130 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



and utilization, with the high costs incident to them. Ultimately 

 these lands will be managed for continuous production as natural units. 

 That day can be hastened by conscious efifort. A policy of purchase 

 will take a half century for full fruition, during which time the lands 

 will have been laid waste, thus necessitating expensive reclamation in- 

 stead of profitable continuous production that is now open to choice. 

 Therefore, co-operation under the wise and patient guidance of the 

 Forest Service is, in my judgment, the only quick solution. Bearing in 

 mind the fact that the best timberlands we have in Washington and 

 Oregon are immediately adjacent to the National Forests, most of the 

 others already having been cut over, the urgency of this movement is 

 very apparent. General success of such a movement will, moreover, 

 be of the utmost service, 'since it will bring under forest management 

 an additonal area nearly, if not quite, as large as the heavy-timbered 

 portions of National Forests in these States. This is true because of 

 the enormous percentage of rough, worthless land in the forests them- 

 selves, whereas these adjacent lands are largely first quality forest soil, 

 although too hilly to be of agricultural character. Since the area 

 affected is so large, the profession must hold the Forest Service re- 

 sponsible for undertaking extension of forestry over it. 



In affirming that there are no insurmountable obstructions to such a 

 program, J must insert certain provisos regarding the qualifications the 

 forestry profession and the Forest Service must have if such a pro- 

 gram be successful. The requirements are : 



1. Foresters must have faith in forestry and in themselves. 



2. The Forest Service must have faith in forestry. Its leaders in 

 particular should possess the burning zeal of the crusader for the 

 cause of forestry. 



3. We must discontinue trying to handle the National Forest area 

 as one unit. The Washington office in particular must discontinue 

 thinking of the National Forest as a large green blur on the western 

 landscape, all to receive the same (absent) treatment from Washington 

 to Arizona. It must realize that the National Forests are made up of 

 innumerable units, each dififering from every other in details. It 

 must, further, concede that it cannot know all these details, but must 

 have field men who do know them and are competent to act on their 

 information. It must then set free the initiative of these field men and 

 let them act within broad regulations and subject to inspection in the 

 field. 



4. Under the foregoing conditions, and under fair salary treat- 

 ment, we can expect the employees of the Service to show their old 

 loyalty and enthusiasm, with the aid of which forestry will go forward 

 to great advances in the period now beginning. 



