the resources. Their primary 
interest in protecting the 
forest was from the game 
habitat point of view; timber 
and wildlife interests were 
close allies. 
That same year, the 
Democratic convention 
meeting in Montgomery 
passed a resolution calling 
for "a wise policy of 
conservation of the natural 
resources of Alabama. .. ." 
With this commitment the 
legislature approved the 
Forestry Act of 1923. Page 
S. Bunker was appointed 
State Forester in 1924, and 
field work began in January 
of that year (Widner 1968). 
Texas 
As interests in protection 
and conservation of southern 
forests developed, actions to 
establish a State forestry 
Organization and the office 
of State Forester were often 
the result of a dedicated 
effort by a few individuals. 
For example, in Texas, banker 
W. Goodrich Jones is credited 
with being "the original Texas 
conservationist" because of 
his efforts to bring forestry to 
the State. He had been 
concerned for many years 
with the problems of forest 
fires and the devastation of 
logging without provision for 
a future timber crop. Jones 
became obsessed with what 
was happening to the forests 
before the turn of the century 
and began to campaign for 
the planting of trees. He was 
successful in getting a 
resolution adopted by the 
Texas Legislature and signed 
by the Governor on February 
22, 1889, designating George 
Washington's birthday as 
Arbor Day in Texas (Chapman 
1981). 
Jones attracted enough 
public attention and 
acceptance of his ideas that 
he was a part of the Texas 
delegation to the 1908 
Governors’ Conference. 
Another member was Richard 
F. Burges, a lawyer from El 
Paso, and later a member of 
the legislature, who was 
most concerned over water. 
Their mutual interests in 
conservation led to a strong 
working relationship and 
ultimately to the passage of 
the Burges Forestry Act of 
1915, which established the 
Texas Forest Service as a 
part of Texas A. & M. College. 
Burges had shepherded the 
bill through the legislature, 
17 
