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THE FORESTER. 



February, 



if established, will be under tbe supervi- 

 sion and direct charge of the Division of 

 Forestry of the Agricultural Department, 

 the only bureau in the Government which 

 employes trained foresters. The passage 

 of this bill would be the first frank com- 

 mittal of national forest lands to the care 

 of tins division, and would put the Appa- 

 lachian Park on a much more advanced 

 tootino- than the other National Reserves 

 and Parks. 



Of the Minnesota Park project the only 

 thing that can be said is that opposition 

 from Duluth has thus far prevented its be- 

 ing brought up in the House. The legis- 

 lation which is now asked for would sim- 

 ply provide for a committee of enquiry, 

 to which no one should object. But even 

 looking beyond this no one would profit 

 more in the long run by the establishment 

 of the park than Duluth and the neighbor- 

 ing lumber districts. 



A bill providing for the condemnation 

 and purchase by the Government of the 

 Calaveras Grove has been introduced in 

 the House, but at the time of writing noth- 

 ing has come of it. It is hardly conceiv- 

 able that the Government should neglect 

 to purchase and preserve this grove. It 

 would be good if in connection with it 

 the proper management of the Sequoia 

 and General Grant Parks, about which 

 Professor Dudley wrote in the December 

 Forester, and concerning which the Su- 

 perintendent has recently made recom- 

 mendations to Congress, could also be 

 provided for. 



An act "to provide for the joint inves- 

 tigation with the Federal Government of 

 the water resources of the State, and of 

 the best methods of preserving the forests 

 thereof," recently introduced into the Cali- 



ornia Senate, provides an appropriation 

 of $107,200 for the ends in view. This 

 sum, though it is to be spent by unsalaried 



ommisstoners, who are not allowed to 

 pay out more than the collaborating de- 

 partments of the Government, is reassur- 

 ingly large, and augurs well for forest 

 management in the State. With practical 

 and scientitic reports in prospect which 

 shall thoroughly define California's needs, 

 there should be a reasonable certainty of 



really effective legislation, such as will not 

 only ensure the protection of those forests 

 that remain, but provide for the rejuvena- 

 tion of those that have been cut. 



The Forests 

 of Wyoming. 



Mr. Henry Michelsen, 

 Vice-President of the Col- 

 orado Forestry Associa- 

 tion, writing on " The Forests of Wyom- 

 ing," calls attention to the great benefits 

 that would result to irrigation in the State 

 from proper forest preservation. The fol- 

 lowing is quoted from an article which 

 appeared in The Wyoming Industrial 

 Journal for December : 



" The important function of forest cover 

 in a country of the general condition and 

 physical formation of Wyoming consists 

 in its water-preserving qualities. Where 

 the forests can act as natural reservoirs, the 

 flow of streams continues quite evenly 

 throughout the summer, permitting irriga- 

 tion during the whole of the growing sea- 

 son. Where they have been destroyed, 

 the water in the rivers must be more abun- 

 dant during the spring and early summer 

 months and insufficient for use later, when 

 it is most needed. The Wyoming ranges 

 running in isolated chains, their evapora- 

 tion is greater than that prevailing in Colo- 

 rado, where the highest mountain chains 

 converge, forming solid bodies of alpine 

 forests just where they are most required 

 for the protection of watersheds. It ap- 

 pears, therefore, that if the people of 

 Wyoming desire to attain the highest de- 

 velopment of their agricultural resources 

 it will behoove them to take the utmost 

 care of the woodlands within their bor- 

 ders. 



" The summer of 1900 has been excep- 

 tionally severe on forest growth by reason 

 of the numerous fires, which commenced 

 early in the season and were very destruc- 

 tive. Forest fires can benefit no one ; their 

 danger as regards life and property is so 

 great that to prohibit starting them would 

 seem an obvious duty. The secondary in- 

 juries as to water supply and climatic con- 

 ditions following in their wake must add 

 force to the arguments adduced for their 

 avoidance. Unfortunately, no records ap- 



