THE ANNUAL MEETING 



HAVING cooperated with the 

 National Conservation Con- 

 gress in the very successful 

 forestry conference in Novem- 

 ber, the annual meeting of the American 

 Forestry Association at Washington, 

 D. C., on January 14, 1914, was con- 

 fined to a business session, for the elec- 

 tion of officers, the adoption of a plat- 

 form of principles and policy and con- 

 sideration of routine business. 



Henry Sturgis Drinker, president of 

 Lehigh University, was re-elected presi- 

 dent of the Association; Hon. Franklin 

 K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior; 

 Hon. David Houston, Secretary of Ag- 

 riculture, Hon. Thomas Nelson Page, 

 United States Ambassador to Italy 

 and Mr. George W. Vanderbilt were 

 added to the list of vice presidents, the 

 gentlemen who served in this capacity 

 last year all being re-elected. 



Mr. Otto Luebkert of Washington, 

 D. C., was re-elected treasurer. 



Mr. C. W. Lyman of New York, Mr. 

 Charles Lathrop Pack of Lakewood, 

 N. J., Mr. John L. Weaver and Mr. 

 Otto Luebkert of Washington, D. C., 

 were re-elected directors for a term of 

 three years and Mr. Alfred Gaskill, 

 State Forester of New Jersey, was newly 

 elected a director for the same period. 

 Mr. E. A. Sterling of Philadelphia was 

 re-elected an auditor for two years. 



The platform of principles and policy 

 which was unanimously adopted will 

 be found in the front section of this 

 magazine. 



It was decided to hold the 1915 con- 

 vention at San Francisco, during the 

 Panama-Pacific International Exposi- 

 tion, the date to be selected shortly. 

 The day selected is to be known as 

 American Forestry Association Day, 

 and it is the purpose of the Association 

 to invite every country in the world 

 to send representatives, and invitations 

 will be extended to all State forestry 

 organizations, conservation associations 

 and commissions, fire protective bodies 

 and lumber and paper trade associa- 

 tions to send delegates. It is proposed 



146 



to make it the greatest gathering of 

 foresters, and all interested in forestry, 

 that the world has ever seen. 



The financial report was the most 

 encouraging that the Association has 

 heard since its organization. Not only 

 was the work of the Association greatly 

 extended during the year, its general 

 activities increased and its magazine 

 greatly improved, but it increased its 

 membership by adding over fifteen 

 hundred new members and earned a 

 considerable fund which will be used in 

 further development work during the 

 present year. 



The report of the Secretary, P. S. 

 Ridsdale, was as follows: 



THE SECRETARY'S REPORT 



The Secretary reports that the As- 

 sociation's work during 1913 has re- 

 sulted in a gratifying growth of the 

 interest in forest conservation, and a 

 generally wider appreciation of the 

 activities of the Association, and the 

 value of such an organization. This is 

 indicated in the increase in membership 

 during the year, the greater number of 

 requests for forestry literature and ad- 

 vice regarding forestry development, 

 and the broader general knowledge that 

 the Association is working along essen- 

 tially practical lines in furthering for- 

 estry conservation. The Association 

 continues to be self-sustaining and the 

 financial difficulties which it experienced 

 in past years are not likely to be re- 

 newed. There is a steady increase in 

 active membership and in demand for 

 the magazine and this growth is general 

 and not limited to any one section of 

 the country. 



It is satisfactory to note that big 

 timber owners, lumbermen, loggers, 

 wood preservers and all others interested 

 in the growth of trees and the uses of 

 wood are acquiring, in greater number, 

 an interest in the work of the Associa- 

 tion: and a realization of its need. 

 There has not been, to the knowledge 

 of the Secretary, any adverse criticism 

 of the work which is being done. In- 



