1903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



273 



A third bill empowers the Commis- 

 sioner of Forestry and the Forest Re- 

 serve Commission to give street railway 

 companies the privilege to construct, 

 operate, or maintain lines on highways 

 bordering on or within forest reserva- 

 tions. A fourth bill allows the State 

 Forest Reserve Commission to expend 

 in the purchase of lands for state forest 

 purposes a sum not to exceed $300,000 

 in any one fiscal year. Proceeds de- 

 rived from the state forest lands, by the 

 provisions of this act, are to go into a 

 special fund which may be used for pro- 

 tecting and improving forest lands or 

 for the purchase of additional land. 

 The fifth act directs the Commissioner 

 of Forestry to erect suitable buildings 

 on the Mont Alto Reservation, or to 

 purchase lands and buildings adjacent 

 thereto, at a sum not exceeding $6,000. 

 These buildings are to be used as a prac- 

 tical school of forestry for the instruc- 

 tion of forest wardens for the state 

 lands. The cost of the instruction is 

 limited to $10,000 for the two years 

 ending June i, 1905. The sixth bill 

 provides for the erection and fitting up 

 of a sanatorium on the Mont Alto 

 Reservation for the benefit of poor con- 

 sumptives, under the management of 

 the Commissioner of Forestry, and 

 $8,000 is appropriated for the construc- 

 tion and maintenance for two years 

 from June i, 1903. 



The number of these forest acts and 

 the breadth of interest which they show 

 point to excellent work and great in- 

 terest in forestry in Pennsylvania, an 

 example which could profitably be fol- 

 lowed by other states. 



Massachusetts. A bill was intro- 

 , duced in the Massachusetts Legislature 

 at its recent session providing for the 

 establishment of the position of State 

 Forester, but failed to pass, and will be 

 introduced again next year, when it is 

 hoped it will receive favorable action. 



Meantime the Massachusetts Forestry 

 Association has made an appeal to its 

 members for voluntary subscriptions to 

 a fund of $3,000 for the purpose of em- 

 ploying a forester to work under the di- 

 rection of the Executive Committee for 

 the coming year. The fund is to be 

 used to pay the salary of a forester at 



$1,200, for his traveling expenses, and 

 for promoting practical work by the 

 distribution of seedling trees and in 

 other ways. 



Connecticut. A law relating to state 

 forestry has recently passed both houses 

 of the Connecticut legislature and is a 

 distinct advance for the forest interests 

 of the state. By its provisions the state 

 forester is authorized to take such meas- 

 ures as he may deem expedient to ob- 

 tain a profitable growth of timber on 

 the state forest reservation, and to sell 

 such timber when desirable, the pro- 

 ceeds to go toward the maintenance and 

 improvement of the forest. 



A former act is amended so that the 

 price at which oak, pine, or chestnut 

 lands may be bought at a sum not ex- 

 ceeding $4 instead of $2.50, as formerly; 

 and another significant change is that 

 which makes the reservation at Portland 

 a state forest instead of a " park." 



The sum of $2,000 for the two fiscal 

 years ending September 30, 1905, is ap- 

 propriated for the work to be done in 

 planting, fencing, protecting the lands 

 from fires and trespassers, and preserv- 

 ing the game, fish, and timber. This 

 is an inadequate sum, but the powers 

 conferred on the forester show a consid- 

 erable advance, as they enable him to 

 carry out a complete system of forestry 

 on the state forest in Portland. 



Forestry in The legislature of the 

 Hawaii. Territory of Hawaii has 



passed an act providing 

 for a Board of Commissioners of Agri- 

 culture and Forestry, in which provis- 

 ion is made for a forest policy for the 

 islands. This act provides for a super- 

 intendent of the Forest Department, 

 who will have charge of all matters re- 

 lating to forestry, and will be assisted 

 by a corps of foresters and rangers. 

 The matters particularly specified by 

 the act as coming under the jurisdiction 

 of the Forest Department include the 

 custody and regulation of all lands to 

 be set aside under the provisions of the 

 act, and to protect the forests for the 

 purpose of conserving and regulating the 

 water supply. Ways and means are to 

 be devised for making the forests self- 









