216 Forestry Quarterly 



"The forty million acres of these reserves are in the main 

 unspoiled as yet, though sadly wasted and threatened on their 

 more open margins by the axe and the fire of the lumberman and 

 prospector, and by hoofed locusts, which, like the winged ones, 

 devour every leaf within reach, while the shepherds and owners 

 set fires with the intention of making a blade of grass grow in 

 the place of every tree, but with the result of killing both the 

 the grass and trees." In the above, Muir shows his stand on 

 grazing, certainly sheep grazing, within the forests, which as we 

 all know presented one of our most difficult problems, but which 

 by intensive study and common sense has now been happily 

 solved. Showing, however, that Muir did not by any means 

 lose sight of the very practical value of the proper care and use 

 of forested areas of the West and that he believed in "conserving 

 by wise use" he says, regarding the Lodgepole forests of the 

 Rocky Mountains : 



"The Rocky Mountain reserves are the Teton, Yellowstone, 

 Lewis and Clark, Bitter Root, Priest River and Flathead, com- 

 prehending more than twelve million acres of mostly unclaimed, 

 rough, forest-covered mountains in which the great rivers of the 

 country take their rise. The commonest tree in most of them is 

 the brave, indomitable, and altogether admirable Pinus contorta, 

 widely distributed in all kinds of climate and soil . . ., and 

 making itself at home on the most dangerous flame-swept slopes 

 and ridges of the Rocky Mountains in immeasurable abundance 

 and variety of forms. Thousands of acres of this species are 

 destroyed by running fires nearly every summer, but a new 

 growth springs quickly from the ashes. It is generally small, 

 and yields but sawlogs of commercial value, but it is of incalcul- 

 able importance to the farmer and miner; supplying fencing, 

 mine timbers, and firewood, holding the porous soil on steep 

 slopes, preventing landslips and avalanches and giving kindly, 

 nourishing shelter to animals and the widely outspread sources 

 of the life-giving rivers." 



At all times, everywhere, Muir stood up as the friend of the 

 woods, of wild life, of nature, and did not mince words in 

 expressing his feeling against the fear of hardship and dis- 

 comfort of the average tourist: "Most travelers here are con- 

 tent with what they can see from car windows or the verandas 



