Arizona republican., 1903-07-16
The State to Spend S15OOO on an Exam
 ination of it's Forest Resources.


 With the intention of fixing upoh proper forest policy, California has un- dertaken this year. with the help of the bureau of forestry. a comprehensive ard detailed study of its forests. The state legislature recently appropria ted Sl5,OOO fer the study. the condition be- ing that it should be carried out by the bureau of forestry, and that the bureau should bear half the expense.
 The state desires to know those facts about its forests that will guide it in passing wise forest laws. It desires to know. for instance. what disposal should be made of the state forest lands, what should be done to regulate the cutting of timber on them. how for est fires may best be restrained, wheth- CT tree-planting ip denuded areas will pay etc.
 The task of securing all the informa- ton necessary for a forest policy for California the bureau of forestry has begun thIs summer. The work is Of such magnitude that several years will be required to complete it. but valu- able and suggestive results will be se- cured each year.
 The work has been begun on a large scale. Six men are now examining public lands in the state to determine what parts of them are suitable for national forest reserves, and similar studies will be made of lands for state reserves. A study will be made of all lands owned by the state in order to determine the uses to which they may best be put. who should administer them, and what sort of administration they should have. A forest map of California will be made. showing the location of all forest areas and dis tinguishing between the different kinds of forest. In connection with the forest map will be study of important trees in order to learn with exactness the commercial range of the valuable species. An investigation will be made of the effects of numbering on the forest in order to determine what ought to be done to cut-over lands. It is of great importance to know what happens to the land in different parts of the tim bered regions after it is cut over by the mberman-whether it comes up again in timber or whether it becomes waste land.
 The effect of fire on the forest. espec- lally later numbering, and what may be done by the state to prevent fire f.,e SNbJSNNS that VIII IdhS Il lOnS tune 10 work out In September E. A Sterling. of the bureau, will try to determine what is the cheapest and most effective method of protecting from fire land that has been lumbere
 The bureau will also make study of the chaparral lands of Southern Cali tornia in order to learn whether it will pay to plant them with timber trees. A very interesting question has been raised as to whether chaparral-which includes a great variety of scrub trees, such as manzanita. scrub oak. valley mahogany, and scrub cherry-will re- tain the moisture in the soil as we'll as timber trees. Chaparral grows denser than timber trees, and often reaches a height of 20 to 25 feet and a diameter of 16 to IS inches. l.. C. Miller who has charge of this work. is now mak- ing a study of the conditions under which chaparral grows in the San Ga briel mountains, near Pasadena. where the bureau has been planting pines and cedars for several years
 The results of these separate investi- gations will be gathered together by William c. Hodge, of the bureau, who has general charge of the California work and will be presented to the state in a formal report, accompanied by maps.