1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



459 



contributions; these, however, are "All the higher Appalachians should 



f ew . be reserved, either by the states or by 



The great work immediately ahead the Nation;" and he wisely added his 



of the Association is the passage of express P J efe c . e th , at * e f sh S? 



, l-11 . !., u- 4-u c i.u a~ be put under National control. I his 



the bill establishing the Southern Ap- for shadows a lo and arduous cam . 



palachian and White Mountain forest pa jg- n 



reserves. In the last session of Con- F urt her, the work of extending the 



gress, this bill passed the Senate and reserve system in the west should be 



was favorably reported from Com- continued. More reserves are needed ; 



mittee in the House. It is under- no t only in the mountains, but in the 



stood that a clear majority of the semi-arid region. A beginning has 



members of the House favor its been made, as in the Dismal River 



passage. What now remains is to region of Nebraska and at Garden 



provide the opportunity for the mem- City, Kansas, where federal tree 



bers to vote upon it. This opportunity planting is in progress. A vast work, 



is controlled, nominally, by the House however, remains to be done in all 



Committee on Rules; actually, by the 

 Speaker. If the latter can be induced 

 to permit the bill to come to a vote 

 its passage is practically assured. The 

 Association will exert itself in the 

 coming session to effect this end. 



Just beyond, however, lie other 

 worlds to conquer. Desirable as is 

 the White Mountain and Appalach- 

 ian bill, it is for the East but a be- 

 ginning. "Reserves," unhappily so 

 called, now dot the western moun- 

 tain regions. They should, likewise, 

 abound in the east. As President 

 Roosevelt well declared at Raleigh, 



this area. 



Friends of the forest, rally to the 

 standard! If not already members, 

 join the American Forestry Associa- 

 tion. Aid it by your dues and by 

 your influence. If members, present 

 the needs of the work to your friends. 

 Distribute its literature. Point out 

 the need of active, intelligent, organ- 

 ized effort. Swell the rising tide of 

 sentiment, which alone can save our 

 forests from the despoiling hand of 

 the exploiter and transmit to our child- 

 ren the heritage which is rightfully 

 theirs. 



IRRIGATION LEGISLATION IN 



WEST 



THE 



BY 

 MORRIS BIEN 



Supervising Engineer, U. S. Reclamatiqp Service. 



HTHERE is much activity at the pres- 

 * ent time in the States of Mon- 

 tana, Oregon, and Washington, with 

 a view to securing legislation on the 

 subject of water rights and irrigation 

 from the legislatures of those States 

 during the coming winter. 



This subject has received much at- 

 tention during the last few years in 

 the western States, and in several 

 States a considerable advance was 



made in the legal conditions upon 

 which the use of water will depend. 



Until the passage of the Reclama- 

 tion Act, four years ago, the Federal 

 Government did not come into direct 

 contact with the laws of the States 

 upon this subject, but since the United 

 States has begun the construction of 

 irrigation systems in a number of the 

 western States, the necessity of defi- 

 nite action to improve the legal condi- 



