THE FORESTER. 



April, 



offender liable to a penalty of one thou- 

 sand dollars fine, or one year's imprison- 

 ment, or both. 



A resolution by Mr. Wilson, of Idaho, 

 inquiring of the Secretary of the Interior 

 as to " the number of acres now included 

 within forest reserves belonging to land- 

 grant railroad companies, the amount of 

 forest-reserve scrip issued therefor, the 

 market value of said scrip and the esti- 

 mated value of the land in lieu of which 

 said scrip was issued, together with a state- 

 ment showing whether the request for the 

 creation of said forest reserves came from 

 the people residing within the State where 

 said reserves are created or from the land- 

 grant railroad companies who have thus 

 been enabled to exchange land of little 

 value for forest-reserve scrip worth many 

 times the value of the land in lieu of which 

 it is issued." 



A bill, by Mr. Lacey, to authorize 

 forest officers to make arrests, "without 

 process in hand, for the violation of the 

 laws or rules and regulations relating to 

 the forest reserves or other forest lands of 

 the United States ; and any person so ar- 

 rested shall be taken for trial before the 

 nearest United States commissioner within 

 whose jurisdiction the reservation or forest 

 land is located." Mr. Lacey also intro- 

 duced a bill to extend the timber and 

 stone acts to Alaska. 



A bill to recover to the United States 

 the title to private holdings within forest 

 reservations and certain national parks by 

 exchange of lands, of area not larger and 

 of value approximately the same. The 

 national parks named are the Sequoia, 

 General Grant, Yosemite, and Mount 

 Rainier. The bill was presented in the 

 Senate by Mr. Perkins. 



A bill, by Mr. Wilson, of Idaho, pro- 

 hibiting the establishment or extension of 

 forest reserves in Idaho except by Act of 

 Congress. 



New York. 



State Senator Krum has introduced a 

 bill to provide for the appointment of a 

 supervisor of taxes within the State forest 

 preserve. Owing to careless assessments, 

 the towns within the prescribed limits 



have had charged back upon them thou- 

 sands of dollars in taxes illegally levied. 

 The remedy proposed is to have such as- 

 sessments examined, when levied, by a 

 competent attoi'ney, and, in case of error, 

 corrected immediately. The bill was 

 drawn at the suggestion of Comptroller 

 Morgan, who assisted in its preparation. 

 The special committee appointed by the 

 State Assembly last April to investigate 

 the subject of State forest lands, has sent 

 in a report recommending the increase of 

 the Adirondack Preserve by the purchase 

 of all suitable lands within the limits of 

 that park and also the acquisition of forest 

 lands in other parts of the State near the 

 headwaters of streams. 



Michigan. 



In order to arouse public interest and 

 determine upon a definite forest policy for 

 the State, the Michigan Forestry Commis- 

 sion has issued a circular asking the aid of 

 public-spirited citizens in the prosecution 

 of its work. The Commission is desirous 

 of securing suggestions from all who are 

 acquainted with the forest conditions and 

 needs of Michigan, in order to formulate 

 a plan to be submitted to the next legisla- 

 ture. 



Indiana. 



Twenty-eight land-owners in a single 

 county in Indiana have taken advantage of 

 the law passed at the last session of the 

 State Legislature offering inducements to- 

 ward starting and, maintaining private 

 woodlands as a forest reservation, such 

 lands being appraised for taxation at one 

 dollar per acre. 



To secure the benefit of the exemption, 

 the forest must contain not less than 170 

 trees in each acre ; a description of the 

 lands must be filed with the County Audi- 

 tor for record, and examination made by 

 him before appraisal ; no horses, cattle, 

 sheep, hogs or goats are to be pastured 

 until the trees are four inches in diameter. 



The reservations so far made are for 

 tracts of from three to eighty acres. The 

 benefit of the law cannot be claimed until 

 the trees are three years old, but the ulti- 

 mate advantage to the land owners has 

 caused the law to be regarded with favor. 



