1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



nalized its completion b}^ giving a ban- 

 quet to the members of the Senate and 

 House Committee on Irrigation and to 

 leading men of both great political par- 

 ties. . 



At this banquet, on December 23, the 

 speakers were Hon. Jas. Wilson, Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture ; Hon. Charles D. 

 Walcott, Director of the Geological Sur- 

 vey; Mr. Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the 

 Bureau of Forestry, and Mr. George 

 H. Maxwell, of the National Irrigation 

 Association. 



Secretary Wilson spoke of the impor- 

 tance of irrigation in creating opportu- 

 nities for homes for those who are seek- 

 ing them, and in particular stated that 

 the sons of farmers of Iowa and adjacent 

 states were going to Canada for land. 

 These vigorous, energetic men, he in- 

 sisted, should be retained as citizens 

 and induced to remain within our own 

 borders. The opportunities for home 

 markets was also dwelt upon, and the 

 immense value of the development of 

 the arid region to the remaining part of 

 the United States was shown. 



Mr. Walcott described the surveys 

 and examinations which have been made 

 of the vast public domain, and briefly 

 referred to the work of the Geological 

 Surve}- and its investigation of the ex- 

 tent to which the arid lands can be re- 

 claimed. He emphasized the fact that 

 his bureau was one primarily of infor- 

 mation, but that in the engineering 

 branches it had one of the best organized 

 corps of experienced men, capable of 

 carrying forward the construction of 

 reservoirs and main-line canals, if de- 

 sired by Congress. 



Mr., Pinchot showed that the national 

 government had already begun the work 

 of water conservation by setting aside 

 the forests on the catchment areas, and 

 that this work is to be continued by 

 building reser\'oirs largely wnthin these 

 forest reserves. 



Mr. Maxwell spoke of the wonderful 

 growth of the national irrigation move- 

 ment, especially in the East, and the 

 close affiliation of great associations of 

 manufacturers, who are looking to the 

 West for the future market, and of the 

 labor organizations, who view the public 

 land as an outlet and opportunity for 



work in time of industrial pressure. 

 He dwelt upon the fact that irrigation 

 is not a local matter, but one of interest 

 to all the people of the United States, 

 owners of this vast domain, and who are 

 interested not .simply as proprietors, but 

 also as citizens in .seeing it put to the 

 best use and made of highest advantage 

 to all industries and occupations. 



Iowa Park At the meeting of the 



and Forestry Iowa Park and Forestry 

 Association. Association held at Des 

 Moines on December 1 1 , 

 a bill was drafted, to be presented to 

 the state legi-slature, proposing to cre- 

 ate the office of state park commis- 

 sioner and to make the Secretar\- of the 

 Department of Horticulture ex-officio in- 

 cumbent of the office. He is to have gen- 

 eral supervision over proposed parks, and 

 forest and orchard reservations in the 

 State of Iowa. The bill provides that 

 persons may set aside tracts of land for 

 forest or orchard reservations and receive 

 concessions in the way of taxation. The 

 object of the movement is to encourage 

 the making of many small parks along 

 the streams of the .state and near the 

 lakes. The Park and Forestry Associa- 

 tion will co-operate with the Horticul- 

 tural Society in having a new depart- 

 ment created, at the head of which will 

 be the Secretary of the Horticultural 

 Society. The Forestry Association also 

 passed resolutions indorsing the plan 

 for a great national forest reserve at 

 the headwaters of the Mississippi, and 

 for other national forest reserves. The 

 resolutions also favor permitting the 

 President to set apart additional ground 

 for park purpo.ses, as he has the author- 

 ity now to make forest reservations. 



The Iowa Park and Forestry Associa- 

 tion was organized at Ames in Novem- 

 ber, at which time the following officers 

 were elected: 



Dr. Thomas H. McBride, Iowa City, 

 president ; Wesley Greene, Davenport, 

 vice-president ; L. H. Pammel, secre- 

 tary ; Geo. H. Van Houten, Lenox ; 

 C. A. Mosier, Des Moines ; Prof. H. C. 

 Price, Ames, members of the executive 

 board ; Silas Wilson, Atlantic, treas- 

 urer. 



