250 FORESTRY IN NEW ENGL.^ND 



The region owes its attractiveness for the tourist to its climate, 

 its rough and varied topography, its water, the fish and game 

 inhabiting the forest, and its forest cover. Of these five the one 

 most easily and visibly affected is the forest cover, and it cer- 

 tainly is not the least important of the five attractions. From 

 the standpoint of the tourist this forest cover should suffer no 

 injury, but should be kept in an untouched virgin condition, 

 preserving all of its original beauty. Since, however, the forests 

 of the spruce region constitute one of its chief natural resources, 

 they cannot be allowed to lie unproductive. It is here that 

 forestry can arrange a compromise between simple exploitation, 

 which, in the long run, would decrease the possible value of, if not 

 entirely destroy, this natural resource — and preservation for 

 aesthetic purposes, which also would keep the forest unproductive. 

 Through conservative cutting and especially through proper 

 protection from fire, the forest can be made to produce timber 

 crops and at the same time be kept aesthetically attractive. 

 Thus forestry will enable both lumbering and the summer resort 

 business to utilize the forest for their widely different purposes. 



On certain situations, such as the tops of high mountains or 

 on the slopes of picturesque ravines, it may be advisable to keep 

 the forest untouched, simply from the aesthetic standpoint, since 

 the value of the forest here as an addition to the scenery may 

 far outweigh its lumber value. The slopes of the Crawford 

 Notch, to be acquired by the State of New Hampshire, furnish 

 an illustration. This forest should either be kept untouched or 

 culled of the dying and defective trees in the lightest possible 

 manner. 



Undoubtedly the desire to cater to the summer tourists has 

 created a strong sentiment in the region for fire protection. 

 Fire damages the appearance of the forest even more than the 

 worst lumbering. Throughout the White Mountain section of 

 New Hampshire, the sentiment is especially strong to prevent 

 fire injury to forest scenery, for it is in this section that the sum- 

 mer resort business has been most highly developed. 



Wherever men directly interested in the business own forest 



