498 DEPARTMENTAL REPOKTS. 



continued development, but thej' are realizing also the importance of 

 reserving lands once covered with forest, but now denuded, and the 

 essential necessity that the Government should reclothe them with 

 trees. 



Decidedly the most important development of the year in forestry 

 has been the awakening of the great lumber interests to the necessity 

 for practical forestry and the hearty cooperation they have begun to 

 give to the efforts of the Government for forest perpetuation. At the 

 convention of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, held 

 in Washington, more attention was given to forestry than to any other 

 subject. The convention expressed itself in favor of the perijetuation 

 of forests by wise use, and gave evidence of its good will by visiting 

 tlie Bureau of Forestry in a body. Members of the association have 

 since that time begun active cooperation with the Bureau with the 

 object of forest preservation, and it may fairly be said that forestry 

 has become a live issue in the minds of the great timber-land holders 

 of the United States. 



Only less important is the recent tendency of the railroads of the 

 United States to consider the future of their timber supply and to take 

 measures for its perpetuation. Railroads are among the greatest con- 

 sumers of timber in the United States, and the preservation or 

 destruction of vast areas of forest will depend on the attitude they 

 assume toward this question, which is not less vital to them than to 

 other users of wood. 



A marked feature of the year is the increase in State cooperation 

 with the Bureau of Forestry. The reference of Sta.te forest problems 

 to the Bureau of Forestry for solution has reached the point where it 

 involves a large and constantly increasing share of the attention of 

 the Bureau, which could be given to few more profitable lines of work. 

 The legislature of California has passed a law under which the State 

 contributes $7,500 a year for two successive years for a cooperative 

 study of its forest problems by the Bureau of Forestry, which con- 

 tributes an equal sum. 



The legislature of New Hampshire appropriated $5,000 for a sys- 

 tematic study of the forests of the State by the Bureau, including an 

 examination of the proposed White Mountain National Forest Reserve. 

 The State of Wisconsin and the Territory of Hawaii have each asked 

 the Bureau to nominate a principal forest officer for them, while 

 Maine, Michigan, and other States are in close and continual consul- 

 tation with the Government forest officers. 



The growing tendency of the Bureau of Forestry to devote its ener- 

 gies rather to Government work than to the assistance of priA-ate own- 

 ers was marked during the past year. In spite of the rapidly increas- 

 ing demand for assistance under the terms of Circular No. 21 on the 

 part of private owners, a very large proportion of the work of the 

 Bureau was given directly to Government forest problems on public 

 land. But the greater part of the forests of the United States are and 

 doubtless will remain in private hands, and their preservation is essen- 

 tial to the National safety and prosperity. While, therefore, it is right 

 that the Bureau of Forestry should meet first of all the demands for 

 strictly Government work, it can not neglect the requests for assistance 

 from private owners without most seriously endangering the central 

 object of its existence, which is the perpetuation of the forests of this 

 country by wise use. 



The widening of the field for practical usefulness of the Bureau in 

 cooperation with private owners was showu by the growing number 



