These kings of the forest, the noblest of a noble race, rightly 

 belong to the world, but as they are in California we cannot 

 escape responsibility as their guardians. Fortunately the Amer- 

 ican people are equal to this trust, or any other that may arise, 

 as soon as they see it and understand it. 



Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot defend themselves 

 or run away. And few destroyers of trees ever plant any; nor 

 can planting avail much toward restoring our grand aboriginal 

 giants. It took more than three thousand years to make some of 

 the oldest of the Sequoias, trees that are still standing in perfect 

 strength and beauty, waving and singing in the mighty forests 

 of the Sierra. Through all the eventful centuries since Christ's 

 time, and long before that, God has cared for these trees, saved 

 them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand storms; 

 but he cannot save them from sawmills and fools; this is left to 

 the American people. The news from Washington is encourag- 

 ing. On March third [1905?] the House passed a bill providing 

 for the Government acquisition of the Calaveras giants. The 

 danger these Sequoias have been in will do good far beyond the 

 boundaries of the Calaveras Grove, in saving other groves and 

 forests, and quickening interest in forest affairs in general. 

 While the iron of public sentiment is hot let us strike hard. In 

 particular, a reservation or national park of the only other species 

 of Sequoia, the sempervirens, or redwood, hardly less wonderful 

 than the gigantea, should be quickly secured. It will have to be 

 acquired by gift or purchase, for the Government has sold every 

 section of the entire redwood belt from the Oregon boundary 

 to below Santa Cruz. 



