While the Forest Preserve was thus being evolved, other evils than the illegal cancellation of State titles developed. While the statutes—subject to change at any time at the wish of the Legislature—forbade the sale of State lands, there was nothing, to prevent the sale of the timber on the land. In 1893 Governor Flower, whose friendship for the forests was unquestionable, recommended to the Legislature that "the State could acquire considerable revenue by granting permission to fell trees above a certain diameter on State land." But the policy thus proposed with the best of intentions was a disastrous one, for the reason that with the reckless lumbering methods employed the lumbermen would destroy fifty trees while taking out one.[8] By 1894, with the juggling in titles to State lands, the destruction of trees in lumbering operations, the killing of trees by flooding, the creation of unsanitary conditions by dams, and the general misuse and mismanagement of the State forests, conditions became intolerable, and the Constitutional Convention of that year adopted the stringent section before quoted (page [399]). Every word was carefully weighed, and designed to meet some phase of the situation. The necessity was so obvious that it was adopted without a dissenting vote by the Convention, and subsequently was overwhelmingly ratified by the people.
Since then, persistent efforts have been made by the lumber and water-power interests to impair this safeguard, but without success. We do not believe that the time has yet come to relax this section of the Constitution with respect to timber cutting; for while it is true that during the past few years conditions in the management of the Adirondack Forest Preserve have greatly improved and the public confidence in the possibility of the proper utilization of our forests had begun to take root, it is an unfortunate fact that that confidence has received a severe set-back by the course of legislation in 1910 with reference to the use of Adirondack waters. When the controlling powers in the Legislature are hostile to the idea that the State shall derive a revenue from its waters, it cannot be said that the auspices are propitious for the State's deriving any revenue from its timber. We do not believe that the people of the State are prepared to part with their forests upon the terms upon which they are asked to build storage reservoirs and furnish water-power to private interests, that is to say, for the bare original cost of the timber.
It therefore appears to be the part of wisdom for the people to defer scientific forestry on State lands while the present attitude of the legislative mind continues, and to preserve their forests intact until the prospect of deriving a revenue from them is better.
[Signed] Warren Higley,
First Vice-President
Edward Hagaman Hall,
Secretary
REPORT OF THE CARRIAGE BUILDERS' NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Soon after the Conference of Governors called by President Roosevelt in the White House, May 3-15, 1908, the Carriage Builders' National Association appointed a Committee on National Conservation, which has submitted two reports adopted by the Association. The last report, recently adopted, covers the items in which the carriage trade is most vitally interested. In addition to data taken from the Report of the National Conservation Commission, it summarizes the work and opinion of our Association on the important subject of Conservation.
A late census report showed in its lumber cut a total of 203,211,000 board feet of hickory as compared with 9,255,000,000 feet for all hardwoods. This would indicate that the hardwood forest at present contains a little over 2 percent of hickory; probably as much as 4 percent for the entire hardwood area. The forest of the eastern half of Kentucky has been estimated recently to contain about 5 percent of hickory. The lumber cut does not show the large quantity of hickory which is cut and shipped in the form of round billets, rived or split spoke stock, etc. This form of material is frequently culled from the forest ahead of the lumberman, and tends to cause the low percentage of hickory in the lumber cut before noted. Including this with the 203,000,000 feet of hickory lumber would raise the total cut to at least 350,000,000 feet per year.
Add to this hickory cut for fuel in localities with no transportation facilities, and the heart, pecky, and other portions wasted, and the total soon amounts to 400,000,000 feet. If hickory forms 3 percent of this forest (much of which is culled already for hickory—the lumber cut alone showing a little over 2 percent) there would be a total stand of 12,000,000,000 feet of hickory. Much of this is mature timber, with an annual growth of less than 11/2 percent. Hence there may be figured a growth of less than 180,000,000 feet against a consumption of about 400,000,000 feet. Though this is to some extent speculation, when supported by increasing difficulty in getting hickory timber and with rising prices, it is nevertheless sufficient to indicate that a thorough study of the growth of hickory is one of the important steps in attempting to plan relief measures.
The report made to President Roosevelt was enthusiastically received, and an organization was formed to bring about a campaign of education among the people of the United States on National Conservation of our resources. In turning over the office of President to William H. Taft, Theodore Roosevelt recommended to him strongly the work of National Conservation, and reports through the press have shown that he is very enthusiastic and is taking a live interest, notwithstanding some of the newspaper reports regarding the controversy between some of the members connected with the Association, which, in our judgment, has been a splendid advertisement for the cause.