STATE NEWS 



Maine 



Members of the Kennebec Valley Protec- 

 tive Association, and their guests, represent- 

 ing tirnberland interests valued at fifty 

 million dollars, enjoyed a banquet at Augusta, 

 Me., on May 10, covers being laid for fifty. 

 Hon. Forrest Goodwin, of bkowhegan, was 

 the toastmaster, Governor Frederick W. 

 Plaisted complimented the association on the 

 good work it is doing, and hop^d that similar 

 associations would be formed throughout the 

 State. J. Gervin Peters of the Forest Serv- 

 ice spoke on the private co-operative fire 

 protection under section two of the Weeks 

 Act and expressed the hope that an ade- 

 quate fire protection fund of two cents an 

 acre may in the future be secured. Attorney 

 Genera' Pattangall urged tl e active co- 

 operation of all timberland owners in con- 

 serving the forests; Hon. J. P. Bass spoke 

 of the forest conservation and forest pro- 

 tection legislation in the State and President 

 W. R. Brown, of the New Hampshire Tim- 

 berland Association, describing the methods 

 and the work of his own association and 

 suggested a federation of the Eastern as- 

 sociations, as well as those of the West, for 

 more efficient protection. Governor Bass, of 

 New Hampshire, in a letter regretting his 

 inability to be present alluded to the fact 

 that Maine was the first State to operate a 

 system of mountain lookout stations for the 

 protection of forests against fires. Joseph 

 Williamson, of Augusta, spoke on a system 

 of insurance of timberlands which he believed 

 would raise the price of the lands and make 

 them better investments. 



Colorado 



W. G. M. Stone, President of the Colorado 

 State Forestry Association, writes that: 



"Colorado has been one of the leading 

 State hatcheries of opposition to the Forest 

 Service. The principal spawn oroduced have 

 been State's rights, retard-. tion of mining, 

 landlordism, curtailing settlement of the State 

 by driving home-seekers to Canada by hun- 

 dreds (?) of thousands, etc. 



"These hatcheries have fallen into the hands 

 of politicians and men eager to seize upon 

 the natural resources of the Western States ; 

 hence the Lafferty Bill (H. R. 2980) in the 

 House, and the Burnham amendment to the 

 House Agricultural Appropriation Bill (H. 

 R. 18900) now in the Senate. 



"The aim of these measures is to get the 

 Public Domain away from the Government 

 into the hands of the several States em- 

 bracing the public lands and thence into the 

 hands of private and corporate owners at 

 the earliest possible moment. 



"As applied to Colorado much misrepre- 

 sentation and sophistry have been employed 

 by the emissaries of the movement by liken- 

 ing the Western States to the Eastern, when 

 in fact they cannot be compared. Their 

 physical conditions are as different as day 

 and night. 



"If the matter of turning the Forest Re- 

 serves over to the States were submitted to 

 the people of Colorado, the measure would 

 be voted down many to one. It is really a 

 question of water supply and irrigation, and 

 Colorado is in no condition, at this time, to 

 take the public domain and care for the 

 forests as the Forest Service is now doing. 

 If the Forest Reserves should go into politics 

 at this time they would simply go to the 

 Bow-wows. 



New Jersey 



The Forest Park Reservation Commission 

 of New Jersey has issued a circular letter to 

 the township committees of the State calling 

 their attention to the danger of forest fires 

 arising from uncared-for roadsides on which 

 brushwood is allowed to dry. The commis- 

 sion points out that "aside from its value in 

 curtailing the number of fires starred, a prop- 

 erly or even reasonably well-cared- for road- 

 side affords in many instances the only se- 

 cure line of attack in fighting an advancing 

 fire." The State laws governing this matter 

 are also quoted in the circular for the bene- 

 fit of the committees. 



Missouri 



In co-operation with the United States 

 Forestry Service the Forestry Department of 

 the Missouri Agricultural College has started 

 an experiment to determine the species of 

 basket willow best suited to the climate of 

 Missouri. The State has a lar^e area of 

 land lying along its rivers which is subject to 

 annual overflow and is, therefore, not suited 

 for ordinary crops, but which would be ad- 

 mirably adapted to growing the basket wil- 

 low. 



An acre of suitable land will produce from 

 1,000 pounds to 1,300 pounds of willow whips 

 each year. They have an average value of 

 five to seven cents a pound. The demand 

 for willow rods of high grane, for the manu- 

 facture of baskets and willow furniture is 

 constantly increasing. At present the United 

 States imports over 1,000,000 pounds an- 

 nually. It is believed that there is a large 

 future for the industry in Missouri. 



After determining the proper species for 

 the State, the Agricultural College will en- 

 deavor to foster the industry bv the distribu- 

 tion of cuttings. 



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