I ... ^ cj r-i i PudIic Document . No 73 =J±?^t____ Wt>t Commontoealtf) of itlaasaaeijuisttts ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Commissioner of Conservation AND State Forester FOR THE Year ending November 30, 1924 ffoi^Q/ , ; Department of Conservation *1 Publication of this Document approved by the Commission on Administration and Finance 1600 2-27-25 Order No. 1027 C dm 19 11 CONTENTS Conservation of Fore^T^.c Wrt . .. 3 Conservation of Wild Xife . "VV?£ 3 Conservation of Domestic Animals rrn. 4 Forest Fires . fWS 5 State Forests Standish Monument Reservation . White Pine Blister Rust Lectures and Conventions Exhibits Recommendation, Forestry 7 Recommendation, Fisheries and Game Division of Forestry New Legislation Organization State Plantations S Forest Survey 10 Examinations 10 Nurseries 10 State Forests 11 Report of State Fire Warden 14 Report of Moth Superintendent 17 Federal Gypsy Moth Work 19 Appendix, Financial Statements 20 OUTLINE OF REPORT This report is divided for convenience and economy into four parts: — Part I. The organization and general work of the Department of Con- servation. Part II. The work of the Division of Forestry. Part III. The work of the Division of Fisheries and Game. Part IV. The work of the Division of Animal Industry. Parts I and II are printed in one volume as Public Document No. 73. Part III is printed in a separate volume as Public Document No. 25. Part IV. is printed in a separate volume as Public Document No. 98. OTfje Commontoealtf) of f$Ia$sacf)ugett£ Pajblt 'I ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF The terra conservation is broad enough to cover all forms of management designed to eliminate waste, safeguard the future and secure the best balance between immediate utility and future value. It is an economic problem pure and simple and may be applied to a great many subjects. The name was* deemed an appropriate one for this department for the reason that the func- tions of the three divisions of which it is comprised include the perpetuation and development of forests, the propagation and protection of wild life and the prevention, control and eradication of contagious diseases of domestic animals, all of which may properly be considered important economic prob- lems relating to the public welfare. During the past year the work of these divisions has advanced satisfac- torily. The Commissioner of the Department and the directors of the divi- sions have met frequently as the law provides to discuss matters of more than ordinary moment and to determine departmental policies. Ten such meetings have been held and records kept of the business transacted. The commissioner desires to express his appreciation of the generous act of the Forestry Commission of Scotland in sending to us an especially selected lot of Scotch pine seed. Conservation of Our Forests History shows that the importance of preserving and perpetuating the forests in any country has never been fully appreciated until their lavish use and destruction by fire and other ^agencies have practically dissipated them. It is the duty of a government to provide for the common welfare of its citizens. This principle, applied to the state of Massachusetts, imme- diately suggests as the first important step, the wisdom of making the land, the source of wealth, produce revenue to its fullest capacity. For many years the forests of the Commonwealth had been cut and the lumber used for in- numerable purposes until only a few were left. Then began a slow awakening and about twenty years ago thinking people began to realize the imperative need of adopting and carrying forward a constructive forest policy, the pur- pose of which should be to replace in as large a measure as might seem prac- ticable the wild, unproductive lands of the Commonwealth with forested areas. The General Court, responding to this demand on the part of the people, passed an act creating a forestry department and subsequent laws have defined and extended its duties and prerogatives, under which the forestry interests of the state have rapidly advanced. With the state forests already acquired, the activity of cities and towns in establishing municipal forests, and private land owners planting millions of trees as a nucleus, we may now look hopefully forward to the time when Massachusetts will once more be producing all the timber needed for her requirements. Conservation of Wild Life During the year the country witnessed the calling in Washington of a National Recreation Conference, presided over by some of the departmental heads and sponsored directly by the President of The United States. The deliberations of this conference revealed perhaps more fully than ever before in our history, the close relationship between the hours of recreation of our people and our forests, fields and streams and the wild life populating all these areas. It is difficult to name many branches of national recreation that are not more or less inseparably tied in with one or all of these elements. In the past we have looked on our forests purely as a commercial proposition' The time will come when a given forest area will not only be considered from the standpoint of its value when reduced to lumber, but rather whether such 4 P. D. 73 value is equal to the greater and more permanent benefit to a community of the aesthetic and health-giving returns resulting from maintaining a forest of growing trees and not a forest of stumps and dead and blackened timber. The suitableness of the area for wild life protection and propagation will become more and more of a consideration in making a decision as to whether or not a given forest area should be retained. The enlarged usefulness of such areas in our national and State and local programs of recreation will also be an important factor. While the dependence of many forms of wild life on the forests for living grounds has been fully understood, from the earliest days, it has taken time to force upon us as a people the conviction that there are many factors besides pure commercialism which should be considered. Conservation of Domestic Animals The relation of our domestic animals to public health, to production of fo and raiment, to agriculture, and to many lines of commercial industr\\ im poses the necessity of applying all the principles of conservation to the maintenance of this relation at a standard which its importance calls for the whole scheme of public welfare. When we consider that certain of our domestic animals furnish a large por- tion of our food supply by their products during life and by the utilization of their carcasses when slaughtered, that they are the original factors in the production of raiment for the people, that successful agriculture is not possi- ble without them, that many lines of business are dependent upon their use as toilers on the farm or servants in transportation, and that modern day progress in scientific protection of the public health is being rapidly accom- plished by their use in the laboratory, it can readily be seen that the func- tion of the Division of Animal Industry, in the control and eradication of contagious diseases of these animals and supervision of the sanitary conditions under which they are maintained, if efficiently executed, is one of true conservation of valuable resources. This Division is now doing extensive work in the eradication of bovine tuberculosis by the use of the tuberculin test. This work is of great value not only in the improvement of health conditions of live stock, but also in lowering the incidence of human tuberculosis due to bovine origin. This branch of the Division's service has developed very rapidly since the passage of the so-called tuberculin testing law, and it is receiving strong support not only by the cattle owner who has a laudable desire to eliminate disease from his animals, but also by public health officials who see a great step forward toward protection of the health of the people by further purification of the milk supply. Already a number of town and city boards of health have passed ordi- nances requiring that all raw milk sold in their municipalities shall have been produced by cows which have passed an official tuberculin test. The growth in public sentiment approving the present work now being done in eradication of bovine tuberculosis by co-operation of state and federal forces, and the activities of local health officials in the same direction, have resulted in a greatly increased demand for the service of this division in the tuberculin testing of cattle. This work during the present year has increased sixty-four per cent and we have on file large numbers of requests for the service with which we are unable to comply at present, waiting for additional appropriations by the legislature for the payment of indemnities for animals which react to the test. A continuation of the division's work according to its present policy of administration will require largely increased appropriations by the legis- lature, if the popular demand for it and public health requirements are to be satisfied. Legislation of 1923 passed in accordance with our recommendation has materially assisted in the administration of the so-called tuberculin test law and no additional legislation of this character is deemed necessary at the present time. P. D. 73 5 We refer to the accompanying: report of the Director of Animal Industry for a detailed description of the service of this division. Forest Fires The first and most essential step in any forestry program is protection from fire. Obviously it is folly to plant at a large expense young forest trees if they are destined to burn up before maturity.