The School Book of Forestry

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The School Book of Forestry, by Charles Lathrop Pack
FOREST FIRE GUARD STATIONED IN A TREE TOP
BY
PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN TREE ASSOCIATION
1922
THE AUTHOR GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE FROM THE WRITINGS AND REPORTS OF COL. W.B. GREELEY, U.S. FORESTER; COL. HENRY S. GRAVES, FORMER U.S. FORESTER; GIFFORD PINCHOT, FORMER U.S. FORESTER; DR. B.E. FERNOW, DR. J.W. TOUMEY, F.W. BESLEY, W.I. HUTCHINSON, R.H.D. BOERKER, PROF. NELSON C. BROWN, PROF. R.S. HOSMER, E.A. STERLING, R.S. KELLOGG, E.T. ALLEN, S. GORDON DORRANCE, DR. HUGH P. BAKER, ALFRED GASKILL, J.S. ILLICK, AND MANY OTHER LEADERS IN FORESTRY.
THE PART OF GOOD CITIZENS
A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as helpless; forests which are so used that they cannot renew themselves will soon vanish, and with them all their benefits. When you help to preserve our forests or plant new ones you are acting the part of good citizens.
— THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
Our forests, with their billions of trees, are the backbone of agriculture, the skeleton of lumbering, and the heart of industry. Even now, in spite of their depletion, they are the cream of our natural resources. They furnish wood for the nation, pasture for thousands of cattle and sheep, and water supply for countless cities and farms. They are the dominions of wild life. Millions of birds, game animals, and fish live in the forests and the forest streams. The time is coming when our forests will be the greatest playgrounds of America. It is necessary that we preserve, protect, and expand our timberlands. By so doing we shall provide for the needs of future generations.
The forest is one of the most faithful friends of man. It provides him with materials to build homes. It furnishes fuel. It aids agriculture by preventing floods and storing the surplus rainfall in the soil for the use of farm crops. It supplies the foundation for all our railroads. It is the producer of fertile soils. It gives employment to millions of workmen. It is a resource which bountifully repays kind treatment. It is the best organized feature of the plant world. The forest is not merely a collection of different kinds of trees. It is a permanent asset which will yield large returns over long periods when properly managed.