i yo 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



April 



Primarily that object is not to preserve 

 the forests because they are beautiful, 

 though that is good in itself ; not to 

 preserve them because they are refuges 

 for the wild creatures of the wilderness, 

 though that, too, is good in itself ; but 

 the primary object of the forest policy, 

 as of the land policy, of the United 

 States is the making of prosperous 

 homes. It is part of the traditional 

 policy of home-making of our country. 

 Every other consideration comes as sec- 

 ondary. The whole effort of the gov- 

 ernment in dealing with the forests 

 must be directed to this end, keeping 

 in view the fact that it is not only nec- 

 essary to start the homes as prosperous, 

 but to keep them so. That is where 

 the forests have got to be kept. You 

 can start a prosperous home by destroy- 

 ing the forest, but you don't keep it 

 prosperous. 



And you are going to be able to make 

 that policy permanently the policy of 

 the country only in so far as you are 

 able to make the people at large, and 

 above all the people concretely inter- 

 ested in the results in the different lo- 

 calities, appreciative of what it means. 

 Give them a full recognition of its value, 

 and make them earnest and zealous ad- 

 herents of it keep that in mind, too. 



In a government such as ours, it is 

 out of the question to impose a policy 

 like this from without. The policy as 

 a permanent policy can come only from 

 the intelligent conviction of the people 

 themselves that it is wise and useful- 

 nay, indispensable. We are going to 

 decide in the long run whether we will 

 keep or not keep the forests of the Rocky 

 Mountains, accordingly as we are able 

 to make the people of the states around 

 the mountains, in their neighborhood, 

 hearty believers in the policy of forest 

 preservation. 



That is the only way in which, per- 

 manently, this policy can be made a suc- 

 cess. In other words, you have got to 

 convince the people of the truth, and it 

 is the truth, that the success of home- 

 makers depends in the long run upon 

 the wisdom with which the nation takes 

 care of its forests. Now, that seems a 

 strong statement. It is none too strong. 

 There are small sections of this country, 



as of every country, where what is done 

 with the woodland makes no difference; 

 but over the great extent of the country 

 the ultimate well being of the home- 

 maker is going to depend in a very large 

 part upon the intelligent use made of 

 the forests. 



Now, in other words, you yourselves, 

 have got to keep this practical object 

 before your mind. You have got to re- 

 member that a forest which contributes 

 nothing to the wealth, progress , or safety 

 of the country is of no interest to the 

 government, and should be of little to 

 the forester. 



Your attention must be directed not 

 to the preservation of the forests as an 

 end of itself, but as a means for preserv- 

 ing and increasing the prosperity of the 

 nation. 



" Forestry is the preservation of for- 

 ests by wise use," to quote a phrase I 

 used in my first message to Congress, 

 and keep before your minds that defini- 

 tion, that forestry is the preservation of 

 forests by wise use; not by abbreviating 

 the use, but by making the forest of use 

 to the settler, the rancher, the miner, the 

 man who lives in the neighborhood, and, 

 indirectly, the man who may live hun- 

 dreds of miles off down the course of 

 some great river, which has had its rise 

 among the forest-bearing mountains. 



The forest problem is in many ways 

 the most vital internal problem of the 

 United States. The more closely this 

 statement is examined, the more evident 

 its truth becomes. In the arid region 

 of the West, agricultural prosperity de- 

 pends first of all upon the available 

 water supply. Forest protection alone 

 can maintain the stream flow necessary 

 for irrigation in the West, and can pre- 

 vent the great and destructive floods so 

 ruinous to communities farther down 

 the same streams that head in the arid 

 regions. 



The relation between the forest and 

 the wdiole mineral industry is an ex- 

 tremely intimate one, for, as ever} 7 man 

 who has had experience in the West 

 knows, mines cannot be developed with- 

 out timber, usually not without timber 

 close at hand. In many regions through- 

 out the arid country ore is more abun- 

 dant than wood, and this means that if 



