Suddenly some of the wise people among us awoke to a realization of what was going on. They discovered that the forests were going very fast and that soon we should have none if something were not done. Between the fires that swept them every year and the wasteful lumbering, the forests were in a fair way to leave us as they had the wasteful and careless peoples of other parts of the world.
How fortunate it is that some of us did look ahead before it was too late; for, although the Eastern forests have largely disappeared, there still remain millions of acres of government-owned forests in the West. These forests have now been withdrawn from sale and are to be held for the use and benefit of all. They are not to be permitted to pass into the hands of a few, to be cut and sold for private gain.
Our government is acting like a wise father who is interested in the welfare of his children, and who understands the need of taking care of their treasures until they are wise enough to manage them for themselves.
We are all concerned in many ways in the welfare of the forests. Whether we own any forest land or not, we are affected by the way in which the trees are managed. Because we are all dependent more or less upon the forests, they should be regarded as the property of us all, just as the air and water are. But because some of us do not yet know how, or do not care, to protect them, it is best that the government should do so for us.
American Forestry Association
These men are replanting a mountain slope from which fire once swept the forest.
It may be that you live in a brick, or stone house and burn coal in your stoves. You think that it makes no difference to you whether or not there are any forests. But stop and think a moment. Are you sure that you are really independent of them? How many things do you use every day that are made of wood? The list is surely a long one. If wood is rare and expensive, the articles which are made of it add to your cost of living and allow you less money for other things.
Let us suppose for a moment that you have no use for wood in any form. Will this take away all interest that you may have in the forests? In any event you are dependent upon the fertility of your fields for the food that you require. Now, if there is a lumber company stripping the mountains at the head of the river upon which your home is situated, and as a result of clearing the timber from the slopes the floods become worse, your garden is buried beneath gravel and sand, and your orchard washed away, will you not think it does make a difference to you in what way the forests are treated?
The timbered lands which the government is holding and caring for are known as National Forests. About two thirds of the forests yet remaining in the West are included in them. These lands are mostly mountainous and not suited to agriculture.