THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST 11 



of this lies the all-important dependence of western agricul- 

 ture upon irrigation. We must save the forests that store the 

 waters. 



Of particular significance to the farmer, too, is the tre- 

 mendous importance of forests as a source of tax revenue to 

 help support state and county government. The cost of gov- 

 ernment is growing as our population grows. Taxable prop- 

 erty grows mainly in the cities. Elsewhere we confront the 

 problem of diminishing timber to tax and consequent heavier 

 and heavier burden on farm property. It will lie a bad situa- 

 tion for the farmer if the timber is all destroyed and he has 

 to pay all the taxes, as well as a higher price for his build- 

 ings, fences and fruit boxes-. Every acre of timber burned or 

 wasted hastens this day. 



The conservation thus suggested does not mean non-use of 

 ripe timber, but doe^mean protecting it from useless waste 

 and destruction, and replacing it by reforestation when it is 

 used. 



CONDITIONS OF LIFE THE REAL ISSUE INVOLVED 



Lack of space forbids recounting many other ways in which 

 the forest question touches the average citizen. It enters into 

 our prospects of development, our investment values and our 

 insurance rates. Like the keystone of an arch, or the link 

 of a chain, forests cannot be destroyed without the collapse of 

 the entire fabric. Their preservation is not primarily a prop- 

 erty question, but a principle of public economy, dealing with 

 one of the elements of human existence and progress. Failure 

 to treat it as such means harder conditions of life, a handicap 

 of industry; not only for our children, but for us as well. 



It all sums up to this : On every acre of western forest de- 

 stroyed by fire, or that fails to grow where it might grow, we, 

 the citizens of the West who are not lumbermen, bear fully 

 eighty per cent of the direct loss and sustain serious further 

 injury to our general safety and profit. 



