CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF FORESTS 'h'il 



environment. In other words, they have been "tried and proven" 

 by nature; there is no question as to their abiHty to produce 

 a satisfactory forest growth. 



Protecting the Forest from Injurious Agencies 



Rapid growth and the maturing of a forest stand is possible 

 only when such a forest is afforded adequate protection against 

 the numerous destructive forces that are constantly threatening 

 its well-being. This phase of forestry is known as forest protection, 

 and treats of the protection of forests against all such destructive 

 agencies as fire, insects, fungi, wind, sand dunes, and grazing. 

 One or more of these agents is likely to threaten every forest 

 stand during the greater part of its life. Indeed it sometimes seems 

 almost miraculous that a forest will grow to maturity in the face 

 of so many dangers. Large amounts of money are spent each year 

 in the task of safeguarding our young and mature forest growths. 

 Sometimes one hears these vast financial outlays criticized as 

 unnecessary, the argument being advanced that our finest exist- 

 ing forests were produced by nature alone, without man's 

 assistance. This is quite true, but they were also produced with- 

 out man's interference; it has often been said that man, with 

 plow and fire, is the worst enemy of the forest. Furthermore, 

 man often is not content to accept the kinds of trees that naturally 

 would grow best together, so that he creates a kind of forest 

 growth which, under natural conditions, would not survive. 

 Finally, nature, though ultimately producing the finest forests, 

 is very wasteful in the process. Such forest areas may have experi- 

 enced heavy and repeated losses due to lightning fires, insect 

 outbreaks, and ravages of disease before the now visible forest 

 matured. As long as there was no civilization, and no demands 

 for the products of the forest, such losses were of no consequence, 

 but present day civilization has a use for forest products and will 

 not countenance avoidable wastes of useful raw materials. As 

 these resources become more valuable, greater care and cash 

 outlay will be justified since the returns will likewise be greater. 



Fire is commonly regarded as the worst enemy of forests: 

 certainly it is the most spectacular in its method of destruction. 

 In the past, forest losses by fire in the United States have almost 



