462 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



October 



spend, for a summers outing beside 

 forest and stream. In New Hamp- 

 shire, for instance, about half a mil- 

 lion dollars are spent each year by 

 the summer visitors, whose choice 

 of this region is based upon its fine 

 woodlands and lakes. Of the 174,280 

 persons spending their summer there, 

 in the latest year for which figures 

 are at hand, only about one-tenth 

 (20,352) occupied cottages for the 

 season, while a third remained but a 

 week or so, and more than half (95,- 

 706) remained less than a single 

 week. The cash received from these 

 people, in the same year, was almost 

 $5,000,000, and the total amount of 

 this business added to the capital in- 

 vested in summer resort property ex- 

 ceeded $10,000,000. 



Had the forests been destroyed or 

 disfigured by wasteful logging, prob- 

 ably not one cent of this large income 

 to the state would ever have been 

 spent. Common sense, not sentiment, 

 must make the strongest protest 

 against any use of the New Hamp- 

 shire forests, save one consistent with 

 retaining forever the attractive power 

 of the whole region for those seeking 

 recreation. Of course, this "summer 

 people" revenue is only a subsidiary 

 affair in a business sense. The for- 

 ests are chiefly valuable there, as else- 

 where, for their ability to supply use 

 and profit in the concrete of wood 

 products. But the two values, the 

 commercial and the pleasurable, may 

 be secured together. The farmer 

 whose yearly income is greatly aug- 

 mented by the recreation his guests 

 are sure to find in the forest which 

 he owns, need not withhold the ax 

 altogether. His woodlot may be made 

 to pay by oft-repeated cuttings which 

 yield wood for home use or for mar- 

 ket, without so thinning the stand as 

 to mar the shade or pleasantness of 

 the picnic grounds. Besides, by clear- 

 ing the woodlot, though the first re- 

 turns would be greater, he would have 



to wait long for further revenue ; not 

 only would he, in effect, turn away 

 the paying guest, but he would dis- 

 count the future. 



Rules for the farmer's woodlot 

 management in this region would be 

 to avoid cutting of any kind during 

 the summer outing season, to have 

 strips of woods along the roads, to 

 leave undisturbed the favored picnic 

 grounds or places of special interest, 

 and, in general, to avoid as far as 

 possible, the clear cutting of any 

 tract. 



The same principles hold true even 

 more emphatically of larger lumber- 

 ing operations. These should go on ; 

 they yield a good part of the state 

 revenue. But if pushed recklessly, 

 as too often in the past, they will not 

 merely invite their own end, but will 

 put a stop to the quest for recreation 

 in the New Hampshire hills. Mod- 

 eration, wise and foresighted lumber- 

 ing, will preserve both the direct and 

 the indirect sources of revenue, and 

 time will contantly add to their 

 amount. 



All this, which applies to the poc- 

 ketbook alone, is important enough 

 to lead to wise action without further 

 discussion. But there is a broader 

 argument of general policy which 

 may be used in defense of the New 

 Hampshire forests. Recreation grounds 

 in the East are limited. More and 

 more, as the cities swell, and the 

 pressure of industrial life becomes 

 severer, it is of the highest common 

 concern that nature be safeguarded 

 and encouraged in her beneficient 

 work of building up and sustaining 

 the great world of Recreation, in which 

 care is thrown aside and cramped 

 limbs, bent shoulders, and weary 

 brains may find freedom and invig- 

 oration. The forest for recreation 

 has become a much needed investment 

 in the interests of the whole com- 

 munity. 



