individuals, nationwide. The council's 

 work continues to have important 

 impact on increased productivity, 

 particularly of the South' s hardwood 

 forests. 



In 1954 the Southeastern Pine 

 Marketing Institute was formed in 

 Savannah, GA, primarily to give 

 smaller, independent lumbermen a 

 greater voice in local and national 

 matters affecting their interests. 

 William C. Hammerle. former State 

 Forester of South Carolina and 

 Georgia, was its first executive 

 secretary. In 1961, this institute and 

 several other groups with similar 

 objectives were merged into the 

 newly formed Southeastern Lumber 

 Manufacturers Association, with 

 headquarters in Atlanta. John C. 

 Milliner, a former railroad official, 

 has been the organization's executive 

 vice president since its inception. 

 Recently, the Southeastern Lumber 

 Manufacturers Association has been 

 very active in seeking more equitable 

 arrangements for marketing Canadian 

 lumber in the United States and the 

 South in direct competition with 

 lumber produced by its members. 



During the 1950's, the wildfire 

 problem and resulting heavy losses 

 continued to plague the South. The 

 fact that over one-third of these fires 

 were incendiary, deliberately set, 

 only served to underline the 

 complexity of the problem. In 1956 

 the American Forestry Association, in 

 cooperation with 10 other State, 

 regional, and national associations, 

 responded to the challenge by calling 

 a Southern Forest Fire Prevention 



Conference in New Orleans on April 

 13-14. 



From 1950 to 1956, only one 

 additional Southern State had 

 approved statewide fire protection: 

 Alabama. Almost a quarter of the 

 southern forest needing protection 

 was still unprotected, and funding on 

 average over the South was only two- 

 thirds of estimated basic minimum 

 requirements. The New Orleans 

 conference served to focus attention 

 on the region's great need for better 

 fire protection and the lack of 

 acceptable progress. Moreover, it 

 underscored the major cause of 

 wildfires in the South— incendiarism. 



Over 1,000 delegates attended the 

 conference. Most of them were from 

 the South; however, 25 States as well 

 as Canada were represented. The 

 delegates included representatives 

 from agriculture, banking, business 

 and industry, education, the press. 

 Federal and State forestry agencies, 

 State legislatures and law enforcement 

 agencies, and the judiciary and the 

 courts. The New Orleans meeting 

 was a huge success and underscored 

 the need for better law enforcement 

 as a necessary tool in fighting 

 incendiarism, especially when the 

 preferred approach of education has 

 failed. Fire's cost in jobs, payrolls, 

 and raw materials was just too great 

 to be tolerated. The conference sent a 

 resounding message that was well 

 received by top officials at the State, 

 county, and community levels. It 

 helped crystallize public opinion and 

 stimulate action as never before 

 (Clepper 1975). 



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