74 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



Municipal . . . Municipal forests are common in Europe. They are 

 Forestry. common and popular because long ago it was found 

 that by developing waste lands or those of little value 

 in the vicinity of the cities for growing timber, good profits could be 

 made in forest rotations of from thirty to sixty years. In this way 

 material assistance was given in meeting the city budgets, and, conse- 

 quently, in decreasing the property tax rate. In a few instances munici- 

 pal forests, under skillful silvicultural management, have yielded a 

 return sufficient to meet all the expenses of the city and in addition have 

 provided a sinking fund for future emergency, or, in some cases a 

 dividend to the stockholders of the city, who, in other words, are the 

 property-owners. 



Besides the commercial aspect of these city forests, they have con- 

 tributed immeasurably to the health and pleasure of the people by fur- 

 nishing an enjoyable breathing-spot and place for recreation. In addi- 

 tion, European cities are sometimes wholly dependent upon their 

 municipal forests for their fuel and lumber supply. Thus in many ways 

 they enter into the municipal and domestic economy. 



It is only a question of time before American cities will realize the 

 desirability of acquiring waste forest lands within or near their limits 

 that are unfitted for agricultural development or undesirable for build- 

 ing or other more valuable purposes with the view of placing them 

 under scientific forest management. Several municipalities and private 

 water companies have recognized the advisability of developing their 

 forest lands on the drainage basins of reservoirs, both as a source of 

 revenue from the yield of wood products and to maintain the best sani- 

 tary conditions. Municipalities and corporations permanent in their 

 nature are better fitted to practice forestry because they can borrow 

 money at such low rates of interest. Forestry is not a business of quick 

 returns. 



Consistent with its progressive attitude on many municipal problems, 

 the city of Syracuse has recently taken up the practice of forestry on a 

 tract of timber land on the watershed of Skaneateles Lake, the source of 

 the city's water supply. The forest was purchased primarily to avoid 

 the possibility of contamination. With this object accomplished,, it 

 has sought to develop the timber along commercial lines, while still 

 maintaining a continuous forest cover to protect the watershed. A good 

 forest growth is conducive of clear, pure water, whereas a denuded or 

 barren watershed is often responsible for floods and the washing down 

 of silt, with a consequent muddy water supply. With this in view, the 

 city has placed the management of the tract in the hands of the New 

 York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, to serve not only 

 as a demonstration of the possibilities of practical forestry, but also as a 

 business proposition for the city. — Nelson C. Brown, in American 

 Forestry. 



