Foreword 



BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 



I WISH, for several reasons, that every American might have the oppor- 

 tunity to read this book about trees. First, the book underscores the 

 importance of forests to our national and individual prosperity, security, 

 and happiness. Of all the figures and facts marshalled here in proof of 

 this importance the most striking to me is that our drain of saw timber is 

 one and one-half times its rate of growth. Other proof is close at hand 

 the wooden pencil with which I write, the chair I sit in, my desk, and the 

 doors of my office. 



If that is not enough evidence of the everyday importance of our for- 

 ests, I have only to look out my windows at the stately trees that landscape 

 architects planted to temper the summer heat, to join building and earth 

 and sky in harmony, and to give pleasure to everybody. 



These city trees bring to mind the watersheds, shelterbelts, groves, 

 national forests, farm woodlands, community parks, and commercial 

 forests between the eastern seaboard and the West, where I grew up. 

 Truly, our woods and forests are one, in our lives, with soil, water, animals, 

 and food. Soil and water conservation, flood control, permanent abun- 

 dance, prosperity on the land the very goals we work toward involve 

 the proper use of forests. 



We all know what happened to the forests the first settlers saw. Most 

 of our virgin timber has disappeared through exploitation, waste, destruc- 

 tion, or use and removal to meet the tremendous needs of a fast-growing 

 Nation. 



However, the genius of American democracy can yet restore our 

 forests, rebuild our ghost towns, redeem our watersheds, and find new 

 ways to fight fire and forest pests. Much remains to be learned ; we are not 

 yet of one mind about ways and purposes of protection. But the history 



