian National For- 

 est Reserve originated in the South in 1899 on account 

 of the damage done to the mountain slopes by unwise 

 timber cutting and tillage and by forest fires. Congress 

 was memorialized in the matter in 1900 and many bills 

 have been introduced. (For a summary of the bills and 

 reports between 1900 and 1907 see Senate Report 459, 

 60th Congress, 1st Session.) The White Mountain 

 project was taken up in 1901 and the two movements 

 combined in 1903. Twice bills passed the Senate only to 

 fail of consideration in the House. In 1907 an appro- 

 priation of $25,000 was made for an investigation and 

 report by the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary's 

 report, submitted in December, 1907 (Senate Document 

 91, 1st Session, 60th Congress), recommended the pur- 

 chase of large areas of lands in the Southern Appala- 

 chians and in the White Mountains. Finally in 1911 

 (see circular on the purchase of land under the Weeks 

 Law), the necessary legislation was secured and an 



appropriation of eleven million dollars was made for 

 the purchase of land, of which only approximately 

 only $8,000,000 actually became available. 



This legislation was secured only after the most earnest 

 efforts of the American Forestry Association and of 

 other organizations represented at this conference. Many 

 hearings were held by congressional committees which 

 were attended by large numbers of representative citizens 

 from the North and the South. The published reports 

 of the hearings and reports of congressional committees 

 show how broadly and thoroughly the question was con- 

 sidered. Many phases of the problem were discussed in 

 publications of the Forest Service and Geological Sur- 

 vey. Action was taken by Congress only after all the 

 bearings of the proposed legislation had been fully con- 

 sidered, and with the full knowledge that if the plan 

 succeeded further appropriations would have to be made 

 to carry the work to completion. 



It is now reported by the United States Forester that 

 of the $8,000,000 that actually became available under 

 the Weeks Law, all except some $500,000 has been spent. 

 There have been acquired or approved for purchase 

 1,285,000 acres at an average price of $5.25 per acre. 

 Including cost of appraisals, surveys and title investiga- 

 tion work, the cost has been $5.83 per acre. Purchases 

 have been limited at first, as we believe wisely, to the 

 Southern Appalachian and the White Mountain regions. 

 Cor.sidering only these regions, the program first pro- 

 posed by the Secretary of Agriculture in 1907 (Senate 

 Do.ument 91, 1st Session, 61st Congress, and laid down 

 by the National Forest Reservation Commission in its 

 last annual report (Senate Document 661, 3rd Session, 

 61st Congress), is now far from complete in these 

 regions. In some areas (already designated for pur- 

 chase) no acquisitions have so far been made, and some 

 localities ought to be included in purchase areas that are 

 not now included. The Weeks Law is not limited to 

 particular states or regions. It is, as it should be, a 

 broadly national bill. Lands ought to be acquired to 

 some extent outside the Appalachian region, as, for 

 instance, in Arkansas and other western states to round 

 out and complete the present National Forests for the 

 purpose of protecting the watersheds of navigable 

 streams. 



An excellent beginning has been made on a great con- 

 struction program that the Federal Government must 

 carry to completion if the interests of the nation are not 

 to suffer. The organizations represented here have long 



