orators.

The organ

offices are necessary, and Washington, as the seat of the Federal ization of

Government, is the best place for them. But it is realized that to the Association.

take the fullest advantage of its opportunity for national scrvice, the Association must do its work not merely from and in Washington, but in the closest possible touch with the friends of conservation and the local questions which confront them throughout the United States. To this end the Association is uniting in effort with other organized bodies, state and individual, which stand for conservation. . . . By organized leadership in the conservation movement the Association brings to the wise settlement of local conservation questions, by legislation or otherwise, the prompt support of other

forces enlisted in the fight for conservation. Appointment Another exceedingly effective method followed by the Association of collab

for increasing its field of usefulness is through the appointment of collaborators for towns and cities. These local representatives of the Association are men and women, prominent in the conservation movement, who are willing to give their own time and effort in acting as sources from which is spread a knowledge of the work and

purpose of the Association. What the Through these agencies and through its counsel the Association Association

is keeping watch upon all legislation within the conservation field. is doing.

It is drafting and recommending both to Congress and to state legislatures good laws for conserving our natural resources. Through its bulletins the Association is telling its members promptly and plainly when and how to strike. These bulletins deal simply and without reservation with conservation measures pending or proposed. If a bill promotes conservation the Association will tell the truth about it, no matter who its author may be or what interests are behind it.

The influence of the Association upon legislation is already making itself felt. But its work has only begun. Only if the friends of conservation stand shoulder to shoulder can that work be finished in time.

178. The principles of conservation 1 If the resources of the nation are really to be conserved, we shall have to do something more than draw up or formulate mere state

recom

ments of principles; on the other hand, the magnitude and complexity Importance

of clearly of the problem render it necessary to get principles and issues clearly

defined in mind before specific legislation is advocated. It is, therefore, principles important to formulate and summarize the principles which ought

as a prelude

to legislative to govern conservation. One of the most concrete statements of work. principles is that of the National Conservation Association, formulated in 1909. This statement is as follows: [The following measures are important]:

Conservation The protection of the source waters of navigable streams, through measures the purchase or control by the nation of the necessary land within mended by their drainage basins, especially in the southern Appalachians and the National

Conservation the White Mountains.

Association The enactment and enforcement, both by the nation and by the with respect

to forests, several states, of effective laws to prevent, by active patrol during dry weather, and by other appropriate means, the spreading of fire in all forests, whether publicly or privately owned.

The reasonable but effective public regulation of timber cutting on forest land, whether publicly or privately owned, the conservation of which is essential to the public welfare.

The separation, for purposes of taxation, of the timber from the land on which it grows, so that the forest crop shall be taxed only when it is harvested, while the land shall be taxed every year.

The support and extension of practical forestry.

The preparation, by a commission appointed by the President waters, of the United States, of a comprehensive plan for waterways improvement, extending to all the uses of the waters and the benefits to be derived from their control, including navigation, with the relation of railroads and terminals thereto, the development and disposition of water power, the irrigation of arid lands, the drainage of swamp and overflowed lands, the control of floods, the prevention of soil wash, and the purification of streams for water supply.

[The inclusion, in all future grants of water power rights, of provisions which will adequately protect the rights of the state and nation.]...

The support and extension of the irrigation of arid lands and the lands, drainage of swamp and overflowed lands.

The directing of public attention to the need for preserving the

and minerals.

fertility of our soils, and thus protecting the future food supply of our people.

The enactment of legislation whereby the title to the surface of public lands and to the minerals therein shall be granted separately, with every appropriate facility to miners to acquire such part of the surface as may be needed in the development of their claims.

The conservation and control of the unappropriated public range lands by the government in the interests of the stockman and home maker, and subject at all times to homestead entry.

The retention by the government of the title to all lands still in public ownership which contain phosphate rock, coal oil, or natural gas, and the development of the same by private enterprise, under conditions that will prevent extortion and waste.

The enactment of appropriate legislation to prolong our coal supply, to reduce waste in mining, and to establish sufficient safeguards against the loss of life in mines. .

The foregoing enumeration is intended to indicate the general character of some of the measures which this organization believes should be adopted to carry the principles of conservation into practical effect. It will, however, coöperate in every appropriate way with other organizations and with the state and national officials to cover the entire field of the conservation and development of our natural resources, and to bring to this coöperation the vigorous support of an intelligent and disinterested citizenship.

The measures
enumerated
above do
not exhaust
the aims of
the Asso-
ciation.

179. The legal basis of conservation 1 Importance An important element in the conservation movement is the legal of the legal right of state governments to regulate privately-owned natural basis of conservation. resources within their borders. Wishing this phase of the situation

to be clearly defined, the Senate of the State of Maine in 1907 submitted to the Supreme Court of the commonwealth certain questions as to the right of the legislature to check and prevent the uneconomical use of privately owned resources. The opinion of the Court was that the property rights of the individual are subordinate

statement

power of

a

may not

to the rights of the community, and that the waste of privately Opinion of

the Maine owned resources may properly be prevented by state legislation.

Supreme Some extracts from the opinion of the Court follow:

Court: We find that the legislature has, by the constitution, "full power Preliminary to nake establish all reasonable laws and regulations for the

as to the defense and benefit of the people of this state, not repugnant to this constitution nor that of the United States.” It is for the legislature the legisto determine from time to time the occasion and what laws and regulations are necessary or expedient for the defense and benefit of the people; and however inconvenienced, restricted, or even damaged particular persons and corporations may be, such general laws and regulations are to be held valid unless there can be pointed out some provision in the state or United States Constitution which clearly prohibits them.

[With regard to the status of private property rights, we refer to the opinion of Chief Justice Shaw, expressed as follows]: “We think it a settled principle, growing out of the nature of well- Private

individuals ordered civil society, that every holder of property, however absolute and unqualified may be his title, holds it under the implied lia- use their bility that his use of it may be so regulated that it shall not be injurious. property in

such a way to the equal enjoyment of others having an equal right to the enjoy- as to injure

the rights ment of their property, nor injurious to the rights of the community.

of the All property in this commonwealth ... is derived directly or in- community. directly from the government and held subject to those general regulations which are necessary for the common good and general welfare. Rights of property, like all other social and conventional rights, are subject to such reasonable limitations in their enjoyment as shall prevent them from being injurious, and to such reasonable restraints and regulations established by law as the legislature, under the governing and controlling power vested in them by the constitution, may think necessary and expedient...."

There are two reasons of great weight for applying [a] strict con- Why the struction of the constitutional provision to property in land:

public may

control and First, such property is not the result of productive labor, but is limit the derived solely from the state itself, the original owner;

private Second, the amount of land being incapable of increase, if the property. owners of large tracts can waste them at will without state restric

use of

Conclusion of the Court.

tion, the state and its people may be helplessly impoverished and one great purpose of government defeated. ...

The foregoing considerations lead us to the opinion [that the legislature of the state of Maine has the power to enact legislation designed to prohibit, restrict, or regulate the utilization of privately owned natural resources, where such prohibition, restriction or regulation is necessary to the protection of the public interest.]

Much has been done, but much more remains to be done.

Federal legislation needed with respect to

180. Needed conservation legislation 1 Since the historic Conference of Governors in 1908, the movement for the conservation of natural resources in the United States has become national in scope. Notable progress has been made toward conserving forests, water power, land, and minerals. Nevertheless, the conservation movement is still in its infancy, and the amount of work to be done greatly exceeds the amount already accomplished. In the conservation of forests, for example, much progress has been made, yet this phase of the movement is retarded by the lack of helpful legislation. In 1920 the Forest Service in the United States Department of Agriculture summed up the need for legislation on forest conservation as follows:

Legislation is needed ... which will enable the Forest Service to assist the respective states in fire protection, methods of cutting forests, reforestation, and the classification of lands as between timber production and agriculture. It should carry an initial annual appropriation of not less than $1,000,000, expendable in coöperation with the states, with a proviso that the amount expended in any state during any year shall not exceed the expenditures of the state for the same purposes.

Legislation is needed . . . which will permit the rapid enlargement of the national forests and the consolidation of existing forest units for more effective administration. This legislation should:

(a) Continue the purchase of forest or cut-over lands, as initiated under the Weeks Act, with annual appropriations of at least $2,000,000.

fire pro

tection and forest renewal,

the ex

tension and consolidation of Federal forest holdings,