Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-06-15
STUDY OF FORESTS.
How the Various States May Know
 Their Timber Wealth.
Bureau of Forestry Suggests Co-Op- er@tiOn i'm the Work of Examin~ ati0n and Providing Pro-
 tection for Trees.

That excellent idea which Maryland has adopted of securing expert help through cooperation with the bureau of forestry in making detailed studies of it's forests, county by county, is one that is equally avail able to all the states and about equally advantageous to them, says the Kansas City Star. The Maryland geological survey has recently been taking an inventory of it's forest wealth, finding out how much there is of it, the condition it is in, what benefit it is to the state, including it's effects on stream flow and on agri- culture, how much damage has been done it, and how much damage may be lessened.
 The work suggested the very great advantages of a similar cooperation between other states and the bureau of forestry, although the examina- t1ons need not always be as detailed as in the case of Maryland. The mat. ter IS extremely simple, and may be easily arranged, and the results are valuable out of all proportion to the
 
 bureau furnishes and pays tue sal aries of the experts who make the examination when the state has guaranteed their field expenses.
 For a long time the bureau of for. estry has been urging state investiga. tions of forest lands. Inquiries are constantly received from lurnbermen, and others regarding the forest re sources of different states which the bureau is unable to answer fully, be. cause often no accurate studies of the regions have been made.
 States like New York, Massachu- setts, New Hampshire, Connecticut Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, which are working out for themselves some sort of for. est policy, find it absolutely essential to take stock of their timber lands Michigan has begun such an examina- tion through cooperation between the state forest commission. the uni versity authorities and the bureau ot forestry. A study already made of 60,000 acres of forest preserve lands in northern Michigan by T. H. Sher- rard, of the bureau of forestry, re suited in recommendations for fire protection experiments and for tree planting, which have been submitted to the state legislature. California has appropriated $15,000 for an ex animation of the forests of the state, A report on the forests of Texas has been prepared under direction of the r bureau of forestry and will probably form, when published, the basis for forest legislation in the state. Sew efal years ago the forests of the northern part of Wisconsin were ex. amined by Hilbert Roth of the bu- reau and his report was published by the bureau and by the state. Prof, J. G. Jack, of the bureau, two years ago made an examination of the for ests of Vermont and the work was continued more recently by Prof. c. D. Howe. Virginia may ask the bu. reau for help in mapping and study l ing the forests of the state and Mis- souri has expressed interest in an ex- animation of the forests of several l countless
 Recommendations for forest pre-. serves before going before the legis- lature must be supported by reliable studies of the forest growth on the areas which it is proposed shall be reserved. New Hampshire, alarmed by the heavy cutting in the White mountains, has appropriated $5,ooo for an examination of that region by the bureau of forestry, and an ex. animation of the forest lands on l A Q lr- summers work of the bureau.