1066 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Directors E. T. Allen of Portland, Ore.; Charles F. 

 Quincy of New York City ; E. A. Sterling of Chicago ; 

 Capt. J. B. White, of Kansas City, and Executive Secre- 

 tary Percival S. Ridsdale, of Washington, D. C. 



President Drinker, upon accepting the medal made an 

 address describing the work of the Association and its 

 importance to the west as well as the east. 



The day opened with a meeting, in the Lumberman's 

 Building, in cooperation with the Western Forestry and 

 Conservation Association, Dr. Drinker presiding. His 

 address, on the relations between eastern and western 

 forestry organizations as the east would like to see them, 

 will be found on page 1054 of this issue. 



F. C. Knapp, vice-president of the Western Forestry 

 and Conservation Association responded, telling of the 

 relations as the west would like to see them, and Percival 

 S. Ridsdale, Editor of American Forestry, described 

 what the magazine is doing to help the forest conser- 

 vation movement in the United States and Canada and 

 how it is furthering public education in forestry through- 

 out the world. 



Owing to the west's successful work in forest pro- 

 tection there was much interest in a paper, written by 

 W. R. Brown, president of the New Hampshire Timber- 

 land Owners Association, and read by E. A. Sterling, on 

 the organization of eastern timberland owners for forest 

 fire protection and what they have been able to accom- 

 plish. A paper by Chief Forester Henry S. Graves, told 

 about the activities of the Government in relation to 

 the lumber industry and the value of the investigative 

 work which it is doing, a work which is proving of great 

 practical aid to the lumbermen. 



There were also, during the day, addresses on various 



phases of forest industry by H. D. Langille of J. D. Lacey 

 and Company; E. A. Self ridge, president of the Cali- 

 fornia Protective Association, and E. B. Hazen of the 

 West Coast Lumber Manufacturers' Association, each 

 followed by discussions. 



On Monday, October 18, the Society of American 

 Foresters held a morning and afternoon session at which 

 there were several addresses and discussions on the work 

 of the professional forester and the relations of forestry 

 and lumbering and between the sessions there were visits 

 to the forestry exhibits of the Argentine Republic, Japan, 

 and the Philippine Islands. A banquet in the evening 

 was the concluding feature of a successful day. 



Tuesday, October 19, was devoted by the Western For- 

 estry and Conservation Association to addresses and dis- 

 cussions on forest fire protection work, including Secre- 

 tary E. T. Allen's report on the year's work of the 

 Association. There were included reports of the Govern- 

 ment's work in fire protection in the three western Forest 

 Service districts, and also in British Columbia, together 

 with papers on fire weather forecasts and their effective- 

 ness; the relation of modern inventions to forest protec- 

 tive work with a discussion of the probable future use of 

 aerial telegraphy or telephony, heliograph, aeroplanes, 

 observation devices and new forms of extinguishing ap- 

 paratus. One particularly interesting feature was E. T. 

 Allen's address on creating public sentiment as an aid to 

 securing necessary precautions in preventing forest fires. 



The Pacific Logging Congress held its sessions on Octo- 

 ber 21 and the same evening many of those attending the 

 various meetings left on a special train and spent two 

 days among the redwood camps in the northern part of 

 the State. 



The Situation in Michigan 



By H. H. Chapman 



THE report of the Public Domain Commission of 

 Michigan for the year ending June 30, 1914, 

 just issued, gives a very complete account of the 

 work accomplished during the five years since the Com- 

 mission was organized. The Commission is responsible 

 for the management of State lands totaling in June, 

 1914, 592,416 acres; including forest reserves, 235,245 

 acres, and lands not so classified. A second department 

 of work is that of supervising and stimulating immigra- 

 tion, for which purpose an agent is maintained in New 

 York City. Still a third department, over which the 

 Commission formerly exercised partial control, has now 

 (July, 1915) been placed entirely under their jurisdic- 

 tion, namely, the combined work of fish and game, and 

 of forest fire protection. 



The report is full of interest, showing as it does the 

 rapidly increasing importance of the work in forestry 

 on State lands. Thanks to the vigorous agitation con- 

 ducted for years in the State, both before and after the 

 creation of the Commission, the policy of withdrawing 

 worthless lands from sale and devoting them to forest 

 production is now firmly intrenched. This has been 



especially beneficial in dealing with many speculative 

 town sites platted, sold and abandoned for taxes, which 

 have now been permanently withdrawn. 



At one of the first meetings after its organization, the 

 Commission set aside lands for forest reserves which, to- 

 gether with those previously reserved, brought the total 

 to 235,245 acres. A policy of sale and disposal was pur- 

 sued for the three years succeeding, during which time 

 some 347,060 acres passed out of State ownership. 



In the fall of 1912, Mr. A. C. Carton was elected as 

 Commissioner of the State Land Office on a platform to 

 abolish the office, dispensing with the selling of State 

 lands, and the turning over of all lands to the Public 

 Domain Commission. In January, 1913, he placed a 

 minimum price of $6.00 per acre upon all State lands, 

 and withdrew them from sale and entry. At the next 

 meeting of the Public Domain Commission they con- 

 firmed this action, and directed that no State lands be 

 oiTered for sale in the future and that only such lands 

 as were required for school house sites, cemetery pur- 

 poses, railroad rights of way, or similar public purposes 

 be disposed of. The Legislature then passed an act to 



