*54 



THE FORESTER. 



June, 



for tires or insulation has resulted in the 

 wanton destruction of all accessible forests. 

 In the desire of the native to become sud- 

 denly rich, they have killed the Brazilian 

 geese that lay the gold eggs.' " Milwau- 

 kee Sentinel. 



Lectures on For- 

 estry at Univ. 

 of Chicago. 



deliver a course 

 the University 

 summer quarter 



Dr. B. E. Fernow, Di- 

 rector of the New York 

 State School of Forestry, 

 Cornell University, will 

 of lectures on forestry at 

 of 



Chicago during the 



& 



Forestry for Mr. H. B. Ay res, of the 

 Indian U. S. Geological Survey, 



Reservations. has the following to say 

 in regard to the necessity 

 for a more intelligent handling of the 

 woodlands on our many Indian Reserva- 

 tions : 



"Looking backward upon successful 

 innovations we wonder they were not in- 

 troduced before. So we will wonder why 

 forestry was not sooner applied to the 

 Indian lands. Those entrusted with the 

 care of these lands may take the backward 

 look with some serious regret, for they 

 may see how such trusts might have been 

 administered more wisely. The effects of 

 forest policies are slow in appearing, but 

 sufficient time has now passed since In- 

 dian Reservations were established to show 

 the contrast between the effect of no 

 policy whatever, as in the primeval forest 

 before being used as Indian Reservations, 

 and the effect of unrestricted use and mis- 

 use of the forest since the reservations 

 have been established. 



"Deterioration in forest condition is 

 noticeable in proportion to the population 

 using the forest indiscriminately. Near 

 the Indian villages on the reservations, 

 land once well timbered is now depleted by 

 the Indians cutting fuel, fencing, and 

 house logs ; girdling trees that they may 

 yield dry fuel ; removing the bark from 

 pine that 'pitch wood' may form for 

 kindling fires; peeling birch trees for 

 canoes, torches and kindling bark. All 

 this and other cutting is done whenever 



and wherever the Indians themselves 

 choose. 



"Fire is used by them quite as reck- 

 lessly as the axe. Some Indian boys can 

 hardly pass a bunch of dry grass or brush 

 without starting fire in it, and the men 

 commonly burn over the grazing and hunt- 

 ing grounds and often the berry patches, 

 to kill the seedling trees and the brush. 



"By these practices the more densely 

 populated parts of the forest lands on In- 

 dian reservations are being reduced to 

 brush and barrens, while the remote and 

 timbered lands remain unused, with ma- 

 ture timber wasting, while the Indians 

 need the employment and the constant in- 

 come which systematic cutting and mar- 

 keting would afford. 



"The once vigorous primeval forest 

 (though never as productive as the ideal 

 cultivated one) is reduced from a value 

 (quite commonly $50 to $100 per acre) 

 to clay brush land worth a nominal figure 

 per acre, or to sandy barren worth noth- 



ing. 



The better way would be to place the 

 Indian forest-lands under such manage- 

 ment that, while a supply of needed 

 material could be cut, such cutting would 

 be done under supervision in such a man- 

 ner as to improve rather than injure the 

 forest, whether the cutting be for local 

 use or for sale in the lumber market. At 

 the same time thorough fire protection 

 should be provided. 



" The peculiar fitness of forestry to the 

 communal lands or to the uncultivated, 

 allotted lands of the Indians is shown by 

 the experience in selling such lands, or the 

 timber from them ; for the resulting funds 

 have almost invariably been misused bv 

 the Indians, because of peculiar customs 

 in sharing personal property with rela- 

 tives, and the usual lack of inclination to 

 save money. A moderate constant in- 

 come, such as may be expected from the 

 forest, would suit the needs of the Indians 

 admirably. 



"The need of employment near their 

 homes by the Indians is great, and would 

 be supplied by their use as rangers, 

 laborers, and foremen, according to their 

 capacity. 



