PREFACE ix 



),000,000 has been expended, only a very small 

 part of the damage has been repaired. 



Our own country has learned from its own expe- 

 riences and from the experiences of nations like 

 France. On a small scale we have endured the 

 same devastating floods. Forest fires in the 

 United States have caused an average annual loss 

 of seventy human lives and from $25,000,000 to 

 $50,000,000 worth of timber. The indirect losses 

 run close to a half a billion a year. Like other na- 

 tions, we have come to the conclusion that forest 

 conservation can be assured only through the public 

 ownership of forest resources. Other nations have 

 bought or otherwise acquired national, state, and 

 municipal forests, to assure the people a never- 

 failing supply of timber. For this reason, mainly, 

 our own National Forests have been created and 

 maintained. 



The ever-increasing importance of the forestry 

 movement in this country, which brings with it an 

 ever-increasing desire for information along for- 

 estry lines, has led me to prepare this volume deal- 

 ing with our National Forests. To a large extent 

 I write from my own experience, having come in 

 contact with the federal forestry movement for 



