Proceedings of the Second National Conservation Congress at Saint Paul Part 38

"Article 229, as originally made, exempts manufacturers. Notwithstanding this fact, in 1902 a general license act was pa.s.sed in which the Legislature, in their wisdom, saw fit to levy a license-tax on the manufacture of lumber. When it was attempted to collect this tax, it was carried to the Supreme Court which held that a license-tax levied on the manufacture of lumber could not be collected for the reason that manufacturers were exempt under Article 229, and the sawing of lumber was a manufacturing business. The court did not say that the attempt of the Legislature to levy a license-tax on the manufacture of lumber was inequitable or unjust, but merely that it was unconst.i.tutional according to Article 229. This bill, from and including lines 12 to 24, attempts to change the Const.i.tution so that the tax may be levied on the severing of trees from the soil. It is to be noticed that there is no attempt to levy a license-tax on the manufacture of lumber, but it is proposed to change the Const.i.tution so that the license-tax may be levied on the cutting down of trees in forests.

"As stated before, the Conservation Commission, after having investigated this question for two years and examined the laws not only of the United States but of foreign countries, has reached the conclusion that those persons who are engaged in the exhaustion of the natural resources of the State, in justice to the State which permits them to do business under this law, in justice to the people, and in justice to future generations of the State, should bear a slight additional tax in order to restore and protect those resources.

"This, Gentlemen, is the reason why you are asked to change Article 229 of the Const.i.tution. You are already acquainted with the facts connected with the natural resource depletion of this State, and I will not now discuss that question. I am simply explaining to you, to the best of my ability, the necessity of changing the Const.i.tution as proposed in this bill in order that we may have the proper source to raise a revenue in order to carry out Conservation policies."

We succeeded in pa.s.sing the amendment, and then pa.s.sed the License-tax or Revenue Act which provides the following taxes: 3/4 cent per 1,000 feet log scale on fine and hardwoods severed from the soil; 1 cent per 100 stave bolts; 3/10 cent for each telegraph and telephone pole; 1 cent each for piles; 1/8 cent per cup per year for extracting turpentine from growing trees; for production of oil, 2/5 cent per barrel; for natural gas, 1/5 cent per 10,000 cubic feet; for mining sulphur, 2 cents per ton; for mining salt, 1/5 cent per ton. The license-tax on timber will yield about $20,000 annually, and the same amount will accrue from mines and mining. The Conservation Commission will use these funds for the protection and perpetuation of the State's natural resources.

The Forestry bill, which we consider a good one, was then pa.s.sed. There are no restrictions as to size-limit in cutting timber. Ample provisions are made for a complete fire patrol system and methods for preventing loss by fires. In Louisiana and all southern States, denuded lands will reforest naturally if fires are prevented, and a good crop can be grown in from 25 to 40 years. For any one who will engage in the business of growing timber, especial inducements are held out. The a.s.sessment on the land is fixed at $1.00 per acre for 30 or 40 years, and the growing timber is not taxed during that period. The Deputy Forester must be a man practically and theoretically educated in silviculture, and under the State Forester has supervision of forestry work. Consent is also given to the United States to acquire by gift or purchase not exceeding 100,000 acres for a National forest reserve; the State may also acquire by gift or purchase lands for forest reserves.

Act 254 provides for the establishment of a department of mining and minerals, including oil and gas production, authorizing the prohibition of unsafe and wasteful mining and the appointment of a supervisor of minerals on recommendation of the Conservation Commission.

Act 265 to "establish a Board of Commissioners for the protection of Birds, Game, and Fish," empowers them to employ wardens, officers, and a.s.sistants, and to provide means to carry the Act into effect; gives them complete control and management of all the waters of the State, such as the Gulf of Mexico (within the jurisdiction of the State), all lakes, bays, sounds, rivers, streams, pa.s.ses, bayous, creeks, lagoons, and ponds by granting management and control of all fish, sh.e.l.l-fish, oysters, diamond-back terrapin, turtles, shrimp, crabs, and alligators; and provides for oyster, game, and fish reserves by granting them control of birds, game, and fur-bearing animals, etc. Birds, game, and fish are among the greatest natural resources of the State, yielding an enormous food supply and a large revenue.

Act 57 declares that waters found in the bayous, lagoons, lakes, bays, and rivers to be the property of the State. The idea is that the State will not permit any one to create a monopoly of this resource, which belongs to the people.

Act 280 provided for the creation of a Commission for the Conservation of Natural Resources.

Act 333 provided for conservation of natural gas and oil by preventing waste.

A number of other Conservation measures were enacted into laws, 29 in all, but I cannot touch upon them at this time.

We are proud of our success in inaugurating safe and sane policies for Conservation; we are proud of our Governor, J. Y. Sanders, who urged the pa.s.sage of the various bills; we are proud of our lumbermen, timber owners, gas and oil operators, and miners who recognized the need for Conservation and the justness of our bills, and a.s.sisted in their pa.s.sage. And above all we are proud of our people as a whole, who are so wide-awake on the question of Conservation of natural resources.

REPORT FROM MAINE

CYRUS C. BABB

_District Engineer Maine State Water-Storage Commission_

The two princ.i.p.al resources of the State of Maine are its forests and its water-powers. Of its total area of 30,000 square miles, 21,000 square miles, or 70 percent are in forest lands. Over 1500 lakes and ponds are located in the State, covering 2200 square miles of water surface, and not including the innumerable little ponds of an acre or two in area that are located in all directions. There are in the State one lake to each 20 square miles of territory, and one square mile of lake surface to each 14.3 square miles of territorial area.

Although the State ranks 35 in area, and 30 in population, it ranks third in the Union in water-power development, having, according to the U. S. Census, a total of over 343,000 horsepower in use. It is surpa.s.sed only by New York and California in total horsepower.

The State has always conserved its water-power. The Supreme Judicial Court of the State has held as follows:

It is a rule of law peculiar to this State and Ma.s.sachusetts under the Colonial Ordinance of 1641-7 that all great ponds--that is ponds containing more than 10 acres--are owned by the State.

While private property cannot be taken for public use without compensation, the waters of great ponds and lakes are not private property.

Under the ordinance, the State owns the ponds as public property held in trust for public uses. It has not only the jus privatum, the owners.h.i.+p of the soil, but also the jus public.u.m, and the right to control and regulate the public uses to which the ponds shall be applied.

The authority of the State to control waters of great ponds and determine the uses to which they may be applied is a governmental power, and the governmental powers of the State are never lost by mere non-use.

_Early Investigation_

Maine has always been in the forefront in the investigation and conservation of its resources. Thirty years before the National Government authorized its first geological investigations, and over forty years before the Federal Geological Survey was established, the State of Maine had made such a survey. By Act of the State Legislature, March 28, 1836, a geological survey of the State was authorized under the direction of Dr Charles T. Jackson, State Geologist. The investigation was continued for three years. The results of this geological survey, considering the difficulties of transportation at that time and the non-existence of accurate maps, are interesting.

A detail survey and report on the natural history and geology of the State was made in 1861 and 1862 by Ezekiel Holmes, Naturalist, and C. H.

Hitchc.o.c.k, Geologist. Reports were made on the zoology and botany of the State, but the most interesting and detailed reports treated of the geological resources.

A hydrographic survey of the State was authorized by the Legislature as early as 1867. The resulting report of Mr Walter Wells is considered as authority even to the present day.

_Present Organizations_

At the present time there are two organizations in this State working along geological, topographic, and hydrographic lines. They are known as the Maine State Survey Commission, and the Maine State Water-Storage Commission. The first organization was authorized by Act of the State Legislature March 16, 1899. Its powers were subsequently amended and enlarged by an Act approved March 23, 1905. It is authorized to cooperate with the U. S. Geological Survey, and its work includes the topographic and geological surveys of the State.

The creation of the State Water-Storage Commission was authorized by Act of the Legislature April 2, 1909. His Excellency, Governor Fernald, at the Conference of Governors in May, 1908, was so impressed with the importance of the objects and recommendations there brought forth that, at the next meeting of the State Legislature, he advocated and finally approved the Act creating said Commission. This Commission is directed to collect information relating to the water-powers of the State, the flow of rivers and their drainage area, the location, nature, and size of the lakes and ponds in the State, and their respective value and capacity as storage reservoirs, with a view to conserving and increasing the capacity of the water-powers of the State. The Act further provides that every person, firm, or corporation before commencing the erection of a dam for the purpose of developing any water-power in the State, or the creation or improvement of a storage reservoir, shall file with the Commission certain prescribed engineering plans.

The first report of the Commission to the Legislature is asked to show, in so far as time will allow, a comprehensive and practical plan for the creation of such water-storage reservoirs as will tend to develop and conserve the water-powers of the State, and to report the necessary steps that should be taken by the State to further conserve and increase them. The Commission is further requested to ascertain what lands can be purchased by the State and the cost thereof, with information as to their value as forest reserves or for conserving the water-powers of the State, or for reforestation; and further to investigate the question of denuded, burnt-over, or barren lands in the State, and their extent and value, with a view to their purchase by the State for reforestation.

By an agreement dated December 1, 1909, between the Director of the U.

S. Geological Survey, the Chairman of the State Survey Commission and the Chairman of the State Water-Storage Commission, the work of the three organizations in the State is brought under one direction. This agreement provides for a cooperative survey of the natural resources of the State; that said survey shall include the continuation of topographic mapping, a determination of the amount and availability of water resources, their present development and the best methods of their future utilization; also the further determination of geologic resources. The executive officer, under the terms of this agreement, is a duly appointed employee of the U. S. Geological Survey, with the t.i.tle of District Engineer.

_State Highway Department_

This department was authorized by legislative Act of 1907. The appropriation for the work is based on a tax of 1/3 mill on the State valuation. Provision is made in the law whereby the State will aid financially, on a sliding scale, the various towns if they raise money for highway construction purposes. On the average it may be said that for every dollar appropriated by a town, the State will pay an additional dollar. The law further provides for a limitation of the amount that the towns may raise for this purpose, based on the valuation of said town. The sliding scale of appropriation by the State is as follows: to towns having a valuation of $200,000 or less, the State will pay two dollars for each dollar appropriated by said towns; to each town having a valuation of over $200,000 and less than $1,000,000, one dollar for each dollar appropriated by said town; to towns having a valuation of over $1,000,000 and less than $1,200,000, ninety-two cents; to towns having a valuation of over $1,200,000 and not exceeding $1,400,000, eighty-five cents; to towns having a valuation of over $1,400,000 and not exceeding $1,600,000, eighty cents; to towns having a valuation of $1,600,000 and over, seventy-five cents for each dollar appropriated by the town; and to unincorporated towns.h.i.+ps, one dollar for each dollar appropriated.

_State Forestry Department_

This department was created by legislative Act of 1891 through the appointment of the State Land Agent as Forest Commissioner. This Commissioner is directed to inst.i.tute an inquiry and to report as to the extent to which the forests of the State are being destroyed by fires and by wasteful cuttings, and the effect of such action on the watersheds of the lakes and rivers and on the water-powers of the State.

His princ.i.p.al duties, however, are the supervision and control of measures for the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires in all plantations and unorganized towns.h.i.+ps in the State. An efficient fire-fighting organization is now in operation in the State under this department, and during recent years valuable tracts of timber have been saved that would otherwise have been destroyed.

_Other Organizations_

There are other departments and organizations that are doing very valuable work in the preservation of the natural resources of the State of Maine. Many pages could be written on their results but at present a number of them will only be mentioned by name. Included in this list are the Departments of Inland Fisheries and Game, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics, State Board of Health, and Department of Harbor and Tidal Waters.

REPORT FROM Ma.s.sACHUSETTS

FRANK WILLIAM RANE

_State Forester_

HENRY H. SPRAGUE

_Chairman Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board_

While we do not have an authorized Conservation Commission in Ma.s.sachusetts, we nevertheless have many wide-awake and active State officials and commissions in charge of work which in the total answers the same purpose to the Commonwealth.

Ma.s.sachusetts is noted for her excellent roads, and she is constantly enlarging the mileage. The Fish and Game Commission is perfecting our laws and encouraging modern protection and management of both fish and game. The propagation and dissemination of each is a large part of their work.

General agriculture is undoubtedly improving and various rural industries such as apple raising, cranberry growing, asparagus culture, and various specialties are receiving renewed attention. The State Agricultural College is growing in influence and value to the State.

The increasing population of the State has made it necessary to set apart and protect many of the ponds and streams throughout the Commonwealth for the purpose of water supply. During the past fifteen years the Commonwealth has expended more than $41,000,000 for the acquisition and construction of Metropolitan works in order to provide the city of Boston and surrounding munic.i.p.alities with water. One of the storage reservoirs constructed for the "Metropolitan District" is the largest reservoir in the world built up to the present time for the purpose of providing domestic water supply. Large sums have been spent not only for the direct protection of the reservoirs from pollution, but also in acquiring and improving large marginal areas of woodland, and in the planting with trees of many hundreds of acres of cleared lands which have been acquired. Cities and towns outside of the Metropolitan District have made and are making like provisions for obtaining and preserving their water supplies.

Under recent legislation the gradual metering of all water services in the Metropolitan District is required, and more vigorous inspection has been introduced; so that in the past year or two a material reduction in the total consumption has been effected notwithstanding the increasing number of water takers.

In the building of the great Wachusett reservoir for the Metropolitan Water-works provision has been made for the utilization of the power which may be generated by the fall of the water over the dam to the level of the aqueduct through which the water is conveyed into the Metropolitan District. Machinery for a power plant is about to be installed in the power house already erected, by which it is estimated that from 2500 to 3000 horsepower may be generated and disposed of, not only at a profit to the District, but also to the advantage of the local industries.