OUR FORESTS 33 



State Forestry 



State interest in forestry antedated Federal forestry by many years. 

 As early as 1777, North Carolina, and in 1787, South Carolina enacted 

 laws against willful and careless woods burning. In 1867, Michigan 

 and Wisconsin both made inquiries into conditions and needs of their 

 forests. In 1869, the Maine Board of Agriculture appointed a com- 

 mittee to report on a forest policy for the State, and in 1872 the Maine 

 Legislature enacted a law "for the encouragement of the growth of 

 trees." By this law, lands planted with trees were exempt from taxa- 

 tion for 20 years. Laws offering tree planters either bounties or tax 

 exemption were passed between 1868 and 1872 in Connecticut, New 

 York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Dakota, Nebraska, 

 Kansas, and Nevada. In fact, most of the Eastern States gave early 

 legislative attention to their forest resources, although the actions 

 taken were far from adequate to meet the growing problem of forest 

 depletion. 



As early as 1872, New York created a commission to consider owner- 

 ship of the "wild lands lying northward of the Mohawk," and the 

 definite building up of the present Adirondack and Catskill State 

 Forest Preserves dates from 1885. When Colorado became a State 

 in 1876, its constitution provided that the general assembly enact laws 

 to preserve the forests on the State's lands. California created a 

 State board of forestry in 1885. A number of other States established 

 forestry bureaus or commissions in the eighties. 



Today, nearly all States have forestry agencies. The States own in 

 the aggregate about 28,000,000 acres of forest land, and most of them 

 maintain State forests or parks. Some have forest nurseries, where 

 trees are grown from seed for forest or shelterbelt planting and for 

 planting along roadsides. One of the most important projects of State 

 forestry administration, of course, is the suppression of fire. Many 

 States have therefore developed excellent systems of forest-fire pre- 

 vention and control. State forestry agencies give farmers and other 

 private forest owners advice and assistance in the handling of their 

 timberlands. They also extend cooperation to schools, clubs, and other 

 associations interested in the spreading of forestry education. Courses 

 in forestry are given at many of the State agricultural colleges. 



Forty-six States and Puerto Rico have extension foresters. These 

 forestry specialists are in most cases attached to the extension depart- 

 ments of the agricultural colleges and work with the county agricul- 

 tural agents and farmers in much the same way as do the extension 

 specialists in other lines of agriculture. Forestry information and 

 advice can therefore be obtained in nearly every State either from the 

 extension forester or the State forestry department. 



The passage of the Clarke-McNary Act gave an added impetus to 

 State forestry work, and many States are now cooperating with the 

 Forest Service under this law. Forty-three States and Hawaii have 

 cooperative protective systems for the prevention and suppression of 

 forest fires, and 41 States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii are growing and 

 distributing planting stock, with the cooperation of the Federal Gov- 



