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Environmental influences and inherent tendencies are factors which 

 are constantly discussed in connection with the development of our 

 youth into useful men and women. These same factors should be 

 considered in developing the young seedlings of the present forest 

 into the veterans of the future. 



THE PROTECTION OF THE FOREST. 



The protection of the forest surpasses in importance all other for- 

 est activities during the early or formative period of forestry in any 

 country. Forest protection is not only the oldest but also the most 

 necessary branch of forestry. Many and varied are the destructive 

 agents at work in the forest or upon the products derived from it. 

 The destructive work of fire is very evident while that of fungi is 

 often hidden. One cannot help but comprehend tho destructive work 

 of a forest fire which may sweep over an entire mountain, kill every 

 trace of tree growth, and, in addition, destroy buildings and oc- 

 casionally human lives; but few even apprehend the extent of damage 

 by such agents as fungi which often cause the decay of the entire 

 interior of a tree without giving any external evidence of their pres- 

 ence. In order to give adequate protection to our forests, it is nec- 

 essary to know the dangers which threaten them. We must also 

 know how to offset attack by employing preventive and remedial 

 measures. The principal dangers which threaten the forest and 

 against which man must protect it may be grouped as follows: 1. 

 Damage from human agencies. 2. Damage from organic agencies. 

 3. Damage from inorganic agencies. 



Man's disturbing influence in the forest can be comprehended in 

 part when one compares our present forests with those of the past. 

 Primitive man had few wants, but as his civilization progressed his 

 wants multiplied and his destructive tendencies became more ap- 

 parent. The early settler found it necessary to destroy valuable 

 forests for the purpose of establishing a home and for opening agri- 

 cultural and grazing lands. He had no alternative then, but now 

 conditions have changed. He is just at the beginning of forest ap- 

 preciation. He must introduce system and substitute conservative 

 forestry for destructive lumbering, which latter has always been 

 characterized by profligate exploitation and wanton waste. 



Man is directly or indirectly responsible for most forest fires, 

 since they usually originate through his carelessness or malicious- 

 ness. Lightning is responsible for a very small percentage. Of all 

 the enemies of the forest none is so destructive as fire. A single fire 

 may burn over a few acres only or it may burn over thousands of 

 acres in a single day. It not only destroys present but prospective 

 value, since it consumes or kills mature trees and the young seed- 



