With respect to our own forests it may be asserted that most of the private forest holdings of the United States, and probably all our national forest reserves,[8] as such, are destined primarily to serve purposes of utility, and very often to serve such purposes only. There are, however, a number of large forest estates owned by individuals, and some belonging to commonwealths and municipalities, which are esteemed as highly for their scenic character as for their material value, and pass in the public mind as emphatically under the name of parks as they occur to it in the light of financial investments. Such, for instance, are the Adirondack State Park and several large private forest estates in the same region, as well as certain large tracts of exceptionally beautiful forest in the western part of North Carolina and about the head waters of the Mississippi, which have now for some time attracted wide attention as desirable public possessions.
In such forests as these, esthetic considerations might suggest certain departures from the ordinary methods of forestry. Some people apparently wish to go further, and believe that certain portions of these tracts should remain entirely undisturbed, in order that their primeval character may be preserved for the enjoyment of all future generations.
The idea of a forest park, intact and inviolable, calls to mind our national parks of the West, which were actually established by Congress for that very purpose. Possessing, as they do, wonders of nature and exceptional scenery, these parks have been thought worthy of preservation solely for their own sakes. This difference in intention chiefly distinguishes them from the national reserves; so that, while the latter stand for the material benefit of the nation—whether it be directly, in the value of the timber, or indirectly, through the influence of the forest on the flow of streams—the value of the parks, on the other hand, speaks out of their own countenance. Their merit consists in the influence of beauty and sublime scenery on the moral state of man. They are healthful, vigorous breathing-places, where noise and smoke and harassing cares are laid aside.
It is well to bear this distinction in mind, because it appears not to be clearly recognized. While the reserves do not necessarily exclude some of the special advantages of the parks, their value lies, above all, in their stores of wealth. In this connection it may be said, for instance, that the designation “Adirondack Park,” that is currently applied to the State forest of northern New York, is a somewhat misleading expression; for, although its beauty is well known and appreciated and the State Constitution at present even forbids any cutting within its limits, yet the most competent judges believe that the Adirondack forest is exceedingly well fitted for the purposes of practical forestry. Indeed, several private tracts within that region already constitute the best known examples of practical forestry in our country. If, however, it is intended to separate certain portions from the remainder, either within this region or that of the proposed Minnesota reserve, and to preserve these for their unique or exceptional character, these segregated tracts are parks in themselves, and should so be called.
But the identity of our five national parks in the farther West is unmistakable; and these would appear to suggest neither forestry proper, nor landscape forestry, nor even landscape art. In them nature speaks for herself. The tasteful and well judged construction of roads and trails that shall be in harmony with the scenes through which they pass, or, better still, that shall be as unobtrusive as possible, is evidently a necessity if the parks are to be enjoyed by large numbers of people. In exceptional cases the ax may be needed for the very preservation of the forest. But the principal care should be to protect these forests from fire, defacement, and spoliation. For to us and future generations the parks stand, above all, as examples of the glory of our primeval forests.
The groves of big trees in the national parks of California, the geologic wonders of Yellowstone, and the specimens of arctic fauna still living among the matchless glaciers of Mount Rainier, are national possessions of great interest, for whose preservation not only Americans, but distinguished Europeans also, have pleaded. These, then, are ours for their own sakes; but most of our other national forest possessions will undoubtedly have to submit to further development and to the dictates of a sterner necessity.
NOTES
Note 1, page 5. There are about fifty distinct species of oak indigenous to the United States.