xxxviii INTRODUCTION 



fare of the nation that it has been made one of the 

 main reasons for establishing National Forests. 



Civilization Brought to the Mountains. What 

 the National Forest movement has done for settling 

 and building up the Western States can hardly be 

 overestimated. It has brought civilization into the 

 wilderness. Roads, trails, telephone lines, and 

 other modern conveniences have been brought to 

 remote corners of the mountains. It has encour- 

 aged the settlement of the country by calling atten- 

 tion to the agricultural lands within the National 

 Forests. More important than that, it has assured 

 the West permanent towns, permanent civilization, 

 and not a temporary, careless, shiftless civilization 

 which vanishes with the exploitation of resources, 

 as it did under the old regime. 



The improvements on the National Forests have 

 benefited not only the Forest officers for the admin- 

 istration of the Forests. They have helped im- 

 mensely the local population. The pleasure resorts 

 as well as the business of the Forests have been 

 made more accessible. New trails have opened up 

 new and hitherto inaccessible country, where fishing, 

 hunting, and trapping are ideal. All the old and 

 new roads and trails have been well marked with 



