56 



THE FOREST PRESERVES 



CAMPFIRE GIRLS AT PALATINE PRESERVE. 



an uninterrupted regeneration of the forest were favorable and 

 the result was a vigorous production by the creative powers of 

 the soil and climate. 



Then came man and by degrees he interfered until in most 

 countries of the earth the area of forest has been considerably 

 reduced. The first decided interference was probably due to the 

 establishment of domestic animals men burned the forests to 

 obtain pasture for their flocks. 



Subsequently similar measures on an ever-increasing scale 

 were employed to prepare the land for agricultural purposes. 

 Then came the reckless cutting and subsequent firing for econ- 

 omic purposes and the governmental intervention such as the 

 creation of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. 



Gifford Pinchot wrote that "forestry has principally to do 

 with the supply of wood for various purposes, with the main- 

 tenance of waterflow in streams, with the prevention of floods 

 and with the supply of forage for grazing animals within the 

 forest." 



The forests are generally located at the headwaters of 

 streams whose protection is essential to irrigated agriculture on 

 the lands below them, he wrote, and such is the case with the 

 forest lands of Cook County. 



