The Spanish War, in 1898, brought to the United States new outlying
territory, over 150,000 square miles, in three locations, the
relationship as regards government varying in the three cases, namely
Porto Rico, the Sandwich Islands, and the Philippine Islands, besides
several smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean.
While the latter are only temporarily under control or tutelage of the
United States, and are expected sooner or later to attain complete self
government, Hawaii was annexed as a Territory in the same sense as all
other Territories, the inhabitants having become citizens of the United
States, while Porto Rico is a dependency with partial self-government,
but its inhabitants do not enjoy citizenship in the States.
All these islands are located in the tropics and hence the composition
of the forest is of tropical species.
Commercially, the forests of Porto Rico and of Hawaii are relatively of
little value, but their protective value is paramount, and a
conservative policy is needed in order to preserve the water supply for
agricultural use (sugar plantations in Hawaii) and to prevent erosion.
For Porto Rico, a beginning of forest policy was made by setting aside,
in 1903, the Luquillo Forest Reservation, some 20,000 acres in the
Eastern mountainous part of the island, which is under direct control of
the United States government. The rest of public lands and forests was
placed under the Department of the Interior of the island.
In Hawaii, even before annexation, a movement on the part of the Sugar
Planters Association was made in 1897, to induce the insular government
to devise protective measures. The result was the appointment of a
Committee who made a report in which the writer had a hand. But not
until 1903 was a Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry
established, a Superintendent of Forestry appointed, an organization of
district foresters effected, and a number of forest reservations
established. The principle of State forest was fully recognized by
planning the gradual withdrawal of some 300,000 acres and by beginning
the extension of forested area by plantations. In 1910, 23 reserves with
an area of 575,000 acres had been made. Distribution of plant material
and of advice to planters is also part of the policy. Annual Reports are
issued which attest the good common sense in the administration.
In the Philippine Islands, a territory of 120,000 square miles, largely
mountainous, not only the protective but the commercial value of the
timberlands is considerable. The extent is variously estimated as
covering between 40 and 50 million acres (50% of total area), much of it
virgin, and 16 million acres of it commercially valuable. Of the seven
hundred odd species of trees, mostly heavy woods, composing the forest,
some 160 are marketable at home and in China; yet almost fifty per cent.
of the home consumption is imported from the States, owing to absence or
inaccessibility of softwoods, and high cost due to excessive expense of
present logging methods.
When the United States took charge of the islands it was found that the
Spaniards had since 1863 a forestry service, manned by Spanish
foresters, and in the lower ranks by Filipinos. To be sure, the
activities of this forestry bureau went hardly beyond the collection of
dues for timber licenses, which yielded little more than the cost of the
service, although on paper excellent instructions were found elaborated.
It so happened that an officer of the American army, Captain George P.
Ahern, had for some time given attention to forestry matters in the
States, and he naturally was placed in charge of this bureau, in 1900.
There were found to be around one million acres private and church
property, the rest being considered State lands, but all private owners
were required to register their holdings before being allowed to
exercise their rights. A system of licenses for cutting timber, and of
free use permits to the poor population was continued after Spanish
models. Not only was an efficient administration gradually secured, but
the technical side of dendrological and silvicultural knowledge was
developed as rapidly as possible under the able administration of
Captain Ahern, a continuously growing literature being the result.