PARKS 251 



in five hundred or a thousand years, which can 

 point to a tract covered with trees and other 

 native growth and say, "that is a tract of original 

 forest; it has been preserved as the Indians left 



it.' 



A forest makes an appeal because it is beauti- 

 ful and has something of mystery about it. It is 

 nature's own creation, but if it is to be preserved 

 it must be carefully guarded. The water level 

 must not be lowered. The underbrush must not 

 be cut out. The covering of decaying leaves must 

 not be disturbed. The wild flowers must not be 

 picked. Provisions should indeed be made for 

 visiting a forest, but when one enters he should have 

 a feeling like that of the religious man who visits 

 a cathedral. He should go with reverence and take 

 away with him not wild flowers and broken branches 

 of trees and shrubs, but a remembrance of the beauty 

 and fragrance of the forest, an appreciation of the 

 birds which he has seen, a recollection of the fresh 

 pure air, the sunshine, or perhaps a storm, a feel- 

 ing that he has had communion with nature and has 

 been refreshed and rejuvenated. 



If, in acquiring the forest land, it is necessary to 

 take certain cleared or cultivated areas, these might 



