32 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



Janiiarjv 



conservation and use of forests and 

 waters. Upon motion, it was voted that 

 it was the sense of the Board of Direct- 

 ors that it would be desirable to com- 

 bine the interests of the American For- 

 estry Association and of the National 

 Irrigation Association, as far as the offi- 

 cial organ of each is concerned. Since 

 the objects of the two organizations are 

 in many instances identical, it is be- 

 lieved that one publication, covering the 

 whole field, can be prepared at less rel- 

 ative cost and upon a higher standard 

 than that reached by the independent 

 publications. 



Therefore, beginning with the Jan- 

 uary number, the name of the incorpo- 

 rated magazine will be Forestry and 

 Irrigation. The new magazine will 

 continue to be the official organ of the 

 American Forestry Association, and will 

 be sent to the members upon the same 

 terms as the Forester in the past. 

 The new magazine will also be the offi- 

 cial organ of the National Irrigation 

 Association, though the identities of the 

 two organizations remain separate, as 

 in the past. Under the new arrange- 

 ment, the decided increase in circulation 

 will permit of much better arrangements 

 for publication, and the result will be 

 that the members of the Association will 

 get a much better publication at the 

 same price as heretofore. 



This consolidation is a tangible evi- 

 dence of the earnest and loyal support 

 given to the forest movement by the 

 friends of irrigation, and to the irrigation 

 movement by the friends of forestry. 

 The mo.st cordial cooperation exists and 

 will continue, for there are no two bodies 

 of public-spirited citizens more closely 

 cordially united than these. 



Growth of the During the year just com- 

 Association, pleted 589 new members 

 have been received into 

 the Association. During the same time 

 there were dropped from the rolls 123 

 members, and there were 71 resigna- 

 tions and 16 deaths. The active mem- 

 bership now stands at 1,849 members. 

 Of the new members secured, sixteen 

 (16) are life members, four (4) sustain- 

 ing members, and five hundred and 

 sixty-nine (569) annual members. 



There has been a steady increase in 

 membership from the States of Massa- 

 chusetts, New York, Pennsjdvania, and 

 the District of Columbia. There has 

 also been a sub.stantial increase in Con- 

 necticut, Illinois, Colorado, California, 

 and Canada. 



Appalachian The movement, begun 

 Forest Reserve* in 1899, to establish a 

 forest reserve in the 

 southern Appalachian mountains has 

 received con.siderable impetus during 

 the year. In January, Secretary Wil- 

 son's report regarding the preliminary 

 investigation was sent to Congress by 

 President McKinley, who recommended 

 its favorable consideration. A bill ap- 

 propriating $5,000,000 for the estab- 

 lishment of the reserve was then intro- 

 duced in Congress, but, owing to the 

 shortness of the session and the great 

 amount of important business to be 

 transacted, it did not reach final con- 

 sideration. Meantime the legislatures 

 of Virginia, North Carolina, South 

 Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and 

 Georgia passed bills ceding to the Na- 

 tional Government authority to ac- 

 quire title to lands within their bound- 

 aries for forest-reserve purposes, with 

 exemption from taxes. At the present 

 session of Congress the same bill has 

 been introduced in the House and Sen- 

 ate, but with double the appropriation 

 in the House. 



The plan for establishing a forest re- 

 serve in the southern Appalachians has 

 been received everywhere with approval. 

 As Secretary Wilson says in his annual 

 report, "The creation of the proposed 

 reserve is urgent, in order to protect 

 the headwaters of the important streams, 

 to maintain an already greatly impaired 

 supply of timber, and to provide a na- 

 tional recreation ground which, with 

 the exception of the Adirondacks, will 

 be readily accessible to a larger number 

 of people than any other forest region 

 in the United States." 



The Forest The rapid increase of inter- 

 Schools, est in forestry throughout 

 the country is nowhere 

 more noticeable than in educational cir- 

 cles, and a mo.st gratifying increase in 



