PUBLIC PARKS OP IOWA 295 



in Iowa may seem ahead of the game, inasmuch as neither a national nor 

 state park is found within its borders. But they may be reminded of the 

 fact that individual communities and counties are often ahead of the state 

 in movements for better things. 



The idea of county parks and county forests can well be discussed un- 

 der the one subject, for in Iowa the rural park and forest will be much the 

 same thing. Forests on a strictly commercial basis will never occupy 

 large areas of our most valuable lands. When they are established solely 

 with the idea of profits they will have an equally large value for recrea- 

 tion, game and wild plant preservation. So, necessarily, our forest areas 

 will combine in most cases the economic phase with these others of equal 

 importance. They are inseparable. 



The need of parks and fores'ts is evident and yet, in our mad rush for 

 immediate wealth, is often disregarded. They have their place in all 

 civilized countries today. In rural England, in France, and in Germany, 

 they play a most important part in the life of the people. Our own na- 

 tional government, some of the states, and many cities have likewise felt 

 their need. Today our national parks and forests are scarcely equalled 

 in beauty and grandeur anywhere; many of the states have reserved or 

 bought back state forests, and an awakened interest in city parks and 

 forests is sweeping the country. But little has 'been done to preserve the 

 natural beauty spots in the rural districts of states like Iowa. The best 

 species of trees have been culled from the forests, the wild flowers have 

 suffered from the changed environments and have been eaten and trampled 

 by live stock, and the wild birds and game have been hunted and chased 

 from the areas. Hardly an acre in its original beauty and naturalness re- 

 mains. Commercialism has swallowed it up and with it all has come dis- 

 content and unrest among the rural people. 



The "back to the farm" movement, embodying the improvement of 

 country life and the community center ideas, all aim to instill content- 

 ment into the minds of the rural peoples. Would not the community park 

 and forest play a large part in accomplishing this end? The national 

 parks and forests, grand as they are, are seen by but few of our rural peo- 

 ple. They are for the well-to-do people with the time to visit them in the 

 warmer months. The average farmer's services are indispensable to his 

 work at the season when a visit to such parks or forest is possible. State 

 and municipal forests and parks are likewise not for him. It is little 

 wonder then that he and his children weary of the steady unchanging 

 grind. The sole accumulation of wealth cannot make a people contented. 

 The fact that the census showed a decrease in population for Iowa from 

 1900 to 1910 certainly cannot be explained by the poorness of Iowa's soils. 

 Whatever else may be attributed as causes, the longing to get away from 

 the monotony of farm life to see and to know the life of other parts the 

 mountains and the forests has played its part. 



As an illustration of the part that forests play in the life of a people, 

 let us turn to the city forests in Germany. 



In many cases not only is the forest the principal livelihood of the peo- 

 ple but it supplies a large part or all of the local taxes. The city forest 

 of Zurich in Switzerland, which nas been managed scientifically for nearly 

 a thousand years, is annually yielding a net income of $7.20 per acre, while 



