GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 



BUREAU OF FORESTRY 



THE plan which Maryland adopted 

 some time ago of getting the 

 cooperation of the Bureau of Forestry 

 in making a detailed study of her forests 

 is a most excellent one, and is equally 

 available to all the states and about 

 equally advantageous to them. With 

 the help of the trained foresters of the 

 Bureau of Forestry the Maryland Geo- 

 logical Survey was able to make an 

 inventory of the forest wealth of the 

 state, finding out how much there is of 

 it, the condition it is in, what benefit it 

 is to the state, including its effects on 

 stream flow and on agriculture ; how 

 much damage it has suffered, and how 

 such damage may be lessened. The 

 forests of Allegany, Cecil, Garrett, Cal- 

 vert, and Harford counties have already 

 been thoroughly studied by experts of 

 the Bureau of Forestry, and reports for 

 the first three have been published by 

 the state. 



The work suggests the very great 

 advantages of a similar cooperation be- 

 tween other states and the Bureau of 

 Forestry, although the examinations 

 need not always be as detailed as in the 

 case of Maryland. The matter is ex- 

 tremely simple and may be easily ar- 

 ranged, and the results are valuable out 

 of all proportion to the cost of such 

 work to the states. The Bureau fur- 

 nishes and pays the salaries of the ex- 

 perts who make the examination, when 

 the state has guaranteed their field ex- 

 penses. The reports of the Bureau's 

 experts become the property of the 

 state, provided they are credited, when 

 published, to the Bureau. 



For a long time the Bureau of For- 

 estry has been urging state investiga- 

 tions of forest lands, because the results 

 of such investigations are as valuable 

 to the Bureau as to the states them- 

 selves. Inquiries are constantly re- 



ceived from lumbermen and others 

 regarding the forest resources of differ- 

 ent states which the Bureau is unable 

 to answer fully, because often no accu- 

 rate studies of the regions have been 

 made. Every bit of reliable informa- 

 tion concerning the forests of the dif- 

 ferent states and territories is welcomed 

 by the Bureau as contributing to the 

 sum of knowledge of the forest resources 

 of the whole country on which the Bu- 

 reau must base its general forest policy. 

 States like New York, Massachusetts, 

 New Hampshire, Connecticut, Penn- 

 sylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, and 

 Wisconsin, which are working out for 

 themselves some sort of forest policy, 

 find it absolutely essential to take stock 

 of their timber lands. Michigan has 

 begun such an examination, through 

 cooperation between the state forest 

 commission, the university authorities, 

 and the Bureau of Forestry. A study 

 already made of 60,000 acres of forest 

 preserve lands in northern Michigan 

 by T. H. Sherrard, of the Bureau of 

 Forestry, resulted in recommendations 

 for fire-protection experiments and for 

 tree planting, which have been submit- 

 ted to the state legislature. California 

 has appropriated $15,000 for an exami- 

 nation of the forests of the state. A 

 report on the forests of Texas has been 

 prepared under direction of the Bureau 

 of Forestry, and will probably form 

 when published the basis for forest leg- 

 islation in the state. Several years ago 

 the forests of the northern part of Wis- 

 consin were examined by Filibert Roth, 

 of the Bureau, and his report was pub- 

 lished by the Bureau and by the state. 

 Prof. J. G. Jack, of the Bureau, two 

 years ago made an examination of the 

 forests of Vermont, and the work was 

 continued more recently by C. D. Howe. 

 Recommendations for forest preserves 

 before being acted upon by the legisla- 

 ture must be supported by reliable 



