The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-03-15
One of Best Bills That Passed
Through Legislative Hands
This Year.
TREES MUST BE PROTECTED
Law That Will Do Great Good ii
Properly Administered
and Enforced.

tested by It's unanimous adoption III
tho Senate, ana the vote OF sc to in
the House of Delegates Governor
stuart has expressed himself as highly
pleased with this legislation, and VIII
Undoubtedly sign the bin when il
reaches him
Tho credit for this constructive leg
islation belongs largely to Senator !. q.
blackburn Smith. who introduced the
nill, and by his earnest and energetic
! erorts brought II successfully through
= stormy legislative session senator
Sniith's efforts were ably supplemented
by Judge Martin Williams ana the
Messrs. stock, Robertson. Powers
Oliver Grasty, Spcssard, Willis ana
! Duke.
The Bill az IL Il,
/ Tho bill provides that the State
Geological Commission shall direct th..
, forestry organization, and shall ar-
! poi.t Il State forester who shall have
! active supervision Of all forcs, inter
| "Sts ana matters pertaining 10 forestry
! in the Commonwealth The PRINCIPAL
/ duties OF the commission are 10 mat
tu.atc a system of protection from
/ forest fires, instruct and enc 1uraS. pri
Nate owners in preserving and man
aging :hcir timber holdings. and to In
vestigatc other forestry problems, such
as the best methods OF rcforeSting cut
! over and waste lands and methods of
| improving and conserving the waters
! IN the streams ana rivers OF the State.
The commission is authorized to CO.
operate with the United States Forest
Service. and under this provision $4,000
/ 70 $4,000 becomes available annually
! for protecting the forests AT the head
waters OF navigable streams Prior TO
the next meeting OF the General AS
sembly in 1916. the bill provides that
/ the expenses of administration shall be
paid out of the budget OF the Univer
! sity of Virginia.
A. one time IT was feared that the
! bin would fail because OF lack OF time
| for It's consideration in the House OF
/ Delegates. but the friends of the for
estry movement In every part OF the
State. Including farmers, timber own
ers. lnmbermen and many others VINO
have the future welfare OF the state at
heart, rallied TO its support. Even then
! the bill was In danger, and II is be-
lieved that had II not been Tor the pa
press OF the city OF Richmond aid the
state. IL would probably have gone
over until another session The bill
/ had the hearty approval Of the Uni
versity OF Virginia. the American For
/ cstry Association. the forestry commit
! tee of the Southern Commercial Con-
gress, the National Conservation Assoc
| citation, and the United states Forest
As In Other states.
/ Nirginia's forestry bill is founded on
! the law which has been in successful
! operation in Kentucky for number
of years. and is similar in purpose 10
the laws which have been in effect III
: Maryland North Carolina and many
other states. Virginia has been one OF
the least progressive States. heretofore,
in caring for her forests. but this bill
enables her 10 begin tn. development
OF resource Which Is next 10 .gri-
culture IN Importance.
! The progress of forestry in the va
/ rious states has been remarkable. \
decade ago but few states gave the sub
F, ject any serious attention at all To-
| day no less than twenty-five have ac
! tive forest departments. the majority
of which ,.fnDlOE professional state tOr
cstcrs and twenty have efficient fire
protective systems. Five states have
problem by cnacting legislation which
permits forest land TO be ella
placed on ,hc yield.ihat is on the
timber when cut-whle two others
| have. taken steps 10 provide such leg,
islation. Fourteen have established
state forests. with an aggregate area
Of more than 100000 acres. In 1917
series, that produced nearly loo00,O00
! small trees about half of which were
distributed TO private owners at cost.
NIrSinin Is In IL.
| The need for better care of Virginia
| forests is apparent TO every thinking
man We are more fortunate tlfin
| forest area-sOWe 100000 acres, or
about one-half of the area Of the state
and also because a considerable por-
ton of this forest area still bears vir-
| gin timber. Those who have followed
the rapid rise III the prices OF standing
|
realize more fully than the average
person what enormous losses are caused
each year by forest fires. In Virginia
at a conservative estimate, the destruc.
| ton of timber. both standing and
fclled. cord wood. fences, etc, due 70
| forest fires amounts to at least S350.oOO
annually. To this must be added thou
sands OF dollars loss from insects, both
before and after fires have gone
| irresistible chestnut blight, which is
beginning to devastatc the forest OF
! this State as 1T has those 10 the north
ward.
! Another source OF loss is the abuse
| OF our forests. due to the general DIS
regard and downright ignorance that
prevails in forest management. Lum-
bermen frequently arc guilty of vast
! ing valuable timber by making the
! great portion OF the upper. limby
| part OF the trunk to remain unused.
/ Trees are crop, only the crop is
: harvested once in fifty or 100 years.
instead of every year. as are agri-
! cultural crops 1t is part Of forestry
to see that needless waste of timber
! just as il is forestry to insure q
ond crop OF timber on lands which
timber production. In most sections
OF Virginia there are so many varieties
OF valuable timber trees that come
| up naturally after numbering, if forest
{ fires are kept out. that 1t will seldom
| be necessary to plant trees to get
second crop The forester knows Of
| SeNcTdl inherent WAYS IN winch TO
make sure to secure n good young
| growth, and he also knows how to
increase the rate Of growth by thin
ming and removing the useless trees.
When this work is. properly done it
not only will pay for itself. but the
increased, growth of the remaining
trees will pay a handsome profit. The
methods that must he used to obtain
these highly desirable results must be
! varied to suit the conditions: as in
| agriculture. the more valuable the
| crop aud the closer the market the
more intensive the methods that may
| be employed
In Germany. where forestry is we'll
| established. certain State forests pay
an annual profit. clear Of all expense,
OF over Sc per acre per year In Vir-
! ginia the average timber tract or wood
| lot probably pays not much more than
| Il dollar per acre per year, owing to
| lack Of care and poor methods of cut
' ting and marketing.