NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE WORK* 



BY W. R. BROWN 



'T is a great privilege and pleasure 

 for the State of New Hampshire 

 to receive a visit from the Di- 

 rectors of the American Forestry Asso- 

 ciation and to extend to you and your 

 guests, not the keys of the City in this 

 case, but the open door of this, our 

 beautiful State. We are particularly 

 glad to welcome you, and it is especially 

 appropriate that you come to us just at 

 this time, to help us take stock of our 

 recently acquired land reservations ; 

 and while we felicitate ourselves on the 

 happy termination of the event, we are 

 not unmindful that a large share of our 

 thanks is due to you for the aid and as- 

 sistance which you have so generously 

 given us, in our endeavor to have these 

 Federal, State and private reservations 

 established among the White Moun- 

 tains. 



While earnest endeavors towards 

 conservation are being here crystallized 

 into a tangible fact ; while this land is 

 about to be purchased and administered, 

 I must not fail to bring to your atten- 

 tion also the considerable responsibili- 

 ties which it involves, and that the ad- 

 ministration of this property wisely, will 

 have a great effect upon the common 

 acceptance which is given to the prac- 

 tice of forestry. Both the immediate 

 and potential good to be derived must 

 be clearly shown, for it must not be for- 

 gotten that the State is losing a consid- 

 erable income from taxation in the pass- 

 ing over of these lands. 



I have been asked to give a short ac- 

 count of State work and will therefore 

 take up the administration of State land 

 For the first time in this country 

 the usefulness of preserving timber for 

 the protection of stream flow has been 

 actually demonstrated by the Geological 

 Department, and the maintenance of a 

 thick cover upon the headquarters of 

 the streams should be aimed for. This 



530 



will probably necessitate a certain 

 amount of planting on the waste and 

 cut-over areas, and the conservative cut- 

 ting of the tracts containing mature 

 trees. It will also carry with it eternal 

 vigilance against the spread of any lire, 

 and call for careful observation and 

 supervision of the general public, who 

 will make use of it in the way of a pub- 

 lic park. As much income as is compat- 

 ible with the essential preservation of 

 stream flow and park purposes, should 

 be derived from the cutting of the ma- 

 ture trees in order to help pay the nec- 

 essary expense of supervision and re- 

 stocking. It is extremely doubtful if 

 there will be anything but a debit bal- 

 ance for the first few years in the ad- 

 ministration of the present State lands, 

 but it is not unreasonable to prophecy 

 that in the case of the Federal Reserves 

 in the end, they will prove extremely 

 valuable to the Government and yield a 

 handsome income over and above the 

 cost of maintenance. Particularly will 

 New England profit by the demonstra- 

 tion which can there be made of silvi- 

 cultural practice of efficient methods of 

 protection against fire. And to the 

 Forest Service also the practical opera- 

 tion of logging methods designed to suit 

 New England conditions will be of high 

 educational value. 



The reservations which have been 

 taken over are as follows : Two belong- 

 ing to the Association for the Protec- 

 tion of New Hampshire Forests, one of 

 which is the Lost River Reservation, 

 which you have seen, comprising 148 

 acres, and which it is proposed to main- 

 tain as a public park. This reservation 

 was secured through a widespread sub- 

 scription. The other one, the Sunapee 

 Reservation, comprises 656 acres on 

 Sunapee Mountain, and was acquired 

 by those having places nearby and 

 through the generosity of Herbert 



