4 2 4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



to take care of it, to protect it, and I think I may say 

 that so far as the prevention of the destruction of the 

 forest by fire is concerned, we have almost, if not com- 

 pletely, solved the problem. 



I am delighted to have had the opportunity of saying 

 a few words to this great Congress upon the manage- 

 ment of our forest reserves. Necessarily I have been 

 somewhat disjointed in my remarks, being called upon 

 on the spur of the moment without any preparation to 

 address the meeting. Before I sit down I want to 

 congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to con- 

 gratulate everybody present upon the amount of good 

 that can be done by such a meeting as this. If every- 

 one here is determined to do everything in their power 

 to educate the people upon the subject of the protection 

 of the forest and its conservation for national purposes, 

 I think we shall have a better public opinion upon the 

 matter. 



Address by Dr. B. E. Fernow 



Author of " Economics of Forestry " 



T T was said this morning that the time for talking is 

 past and time for action is present, and so I sup- 

 posed that talking was no longer in order and had not 

 even thought of what I might say to you should I be 

 called upon. I might, however, be reminiscent of 

 an occasion similar to the present one, when the first 

 Forestry Congress was called, to Cincinnati, in 1882, 

 when the first attempt was made in the United States 

 to arouse public attention to the necessity of the subject 

 which now occupies this large assembly. Do not 

 believe for a moment that those were all sentimentalists 

 that came together at that early stage of development. 



