30 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



January^ 



of the President, to " perpetuate the 

 forests bj' use." 



The Forest During the 5'ear two new 

 Reserves. forest reser^^es w^ere de- 



clared b}^ President Mc- 

 Kinley the Wichita Reserv^e of 57,120 

 acres in Oklahoma, on J 1:1}' 4, and the 

 Payson Reserve of 86,400 acres in Utah, 

 August 8. There was also an addition 

 of 142,080 acres to the Cascade Reserve 

 in Oregon. 



An interesting matter in connection 

 with the administration of the reserv'es 

 is the recent action of the Secretary of 

 the Interior in reorganizing the Division 

 of Forestry of that Department. Under 

 the new arrangement this division will 

 be under the direction of a trained for- 

 ester, and much-needed reforms in the 

 handling of public timber lands may be 

 looked for. 



That the administration of all the for- 

 est work of the government forest re- 

 serves should be united under the con- 

 trol of the Department of Agriculture is 

 everywhere understood, and the recom- 

 mendation of the Secretar}' of the Inte- 

 rior in his latest report that this trans- 

 fer be made ought to do much to bring 

 it about. President Roosevelt in his 

 message directs the attention of Con- 

 gress to this matter also, and it is hoped 

 that this much-needed change ma}^ be 

 made at an early day. Secretary Hitch- 

 cock sums up the situation correcth' 

 when he sa3'S that ' ' the presence of 

 properly trained foresters in the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture makes the ultimate 

 transfer of the administration of the for- 

 est reserves to that department essential 

 to the best interests both of the reserves 

 and the people who use them." 



More than ever do the people of the 

 West realize the wisdom of the policj^ 

 of establishing forest reserv^es, and the 

 great need of a careful administration 

 of the timber and water resources of 

 that section. 



Bureau of On the ist of July the 



Forestry. Division of Forestry of 



the United States 'De- 

 partment of Agriculture was advanced 

 to the grade ^of a bureau. This was 

 provided for by the last session of Con- 



gress, which appropriated for the ex- 

 penses of the Bureau of Forestry dur- 

 ing its first year $185,440. This action 

 shows how rapidly the forest work of 

 the government has expanded of late, 

 and also how well it has commended 

 itself to Congress. 



The change from a division to a bu- 

 reau and the larger appropriation made 

 possible both an improved office organi- 

 zation and more expanded field-work. 



Action by The Pennsylvania legis- 



States. lature passed an act in 



February raising the Di- 

 vision of Forestry of the State's Agri- 

 cultural Department to the position of 

 a Department of Forestry. The depart- 

 ment consists of a Commissioner of For- 

 estry and four others, who constitute 

 the State Forest Reservation Commis- 

 sion, which is empowered to buy lands 

 for the State Forest Preserve and have 

 control of the same. 



During the year a number of addi- 

 tions were made to the state forest pre- 

 serves b}' purchase, and they now con- 

 tain about 400,000 acres. At its com- 

 ing session the legislature will be asked 

 to establish a State Forest School. 



Poorest improvement and extension is 

 being taken up in a practical manner by 

 the vState of Connecticut. The legisla- 

 ture at its last session passed an act 

 authorizing the appointment of a state 

 forester by the Board of Control of the 

 Connecticut Agricultural Experiment 

 Station. This act, also entitled the 

 "Act concerning the reformation of 

 barren lands, ' ' provides for the purchavSe 

 of lands suitable for the growth of oak, 

 pine, or chestnut timber, such land to 

 be used as a state park. The annual 

 appropriation for this purpose is small, 

 but the move is one that will greatly 

 increase interest in the forest conditions 

 of the state. 



In Indiana a State Board of Forestry 

 was created by an act of the legislature 

 last spring, while in Michigan at the 

 last session of the legislature a tract of 

 100,000 acres was set apart for the use 

 of the State Forest Commission. 



The campaign to preserve the Red- 

 wood forests of the Big Basin, in the 

 Santa Cruz Mountains of California, 



