CHAPTER IX. 



PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF FOREST POLICY. 



THE expositions of the preceding chapters will 

 have made it clear that the forest cover is of more 

 importance to the household of a nation than many 

 other of its resources, that it bears a peculiar 

 relation to national prosperity, and also that its 

 management for continuity offers various unique 

 and peculiar aspects, which call for special active 

 interest by the community at large and by its rep- 

 resentative, the state. 



Briefly summarizing the arguments for such 

 special interest and exercise of governmental 

 activity, we recall that the forest is a natural re- 

 source which answers simultaneously three pur- 

 poses of civilized society : it furnishes directly 

 materials used in very large quantities and almost 

 as needful as food; it forms a soil cover which 

 influences, directly and indirectly, under its own 

 cover and at a distance, conditions of waterflow, 

 of soil, and of local climate ; it has, in addition, an 

 aesthetic value, furnishing pleasure and recreation 

 and benefiting health. 



The exploitation of this resource for private 

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