Act 172 of 1910 created a 
permanent Conservation 
Commission. Aci 196 
created a conservation 
fund, derived from a timber 
severance tax, to be used 
partly for fire protection. Act 
261 of 1910 strengthened 
the act of 1904 and included 
a timber conservation 
contract provision. It took 2 
years for the referendum 
and court challenge of the 
severance tax to be settled, 
but the tax was held valid. 
Henry Hardtner signed the 
first conservation contract 
on June 14, 1913, for 25,719 
acres of Urania Lumber 
Company lands. Under the 
contract, his company 
would receive reduced 
advalorem taxes on the 
land if it protected the land 
from fire and assured the 
growth of timber. A 
severance tax would be 
paid at harvest. Thus the 
direct impact of the White 
House conference was felt 
in the passage of State 
laws in Louisiana and the 
initiation of positive forestry 
measures by the State 
(Burns 1968). 
Southern Forestry 
Congresses 
One of the many efforts to 
try to strengthen forestry 
programs in the South was 
a series of Southern Forestry 
Congresses. The first of 
these was held in Asheville, 
NC, July 11—15, 1916, 
sponsored by the North 
Carolina Forestry 
Association, the Association 
of Eastern Foresters, the 
American Forestry 
Association, the Society of 
American Foresters, the 
North Carolina Pine 
Association, and the 
Appalachian Park 
Association. The congress 
was well attended, and the 
agenda covered a wide 
range of subjects. A number 
of resolutions were adopted 
covering such items as the 
need to control and 
eradicate white pine blister 
rust, State and Federal 
appropriations, forest 
protective associations, 
and the recent Louisiana 
law providing for a 
severance tax. The 
congress urged the States 
of South Carolina, Georgia, 
Florida, Mississippi, and 
Arkansas to pass laws 
establishing and funding 
their own State forestry 
