Forestry and Irrigation, 



VOL. IX. 



MAY, 1903. 



No. 5. 



NEWS AND NOTES. 



Important 

 Action by 

 Secretary of 

 Interior. 



The action of the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior, 

 described more fully on 

 another page, in regard 

 to the Salt River Valley 

 Water-Users Association, is one of the 

 most important steps taken in the inter- 

 pretation and practical application of 

 the reclamation law. It furnishes a 

 precedent for other communities and 

 allows organizations to be formed with 

 a greater definiteness of purpose than 

 has hitherto been possible. The most 

 essential points are the recognition of 

 the necessity of the formation of such 

 organizations and of the fact that the 

 Secretary will deal with the associations 

 rather than attempt to adjust matters 

 individually with hundreds or thou- 

 sands of small land-owners. 



The second important point settled 

 is that the Secretary will require good 

 security from the individuals benefited 

 through the association in such a form 

 as to insure prompt payment to the 

 government without conflict or delay. 

 Nothing could be more destructive to 

 the working out of the purpose of the 

 law than to compel the Secretary of the 

 Interior to collect small amounts from 

 innumerable individuals. 



Equality of rights are also assured by 

 this action of the Secretary, as he points 

 out clearly that he expects that the or- 

 dinary cost of distribution and mainte- 

 nance will be assessed against all of the 

 lands, and that a favored few will not 

 be exempt from their share of the ex- 

 penses. 



j* 



On Thursday evening, 

 April 30, the Society 

 of American Foresters 

 held its last open meet- 

 ing for the season of 1902-1903 with an 



Society of 

 American 

 Foresters. 



illustrated address by Prof. Filibert 

 Roth on the ' ' Present Possibilities of 

 Forest Work in Michigan. ' ' The series 

 of open meetings during the past winter 

 was the third annual arranged by the 

 Society and in many ways the most 

 valuable. The subjects discussed were 

 unusually timely and the list of speakers 

 a notable one. President Roosevelt 

 honored the Society of American For- 

 esters by addressing it, as noted in the 

 April number of FORESTRY AND IRRI- 

 GATION. Other speakers of special note 

 were Mr. Gifford Pinchot, who described 

 forest conditions in the Philippine Isl- 

 ands as he found them on his recent 

 trip to the archipelago ; also Mr. F. H. 

 Newell, who discussed the "National 

 Irrigation Act and its Relation to For- 

 estry. ' ' 



The Society of American Foresters, 

 since its organization at Washington, 

 D. C., November 30, 1900, has become 

 one of the leading factors in advancing 

 forestry in the United States. 



The objects of the Society, as set 

 forth in its constitution, are " to further 

 the cause of forestry in America by fos- 

 tering a spirit of comradeship among 

 American foresters, by creating oppor- 

 tunities for a free interchange of views 

 upon technical and allied forest sub- 

 jects, and by the dissemination of a 

 knowledge of the purpose and achieve- 

 ments of practical forestry." 



The society has unusual opportuni- 

 ties for carrying out its objects from 

 the fact that its headquarters are in 

 Washington, where the larger portion 

 of the professional foresters of the coun- 

 try are located, owing to their connec- 

 tion with the government sendee. 



During the winter season the Society 

 holds weekly meetings, a majority of 

 which are open and to which guests are 

 invited. At each of these meetings 



