INTEREST OF LUMBERMEN IN CON- 

 SERVATIVE FORESTRY 



BY 



F. E. WEYERHAEUSER 



Weyerhaeuser Lumber Company 



DRACTICAL forestry ought to be of more interest 

 and importance to lumbermen than to any other 

 class of men. Unfortunately, they have not always 

 appreciated this fact. There has been a firmly rooted 

 idea that forestry was purely theoretical and incapable 

 of application in a business way; a prejudice which, 

 in large part through the influence of the Bureau of 

 Forestry, is now beginning to disappear. At present 

 lumbermen are ready to consider seriously any propo- 

 sition which may be made by those who have the 

 conservative use of the forests at heart. 



Lumbermen have been averse also to uniting their 

 interests with those of the government, because of a 

 doubt of the business efficiency of some of the Govern- 

 ment's work, and this in spite of the fact, which they 

 recognize, that every possible step should be taken to 

 protect the national land and timber from depreda- 

 tions. 



The work of first importance in bringing about the 

 adoption of practical forestry is the work of education. 

 For this, every possible means of reaching the public 

 mind must be employed, and above all the object lesson 

 of practical forestry applied on the ground. 



Everywhere throughout our timber regions Nature 

 is struggling to renew her growth, and mere casual 

 observation forces upon us the fact that the forests 

 will reproduce themselves, if given a fair chance. But 



