ASPECTS OF THE PRESENT FORESTRY AGITATION. 137 



Memorial of thk American Forestry Association. 



To the Senate and House of Reprei'entatives of the United States of 

 America : 



At the eighth annual meeting of this Association, held in Phil- 

 adelphia, October 15 to 18, 1889, the following resolutions were 

 adopted : 



Resolved, That we respectfully petition the Senate and House 

 of Representatives of the United States to pass an act withdraw- 

 ing temporarily from sale all distinctively forest lands belonging 

 to the Government of the United States, as recommended by the 

 Secretaries of the Interior during the past three administrations, 

 and providing for their protection, and authorizing the employment 

 of the army, if necessary, for this purpose, until a Commission, to 

 be appointed by the President, shall have made such examination 

 of the forests on the public domain as shall be necessary for 

 determining what regions should be kept permanently in forest, 

 and shall have presented a plan for a national forest administra- 

 tion. 



Resolved, That we also petition the Senate and House of 

 Representatives to authorize the President of the United States to 

 appoint a Commission for the purpose of examining the forests on 

 the public domain and reporting to Congress a plan for their 

 permanent management, and that Congress make the necessary 

 appropriations for such Commission. 



The reasons for our urgent petition for the passage of these 

 measures is briefly this, that, in the opinion of all those who have 

 investigated and considered the matter, these measures, or others 

 equally radical, can alone secure the magnificent forests upon 

 these lands from destruction by axe and flame within a compara-" 

 tivel}' short period. 



What the result of such destruction would be, may in some 

 measure be realized by considering these forests from three points 

 of view. 



First. They are valuable parts of the property of the nation. 

 Though far less extensive than formerly, they still cover from 

 50,000,000 to 70,000,000 acres. They are too valuable, merely 

 as present property, to be neglected, left to the timber thief to 

 carry off or the chance fire to burn down. 



