THE TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL MEETING 



93 



Walker F. Wilcox, Richard B. Watrous, H. 

 E. Waernicke, Asa S. Williams, Geo. P. 

 Whittlesey, John W. Weeks. 



THE WEDNESDAY-MORNING SESSION 



The first business session of the asso- 

 ciation convened Wednesday morning 

 at fo o'clock in the small ball-room of 

 the New" Willard, with President Guild 

 in the chair. Messrs. George P. Whit- 

 tlesey,.,F.- W. Rane, and Edwin A. Start 

 were appointed a committee on nomina- 

 tions, and' Messrs. S. ?,. Elliott, Allen 

 Hollis and Charles E. Nesbit, the com- 

 mittee on resolutions. Later, President 

 H. S. Drinker,"-of Lehigh University, 

 was made a member of the committee 

 in Mr. Nesbit's place. The report of 

 the Board of Directors for 1909 was 

 read by the Secretary : 







. 



To the Members of The American Forestry 

 Association : 



When the present board of directors as 

 sumed office a year ago, the affairs of the 

 Association were at a somewhat low ebb, 

 owing to circumstances to which it is need 

 less to refer now. There was no secretary 

 in charge and some changes were immediate 

 ly necessary in the working force of the 

 office. _These were made. Dr. Thomas El- 

 mer Will, who had for several years been 

 the Association's secretary, kindly consented 

 to take editorial charge of the magazine 

 pending a permanent reorganization, and lie 

 has retained that responsibility up to the 

 present time, with some as_sistance from the 

 magazine committee (President Guild, Pro 

 fessor Graves, and Mr. Start). 



The immediate problem confronting the 

 board proved to be a difficult one. the ap- 

 pointment of a competent executive secretary, 

 or general manager, the officer upon whom 

 the efficiency of the Association must largely 

 depend. After some months of failure to 

 find the right man. Royal L. Melendy, of 

 Chicago, was engaged by the sub-committee 

 on secretaryship ( Messrs. Start, Ayres, and 

 Luebkert), and was put into the field about 

 the first of August, with the approval of a 

 large majority of the board, pending a meet- 

 ing of the full board and formal action. 

 Before the board met on the i8th of October, 

 Mr. Melendy left us and took a position with 

 the new National Conservation Association. 

 Confronted by this emergency, the board ten- 

 dered the appointment to one of their own 

 number, Mr. Start, and he accepted the ap- 

 pointment, carrying with it the general man- 

 agement of the Association's work and the 

 editorial and business direction of the maga- 

 zine. Prior to this time the general duties 

 of secretary were performed by our treasurer, 



Mr. Luebkert, acting under an interim ap- 

 pointment by the board. The Association is 

 much indebted to this loyal officer for this 

 service, rendered during a critical period, in 

 the intervals of an active business life. 



The brief period since the assumption of 

 office by the present secretary has necessarily 

 been largely given to detail work, getting 

 into touch with the members and to b-inging 

 the working organization into line with the 

 new personality. No membership work has 

 been systematically undertaken as yet, but 

 a substantial addition of 118 members was 

 made in December. The total membership 

 December 31, 1908, was 69/3 ; and December 

 31, 1909, 6827; a net loss of 146. Eight bun 

 dred and twenty-nine died or resigned during 

 the year, and 683 new members were added. 

 This showing, under the circumstances, is 

 most encouraging in its evidence of the sta- 

 bility of our membership, in the face of 

 unfavorable conditions. The coming year 

 must show a large increase, for never was 

 forestry so live a national subject, nor tin- 

 Association better prepared to be i.s ad- 

 vocate. 



The magazine is the most important instru- 

 ment of the Association, and no effort should 

 be spared to make it even more successful as 

 the only popular monthly magazine of na- 

 tional circulation representing ..forestry. In 

 1908, in the midst of the enthusiasm attend- 

 ing the inauguration of the so-called "con- 

 servation movement." the name of the maga- 

 zine was changed, not by action of the 

 Board of Directors, from FORESTRY AND IRRI- 

 GATION to CONSERVATION. A very large num- 

 ber of the members of the Association have 

 felt dissatisfaction with this change and have 

 regarded the issuing of our magazine, with- 

 out reference to forestry and with a title- 

 somewhat too comprehensive, to have been a 

 mistake. To this the directors gave their 

 a'tention earlv in the year, and the question 

 was thoroughly studied from all sides.. The 

 name of a magazine is sometimes a matter 

 of great importance to its welfare, and we 

 believe this to be the case with ours. Fin 

 ally, the directors voted unanimously to 

 change the name, after consultation and with 

 the approval of the members of f he Ad- 

 visory Board and other officers. When the 

 matter was brought to the attention of these 

 gentlemen, the change was found to nice' 

 their hearty approval, only two opinions 

 being recorded against it. Other member- 

 were also consulted as opportunity offered. 

 As a result of this canvass, the decision \va- 

 made to change the name to AMERIC\N 

 FORESTRY, beginning with the first number 

 of 1910. The hearty approval of this move- 

 ment, which has been voiced by a very lar^r 

 number of members in all parts of the conn 

 try, proves conclusively the wisdom of this 

 change. It has been so well discussed in tin- 

 magazine that no further statement in re 

 gard to it will be made here. 



The present policy of the Post Office IV 

 partment in adopting a stricter and more 

 consistent interpretation of the law relating 



