FORESTRY COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION 



The Report of the Forestry Committee. 



WHEN the present Forestry Committee was appointed, following the 

 meeting of the Fourth National Conservation Congress at Indianapolis 

 in 1912, several of the public spirited men who had followed the de- 

 velopments took up the question of the most effective organization to represent 

 the mutual forestry and lumbering interests involved. The desirability of such an 

 organization was emphasized by the presence at Indianapolis of a number of men 

 who were no longer in need of the general educational propaganda relative to the 

 conservation of natural resources, but attended the Congress for the purpose of 

 meeting progressive men in their own and related lines and securing specific in- 

 formation helpful in the solution of their own problems. 



The need for a working organization and a rallying point, where mutual and 

 more or less technical problems may be discussed, is felt particularly by the 

 forestry and timber interests. The Conservation Congress was originally founded 

 on forest conservation, and while the importance of other conservation subjects 

 is realized the time seems to have come for specific forestry work at popular 

 national meetings, in addition to the general publicity and education. It is merely 

 a frank admission of the facts to say that the attendance and support of the 

 forest conservation interests would have been lost to the Congress if it had not 

 returned to the original theme; and not only this but the active workers in for- 

 estry desired an opportunity to exchange views on technical problems, so as to 

 take home tangible information in return for their time and expense in attending. 



The Forestry Committee of the present Congress was organized with the 

 view of meeting, to some extent at least, the conditions which existed. The Con- 

 servation Congress offered the first essential in the way of a recognized national 

 organization, with which active forestry committee work could be associated. 

 The second need was financial, and this was promptly met by the American 

 Forestry Association, which provided the necessary funds. There then remained 

 only the necessity of perfecting the proper organization of the forestry committee 

 itself. 



Various precedents have been established by older organizations for carrying 

 on the character of work deemed most effective in this case. The plan which has 

 given good results and is in general use is that of standing committees or sections 

 assigned to various subjects. The American Railway Engineering Association 

 and the International Congress of Applied Chemistry are good examples of this 

 form of organization. The National Educational Association has carried the 

 idea still farther, to the point of having various independent sections, each with 

 its own president and program. A central organization in each case holds the 

 sections or standing committees together for the common cause. The needs of 

 the Forestry Committee for this year seemed best met by the appointment of sub- 

 committees to investigate and report on the more important forest conservation 

 subjects. 



