Conservation Reader

by Harold W. Fairbanks

The forests contained many wild animals, for in the forests the animals found both food and protection. Birds of every sort abounded, and their music filled the air. Trees overhung the streams, shading them from the hot sun, so that they did not dry up in the summer. The springs never failed, for the carpet of leaves and decaying vegetation underneath the trees of the forests held much of the rainwater from running away, so that it sank into the ground. Instead of making floods in the rivers, it fed the springs gradually and steadily through the long, dry summers.

The people of this land had learned the secrets of the growing plants and how these plants could be made better by cultivation. They had also learned to tame the wild animals and make them useful. The farms were managed with great care so that they never grew poor. The soil never refused to grow their crops. The people had learned during their earlier years of struggle that they must not clear the forests from the hillsides, for, if they did, the soil would begin to wash away. They had learned that they must leave the forests on the mountains in order to save the springs.

Rain did not always come when it was needed for the crops, and at other times it rained too much. Reservoirs were built to hold the surplus water for use in time of drought. Canals were dug to carry it to the fields.

The wild animals and birds bothered the crops, and the first thought of the people was to kill them. But it was soon discovered that this was not wise. Those who destroyed the wild creatures about their farms began to suffer from rats, mice, rabbits, and a multitude of little insects that all but devoured the crops.

It did not take these people long to learn that Nature was not to be trifled with. If they took too much from the earth one year, she made them pay for it the next. They not only became wise enough to take care of every good thing that Nature had given them, but improved upon many things that she had left unsuited to their use.

Thus the land was kept beautiful and fertile. The inhabitants became rich, and, instead of fearing Nature as they once did, they came to love the rocks, the woods, the streams, and the wild creatures.

Let us now leave this rich and fertile land and come back to it after hundreds of years have passed. We find a new people living there and the country so changed that we can hardly believe it is the same land.

Yet it must be the same, for there are the very mountains that were there long ago. To be sure, they do not look just as they did. When we last saw them they were covered with forests, but now they are barren and scarred with many gulches. Here is the same river, but it also looks different. While it was once overhung with trees and its waters were so clear that we could see the fish in the bottom, it now has a broad, sandy bed; the trees are gone, and the water is shallow and muddy.

The new inhabitants of this land have a tired and discouraged appearance. They have a hard struggle to get enough to eat. The soil is rocky, and it takes much labor to raise the scanty crops. They never seem able to gather all the rocks from the fields, for the soil washes away and new ones are constantly uncovered.

Where are the forests that once grew here? We find in their stead only a few stunted trees and bushes. There is little grass and almost no flowers, even in spring. Sheep and cattle wander far for their forage and do not have the sleek appearance they once did.