The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-12-26
ON FORESTRY INTERESTS.
INTERESTING ABSTRACT OF RE-
 PORT JUST MADE
At the Annual Meeting of the American
 Forestry Association Held in Wash

| Forestry Association Held In WRsh-
 tDgtOn, D. C.
 At the annual meeting of the Ameri- can Forestry Association the directors made their customary report to the members of the association. This report indicates a solid advance in the fores- try movement in the United States during the past year. particularly n gaining the support of the people of the west in the forest reserve policy and winning over important lumbermen and railroads to a conviction that sound numbering and forestry are identical, and that the railroads must look for their future supplies to the extinction of forestry. The three unfinished mat ters carried over from the last annual meeting were reported on. These are renewal of the recommendation of the association that all of the forestry work of the government should be consolida- ted and placed under the bureau of for estry instead of as present scattered between the general land office, United States Geological Survey and the bu- reau of forestry. The second matter thus considered is the earnest advocacy of the association of the proposed Ap- palachian National Forest Reserve, which has received general support both in and out of congress. The third mat tier brought over from last year was the work of a legislative committee to con- slider the extent of harmonious forest legislation in the different states. This committee during the year has devoted itself to the question of taxation of for est lands and is still gathering informa- ton from the owners of such ands in different parts of the country. It is the expectation that the association will frame some general law for presenta- tion to the legislature of the different states having in view some form of tax exemption or tax postponement which Twill induce owners of forest lands to a conservative cutting of them.
 l The affiliation of various state forest organizations with the national associa- Ition is recommended and also the CO Ioperation of the association in an sdvi- lsory capacity in the management of the national rorest reserves.
 The membership of the association on the 30th of November was 2, ,107, but the directors urge their members to see that this number is increased to ten thou- Isand
 The most important meeting of the Association was that at Minneapolis, where many of the prominent lumber linen of the northwest were interested land took partsin the programme. The lassociatiop's official organ, Forestry and Irrigation, was increased in size during the year and s6.5oO copies were circu- lated since the first of January.
 The work of the bureau of forestry lcomes in for special commendation, showing increased interest on the part of private owners of forest lands, 679,- 194 acres of such lands having been put under the supervision of the bureau. IThe lumbermen and railroads have also freely called upon the bureau for advice lin methods of cutting, wood preserva- Ition and similar kindred objects for the preservation of our future wood sup lplies. A similar interdependence be- ltWeen the work of the state and the bureau is noted. The passage of the ir- Irrigation act has brought much support Ito the forestry movement in that it is now recognized that without the pres Iervation of the forests surrounding the lheadwaters of streams irrigation can succeed only with difficulty.
 The general land office, which is in [charge of the immediate management lof the national forest reserves, reports an increase of 2,S75, ,0OO acres in the for lest reserve area. Four new reserves were established during the year under this office and one in Porto Rico under the supervision of the agricultural de- Ipartment has recently been proclaimed. lThe total area now in the national for lest reserves is over sixty-three million [acres. The administration of the gen. leral land office on the reserves has lshoWn steady and gratifying improve lment and the appropriations for this purpose have increased from $175,000 in. 1899 to $375, 900 in 1904. That these ap- lpropriations have been justified is lshown by the great reduction in timber destroyed by forest fires within the for lest reserves. The value of this service liar exceeds the sums appropriated. During the past year about four hun- Jared and fifty rangers and other forest lofficers were employed in the protection and development of the forest reserva- Itions. Attention is called by the direc- tors to the misuse of the mineral land laws in making locations within the res- lervations, and while the desire is ix- pressed that bona fide mineral develop Iments should not be inpeded, the direc- ltors feel that some check should be |placed upon mineral entries made for other than mineral purposes. #'
 In the states, too, great advance in forestry has been made during the year.
 Pennsylvania and Indiana have in- creased theih state reserves and there has been important legislation in Min Inesota, New Hampshire, California, Washington, Maine, Wisconsin, as we'll las other states in furtherance of the protection of our timberlands. In dis tant Hawaii forestry has been inaugu- rated under the charge of a competent forester, and in the Philippines the for est administration shows a considerable net surplus to the credit of the govern lment there. ,..r-, Y. -..
 The destructive forest fires in the Ad- irondacks are particularly mentioned, as well as in some of the other states, and it is pointed out that ma matter how good the forest fire laws of the re- spective states may be, they are quite useless in the absence of an effective