Decembbe 28, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



985 



and at the same time to serve himself. 

 Those which follow (with reference to for- 

 est reservations) mark a new era in our 

 legislation. They reverse what has hith- 

 erto been the established policy of the State 

 and aim at acquisition of timber land in- 

 stead of sale of it. This change grows out 

 of the now well-established fact that so 

 long as the important watersheds of Penn- 

 sylvania are wholly under individual con- 

 trol there is serious danger to the interests 

 of the community, and that, to safeguard 

 these, the State must again possess itself as 

 promptly as possible of these grounds." 



With regard to the public sentiment that 

 has made such legislation possible the com- 

 missioner adds : " There were grave doubts 

 as to the passage of the bill (authorizing 

 direct purchase of timber lands). But 

 these soon disappeared, and it then for the 

 first time became evident how strong and 

 how general the sentiment in favor of the 

 most active forestry legislation had become. 

 The bill was passed by a large majority. 

 It is clear that the State has at length earn- 

 estly entered upon the work of preserving 

 its lumbering industries. The question is 

 no longer whether it shall be done, but how 

 it is to be accomplished. It is noteworthy 

 that all political parties joined in this leg- 

 islation, and also that the lumbermen, who 

 once looked upon all forestry agitation as 

 an interference with their business, have 

 come to be among the warmest friends of 

 the movement, which is intended to per- 

 petuate, not to limit, their vocation." 



WISCONSIN. PEESENT STATUS. 



Still nearer to Michigan, both in point of 

 physical conditions and in the extent to 

 which the forestry movement has crystal- 

 lized into an active call for efficient legisla- 

 tion, is the neighboring State of Wisconsin. 

 Climate and soil conditions are in many re- 

 spects identical with our own. The north- 

 ern half of the State has been lumbered ex- 



tensively, has again and again been visited 

 by destructive fires, and thousands of square 

 miles have been left in what is apparently 

 an utterly hopeless condition as regards 

 agriculture and with a discouraging outlook 

 as regards forest restoration. In a recent 

 paper * the seci'etary of the State forestry 

 commission has given a concise statement 

 of the situation from which the following is 

 reproduced. 



Among the lessons to be learned from the 

 history of the forestry bill of 1899, one of 

 the most important is this, that there is no 

 longer much danger of opposition to the 

 principle that it is the duty of the State to 

 provide for the permanency of forests by 

 appropriate legislation, even to the extent 

 of going into the business of conservative 

 lumbering. Ten years ago such a proposi- 

 tion would have met with not a little hos- 

 tility and ridicule. It would have been 

 called impracticable, socialistic and un- 

 American. In 1899 not a member of the 

 Legislature, with a single exception, but ad- 

 mitted the desirability of such legislation. 

 Even those who voted against the bill did so 

 avowedly on the ground of expediency for 

 the time being. 



Even less opposition than within the Leg- 

 islature is to be met with among the people 

 of the State. Of course, there is a great 

 deal of indifference and not a little mis- 

 understanding of the aims and objects of 

 forestry reform. In a State situated like 

 Wisconsin, where the question of maintain- 

 ing a water supply and preventing over- 

 erosion is of subordinate importance, the 

 great body of the people cannot be expected 

 to feel the same direct interest in forest 

 preservation as for instance in southern 

 California, where the existence of agricul- 

 ture is dependent on the maintenance of 

 the mountain forests. In Wisconsin the 



* Bruncken, ' On the Legislative Outlook for For- 

 estry in Wisconsin.' Eead before the American 

 Forestry Association, July, 1900. 



