A. MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS. 



MEMORIAL OF A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR TIIE ADVANCEMENT OF 

 SCIENCE ON BEHALF OF FOREST PRESERVATION, LEADING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 

 THE DIVISION OF FORESTRY. 



[From Senate Ex. Doc. 28, first Session Forty-third Congress, or Report No 259, H. R., first Session Forty-third Congress.] 



At the meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Science held at Portland, Me., on 

 tlie 22d day of August, 1873, the following resolution was passed: 



Resolved, That a committee be appointed by this association to memorialize Congress and the several State legis- 

 latures on the importance of promoting the cultivation of timber and the preservation of forests, and to recommend 

 such legislation as may be deemed proper for securing these objects. Also, that this committee be instructed to 

 cooperate with national associations for a similar object. 



The committee appointed consisted of Franklin B. Hough, Lowville, N. Y.; George B. 

 Emerson, Boston, Mass. ; Prof. Asa Gray, Cambridge, Mass.; Prof. J. D. Whitney, San Francisco, 

 Cal.; Prof. J. S. Newberry, New York City; Hon. Lewis H. Morgan, Eochester, N. Y.j Col. Charles 

 Whittlesey, Cleveland, Ohio; Prof. William H. Brewer, New Haven, Conn., and Prof. E. W. 

 Hilgard, Ann. Arbor, Mich. 



Under this appointment consultation has been had among members of this committee, who 

 have requested the undersigned, on their behalf, to represent as follows: 



That the preservation and growth of timber is a subject of great practical importance to the 

 people of the United States, and is becoming every year of more and more consequence, from the 

 increasing demand for its use; and that while this rapid exhaustion is taking place, there is no 

 effectual provision against waste or the renewal of supply. 



We apprehend that the time is not distant when great public injury must result from this 

 cause, and we deem it to be our duty to urge upon the Government the importance of taking timely 

 action in providing against the evils that must otherwise follow. 



Besides the economical value of timber for construction, fuel, and the arts, which is obvious 

 without suggestion, and must increase with the growth of the nation, there are questions of 

 climate that appear to have a close relation to the presence or absence of woodland shade. The 

 drying up of rivulets, which feed our mill streams and navigable rivers and supply our canals, the 

 failure of the sources which supply our cities with pure water, and the growing tendency to floods 

 and drought resulting from the unequal distribution of the rainfalls since the cutting off of our 

 forests are subjects of common observation. 



In European countries, especially in Italy, Germany, Austria, and France, where the injuries 

 resulting from the cutting off of timber have long since been realized, the attention of govern- 

 ments has been turned to this subject by the necessities of the case, and conservative measures 

 have in many instances been successfully applied, so that a supply of timber has been obtained 

 by cultivation, and other benefits resulting from this measure have been realized. 



Special schools of forestry have been established under the auspices of government, and the 

 practical applications of science in the selection of soil and conditions favorable for particular 

 species, and in the planting, care, and removal of timber, are taught and applied, with the view 

 of realizing the greatest benefits at the least expense. 



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