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destructive work of lumbermen, and the advent of forestry present 

 a picture of change and progress, which enables us in part to com- 

 prehend the important role that man played in transforming the 

 original forest into the present forest. 



Pennsylvania originally contained large, dense, and extremely pro- 

 ductive forests. The large have become small, the dense have be- 

 come open, the productive have become unproductive. Each genera- 

 tion of mankind has seen a smaller, more open, and less productive 

 generation of forests. The march of forest destruction has been 

 rapid and severe and yet inevitable on account of existing economic 

 conditions. While originally almost the total area of the State was 

 covered with tree-growth, to-day less than 50 per cent, is covered 

 by woody growth and over 5,000,000 acres of this is barren or un- 

 productive, while many more acres are poorly stocked with trees. 

 Most of our woodland areas are 'at present in a very unproductive 

 unsanitary, unattractive, and unregulated condition. 



Economic conditions have changed and the old order of things need 

 not continue. We must substitute conservative lumbering for the 

 wasteful exploitation of the past. We must do constructive work in 

 our forests now to recompense for the destructive work carried on 

 during the last few centuries. We should aim to show our social 

 and civic worth by handing down to future generations a heritage 

 equivalent to that which we received from our forefathers. In order 

 to do proper constructive work it is necessary to establish a goal 

 or an ideal and develop proper methods by which it can be reached 

 or at least approximated. We need not be entirely original in this 

 work since a few countries like Germany, Switzerland, and France 

 have already in more than a century of experience laid the founda- 

 tion for conservative and constructive forestry. We can learn much 

 from these countries. A visit to their carefully managed forests 

 together with a general survey of the methods which they use in 

 managing them will be helpful in formulating plans for our Ideal 

 or Normal Forest. We may not be able to adopt their methods but 

 we can at least adapt them. The question at once presents itself: 

 How can we improve our woodlands so that they will approach the 

 well-managed forests of Germany, or the ideal or normal goal which 

 we are setting up for them? The following answers suggest them- 

 selves : 



1. By giving adequate protection. Fire is the chief agency 



against which our forests need protection. 



2. By procuring wise taxation. 



3. By prohibiting unregulated cutting. 



4. By securing quick reproduction after the removal of the 



timber. 



