December 9, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



565 



a more complete land utilization undertaken 

 without employing modern forestry methods 

 in improving forest land which, as you re- 

 member, occupies nearly one half of the en- 

 tire state. If the present forest area of this 

 state were fully stocked and in various age 

 classes, we could, in a very short time, vastly 

 increase our agricultural production, as it 

 would make possible permanent homes on 

 areas that, without nearby woods to afford 

 employment to supplement farm work, is 

 economically impossible. 



I sincerely hope that I have been able to 

 impress you with the serious situation which 

 now confronts the American people as to ade- 

 quate future supplies and for the need of a 

 radical change in forest policy which will 

 make regrowth possible on an extensive scale 

 while we still have virgin supplies for our 

 immediate needs. I sincerely hope that I 

 have been able to impress you with the seri- 

 ousness of present land problems in states 

 like Connecticut whose agriculture has de- 

 clined with the removal of the forest. 



If you accept my thesis that forestry prac- 

 tise must be established on all of our 463 mil- 

 lion acres of forest land, if we are to grow as 

 much wood each year as we will need for the 

 best development of our industrial life, you 

 may well ask how can it be attained. It can 

 never be attained if left to individual effort. 

 Its attainment is primarily a function of gov- 

 ernment. The forest history of the old world 

 clearly proves that forests are over cut and 

 otherwise destroyed when their control and 

 management are left entirely to private land 

 ovtmers. No nation can perpetuate her forests 

 through wise use unless they are publicly 

 owned or publicly controlled. This nation with 

 four fifths of her forests privately ovraied, can 

 not possibly attain the regrowth essential in 

 forest renewal unless the public exercise man- 

 datory control and demand of the private land 

 owner that regrowth must follow as a natural 

 consequence of forest exploitation. As a people 

 we must appreciate that our continued pros- 

 perity is dependent upon the conservation and 

 wise use of our 463 million acres of forest 

 land. We must also appreciate that the forests 



thereon are threatened with extinction by the 

 methods under which much of the forest is now 

 handled. We must work for a forest policy 

 which embodies reasonable public regulation of 

 operations in all forests, both public and pri- 

 vate. We must work for adequate fire protec- 

 tion, for reforestation, for silvicultural prac- 

 tise and for further acquisition of national, 

 state and communal forests, and all these on a 

 scale which will with certainty insure a future 

 supply of wood to meet the needs of the nation. 



The nation, the state, lesser governmental 

 units and the private owners of forest land 

 must cooperate and work together if adequate 

 regrowth to meet the needs of the country is 

 attained. There is need for national legisla- 

 tion and large national appropriations to stim- 

 ulate cooperation with the states, and provide 

 for fire protection, reforestation, investigation 

 and silvicultural practise. There is need for 

 state legislation which requires of the private 

 owner of forest land that it be kept fully 

 stocked with growing timber and of the state 

 that through tax adjustment, fire protection, 

 and in other ways it make regrowth possible of 

 execution without becoming a financial loss to 

 the private owner. There is need for state leg- 

 islation providing for local forestry boards 

 comprised of foresters, timber-land owners 

 and timber users to interpret the degree of 

 stocking in their particular locality which 

 will meet the requirements of the law. 



As it is in all states to-day, forest property 

 may be taxed for its full sale value. The 

 owner of a growing crop of timber may be 

 taxed fiifty times on the crop before ready 

 for harvest and without deriving a single 

 dollar from it until cut. If taxed each year 

 at its full sale value he may pay out more 

 in taxes during the growth of the crop than 

 its entire sale value when cut. This out- 

 grown method of forest taxation must be 

 changed. 



Forest crops are inflammable and subject 

 to serious loss by fire. So long as the fire 

 hazard is as great as it is at the present time 

 there is little incentive for private owners of 

 forest land to establish stocked stands of 

 young timber and carry them forward to 



