LECTURE IX. 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF 

 FOREST POLICY. 



. The forest cover is of more importance to the household of a nation 

 than many other of its resources, it bears a peculiar relation to national 

 prosperity, and its management for continuity offers various unique and 

 peculiar aspects, which call for special active interest by the community at 

 large and by its representative, the state. 



Briefly summarizing the arguments for such special interest and exer- 

 cise of governmental activity, we recall that the forest is a natural resource 

 which answers simultaneously three purposes of civilized society ; it fur- 

 nishes directly materials used in very large quantities and almost as needful 

 as food ; it forms a soil cover which influences, directly and indirectly, un- 

 der its own cover and at a distance, conditions of waterflow, of soil, and of 

 local climate ; it has, in addition, an aesthetic value, furnishing pleasure and 

 recreation and benefitting health. 



The exploitation of this resource for private gain is apt to lead to its 

 deterioration or eventual destruction, especially in a country where popula- 

 tion is relatively small and unevenly distributed, when only the best kinds 

 and the best cuts can be profitably marketed. Hence, since profit is the ob- 

 ject of private enterprise, exploitation under such conditions must be by ne- 

 cessity wasteful. By the removal of the useful kinds and of the desirable 

 individuals, leaving the ground to be occupied by tree weeds and runts, the 

 reproduction of the desirable and useful is prevented, and since the forest, 

 by changing its composition and quality is deteriorated in value, the future 

 is injured as far as material interests are concerned. 



Since, with the removal of marketable timber, the interest of the individ- 

 ual in the forest is gone, it is naturally neglected, and conflagrations which 

 follow the wasteful exploitation, with the accumulated debris left in the 

 woods, kill or damage, not only the remaining old timber, but more espec- 

 ially all the young growth. Even the soil itself, often formed only by the 

 mould from the decay of leaves and litter accumulated through centuries. 

 is destroyed, and thus, not only the practicability,, but the possibility, of res- 

 toration is frustrated. 



In many localities the consequences of such destruction are felt in de- 

 ter'oration of climatic conditions, and in uneven waterflow, floods and 

 droughts being exaggerated ; in this way damage is inflicted on portions of 

 the community far removed from its cause and unable to protect them- 



