2O2 



THE FORESTER. 



August, 



resenting $3, 000,000 of invested capital. To-day 

 there are thirty-five mills, and the invested cap- 

 ital is between fifteen and twenty millions. 



Statement of Facts Relating to the Proposed 

 Minnesota Park. Published by the Minne- 

 sota Park and Forestry Association. 



A Little Talk about Michigan Forests. Michi- 

 gan Forestry Commission. 



The Forestry of California and The Distribution 

 of Rain-fall. 



These three pamphlets are all in the nature 

 of " educational campaign " literature. All, as 

 such literature should, contain much substantial 

 and useful information. 



The Statement of Facts. ' submitted ' by the 

 Minnesota National Park Association, is a hand- 

 somely printed pamphlet, thirty-four pages in 

 length, which begins with a full description of 

 the boundaries of the proposed National Park, 

 of the character of the land which it contains, 

 and of the game, and fish, which are found in 

 it. The importance of preserving the woods of 

 the region for the sake of the Mississippi which 

 flows for seventy-five miles through it, and 

 which drains its three hundred square miles of 

 water surface, is pointed out and emphasized by 

 a number of quotations from authorities on irri- 

 gation and forestry. As the lands within the 

 proposed boundaries of the reserve are now 

 Indian Reservations, the question of dealing 

 with the Indians is taken up with thoroughness. 

 The Nelson Law and the Rice Treaty and their 

 workings are considered, as also the value of the 

 lands and the Pines now standing on them. The 

 conclusion reached in regard to this is given in 

 the following paragraph. 



" It is proposed by this Association, that, act- 

 ing upon the opinion of the best authorities on 

 forestry in this country, the government shall 

 retain these lands, and cut the matured Pine 

 timber from year to year and sell it for the bene- 

 fit of the Indians ; that by keeping out forest 

 fires, clearing up the slashings and caring for 

 the young trees and shrubs, so that they shall 

 not be injured or destroyed, a beautiful natural 

 forest will be preserved for all time to come." 



A Little Talk about Michigan contains at the 

 beginning a "Glimpse of the Situation," a 

 .statement of the present condition of Michigan's 



forests, and of the nature of the State's imme- 

 dite needs. The rest of the pamphlet consists 

 of quotations of different authorities, dealing 

 more or less particularly and in different ways 

 with the same subject. They are all interesting 

 and to the point, and cannot fail to do good 

 wherever they are read. 



Two short papers on "The Forestry of Cali- 

 fornia" and the " Variation and Distribution 

 of Rainfall" by Prof. George Davidson and 

 Mr. Marsden Manson respectively, appear as 

 a supplement to the proceedings of the eighth 

 annual convention of the California Miners 

 Association. The first of these goes to some 

 extent into the history of California's forests 

 and their destruction and its effects, points out 

 what is now being done in the way of govern- 

 ment examinations and protection, and finally 

 makes clear the " necessity for a thorough and 

 exhaustive examination of the mountain region 

 of California upon the coast and in the interior, 

 for the location of dam and reservoir sites." 

 The pamphlet contains a list of the reservoir 

 sites examined by the U. S. Geological Survey 

 and recommended to the government for reser- 

 vation from sale, and ends with Mr. Manson's 

 note on " The Variation in and Distribution of 

 Rainfall," in California. 



Prof. Davidson devotes some space to the 

 question of forest fires, and says many things 

 about them which are only too true, and which 

 should long ago have been made unnecessary ; 

 but he makes one statement which luckily will 

 not hold. He says that as far as his "expe- 

 rience extends in noting this reckless and ab- 

 solute destruction of millions of forest trees 

 yearly, the trees say the Douglas Fir of Ore- 

 gon and our northern coast do not reappear, 

 but very inferior and almost useless species of 

 trees take their place." The forester would in- 

 deed have a discouraging future in the West if 

 this were true. But luckily unless repeated 

 fires occur it is not ; in support of which it is 

 enough to point out that in the Red Fir ( Douglas 

 Fir) forests of Washington, signs of fire slightly 

 older than the living trees are everywhere to be 

 found. This means that practically all the Red 

 Fir now standing has grown up after fires, not 

 that it exists because the region has been free 

 from fire. Nor has it been shown that the 

 growth which preceded the present Red Fir 

 forest was not also Red Fir. 



