The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1901-07-28

walton OF the public domain. Tho dirt.
sion of forestry has just been made !.
bureau Of the department and tho
scope Of its operations considerobIr
larged. 1t IS in charge of Mr.. Clifford
Pinchot, who was the first American
to take up the study of forestry as
profession, going to the schools 90
Europe as soon as he had graduated
from Yale university. On his rpt,,rn
to America he devised and put into on
GRAFTON on the estate Of Mr.. GeorsD =
Vanderbilt at BiItmore, N. c., the first
attempt at systematic forest manage
ment ever made in this country. He :
was the youngest member of the COM 4.
mittee of six appointed by the National 4
Academy Of Sciences, the recommends
tions of which resulted in the procla-
nation Of the reserve made during y
President Cleveland's last term
The forest reserve movement began
officially on March 3. 1891, when con-
gress passed an act providing that the
president may from time to time set
apart and reserve any part of the
public lands wholly or in part covered
with timber or underground" and that
"the president shall by public proefa-
nation declare the establishment Of
such reservations and the limits there
off, Within less than 80 days of the
passage of the act President Harrison !,
proclaimed the Yellowstone park tim 1
berland reserve. containing 100000
acres. One other reserve. was made in
1891 and no less than IA in 1892 and
1893. The total area reserved under
President Harrison was about 13,5O0.-
600 acres.
President Cleveland's first addition to
the list was the Cascade range forest
reserve in Oregon, the largest Of all the
reserv es. Near the end of his term Of
oRice he took step to which the pres
ent widespread public interest in for
est matters is chiefly due. In the
spring of 1896 the National Academy
of Sciences had been asked to submit
a plan of a national forest policy for
the government. The academy ap->
pointed a committee of six members,
which, after extensive examinations,
recommended the setting aside OF -
forest reserves, with an area of 10000
600 acres. These reserves were pro-
claimed by the president Feb. %, 1897.
President Mckinley took up the work
thus begun and carried it forward,
and the result today brings true salts
faction to those who see how vast a
future gam has been secured to the
country.
There are now 80 forest reserves un.
der government jurisdiction. with to-
tai acreage of 46.S2S. 449. or something
more than 10000 square miles. an area
considerably greater than the stateSQf
New York. New Jersey. Massachusetts
and Connecticut. These tracts of wood
land are mainly located in the far west
in California, Wyoming, Arizona
Washington, Colorado; Idaho, Montan9
and New Mexico.
The governments work in this great
field Is now divided among three bod
les. the general land office, which is
charged with their administration; thG
United States geological survey, toN
which falls the duty of mapping and
describing them, and the new bureau
of forestry of the department Of agri-
culture, which is called upon to investi-
gate questions Of a scieatifc and tech.
nical nature. The department Of The
interior. in addition to these, includes
an organized force of rangers to pre-
vent and stop forest fires. and Secre-
tary Hitchcock now plans to add to his
department bureau which will carry
out plans for the protection and en-
tension of forests In the United States
modelled after the German and other ,
foreign systems, but an improvement ]
upon them. He says that existing leg !
islation and the funds at his command
will permit Of the Inauguration Of such
a system.
Forestry In the United States has
met with little or no active opposition.
but it has had to overcome the passive
Inertia of popular ignorance. No think |
ing man fails to admit that the wood
lands of America are Of value to the
country, yet he hears Of q FIRE which
destroys some vast tract, comments up
on it as upon piece OF news of purely
momentary interest and promptly dis
misses the matter from his mind.
Wood and water still are abundant. !