8 



the conservation of our natural forests. The true policy of conser- 

 vation should stop the wanton abuse and not the economic use of 

 our forests. We should not have this generation go shivering to 

 bed in order that the next generation may have fuel to keep it- 

 self warm, but it is certainly the duty of the present generation 

 to stop wasting our natural resources which should be left as a 

 heritage for the generations that are to come after us. 



Many of the steeper and rougher hillsides that have been clear- 

 ed should never have known the plow, and thousands of worth- 

 less acres in the state should be systematically reforested. Many 

 an acre that will yet be cleared had better be allowed to develop 

 a new growth of timber under proper care and attentioon. Much 

 of it can never be made to produce any other crop that will pay 

 nearly so weU. 



"To our fathers a tree was a cumberer of the ground, to our 

 children it will be one of the most valuable assets of the farm; 

 upon us, who live in the transition period between these two ex- 

 tremes, devolves the difficult task of breaking away from tradi- 

 tional habits of thought and adapting our methods to new and 

 radically different conceptions. Under our system of land tenure 

 the forest belongs absolutely to the land owners, and the State has 

 no control over the forest separate from the ownership of the land. 

 State forestry, therefore, resolves iself into two propositions; 

 (1) the purchase by the State of lands for forest reserve and, (2) 

 the education and assistance of the former in the maintenance of 

 the farm woodlot. In States having large acres of mountainous 

 land, unfit for cultivation, the first method is being adopted. 



"As to the second method, there can be no question that the 

 time is ripe for its immediate inauguration. Before either can 

 perform its full service to the state, however, it must have the ex- 

 act knowledge of the forest conditions of the state that can only 

 be obtained through a thorough forest and soil survey." 



Just what form the new legislation upon forestry should take 

 it is not our purpose to indicate. Some efl:ort should be made to 

 put a stop to the wholesale destruction of young trees and every 

 encouragement should be made to the reforesting of lands unfit 

 for agriculture. The people should be instructed as to the value 

 of forests and how to care for them, our tax laws should be made 

 to encourage the planting of forests and the holding of forest 

 lands from the lumberman's ax by private owners. 



