Forestry and Irrigation* 



VOL. XL 



JANUARY, 1905. 



No. i. 



AMERICAN FOREST CONGRESS 



Held at Washington, D. C., January 2 to 6 A 

 Lage Attendance of Delegates Representing Im- 

 portant Interests in Every Section of the Country 



HP HE American Forest Congress, 

 held at Washington, D. C., the 

 first week in January, was not only by 

 far the most successful meeting de- 

 voted to forestry that has been held in 

 this country, but it will go down as one 

 of the most striking gatherings that 

 has been given up to any economic 

 subject. Washington is a city that 

 sees many important conventions ev- 

 ery year, and the American Forest 

 Congress in the opinion of men promi- 

 nent in official life was among the most 

 influential gatherings that have taken 

 place at the nation's capital in a score 

 of years. 



The purpose of this Congress, as 

 announced in the official call, \vas "to 

 establish a broader understanding of 

 the forest in .its relation to the great 

 industries depending upon it ; to ad- 

 vance the conservative use of forest 

 resources for both the present and the 

 future needs of these industries, and to 

 stimulate and unite all efforts to per- 

 petuate the forest as a permanent re- 

 source of the n?.tiott." 



That the tr.r.e was ripe for such a 

 gathering is amply testified to by the 

 large and influential crowd of dele- 

 gates who attended. The attendance, 

 which far exceeded the expectations 

 of the Committee on Arrangements, 

 included practically all persons en- 

 gaged directly in forest work, the lead- 

 ers in state forest associations, and an 

 unusually influential lot of representa- 

 tives from the railroad, lumbering, 

 mining, irrigation, and grazing inter- 

 ests of the country. A better idea of 

 the attendance at, and interest in the 

 Congress can be had when it is stated 

 that at its eight separate sessions the 

 average attendance was 1,000. The 

 large hall was crowded at the opening 



session, and the interest was so keen 

 throughout the Congress that the at- 

 tendance at the last session was even 

 larger. 



In addition to a special meeting at 

 which a notable address by the Presi- 

 dent of the United States was the lead- 

 ing feature, the program included half- 

 day sessions devoted particularly to 

 irrigation, the lumbering industry, the 

 grazing industry, railroads in their re- 

 lation to the forest, importance of for- 

 ests to mining, and one devoted to na- 

 tional and state forest policy. At each 

 of these sessions a man prominent in 

 the line of work under discussion acted 

 as presiding officer, while the papers 

 and addresses presented were by men 

 of achievement in their particular lines 

 of work. 



To President Roosevelt, whose em- 

 phatic stand on forest questions has 

 done so much for the movement, and 

 whose address at this Congress is a 

 further ringing "call to arms," such a 

 gathering must have been very re!as- 

 suring. Likewise to Secretary Wil- 

 son, who has for nearly eight years 

 been such a stanch friend of the Gov- 

 ernment's forest work, and in addition, 

 as President of the American Forestry 

 Association, has given decided impetus 

 to the general forest movement, the 

 success of this Congress must be espe- 

 cially pleasing. 



More than all, to Mr. Gifford Pin- 

 chot, Forester of the United States De- 

 partmnt of Agriculture, who has 

 worked with untiring energy to bring 

 about a better understanding in regard 

 to our forests, the meaning of such a 

 gathering, and the many deserved 

 tributes paid to his work during it, 

 must come with special gratification 

 and significance and give him immense 



