PREFACE 



What does the average citizen of the United 

 States know about trees? He knows that they are 

 beautiful, and he dimly recognizes that they are im- 

 portant to his welfare. Beyond this his reflections 

 seldom go. According to a current story an orator 

 once closed his stirring address with this perora- 

 tion: "Is there a man in this audience who has ever 

 done anything to prevent the destruction of our 

 forests?" Up piped a small and timid voice from a 

 rear seat, "If you please, Sir, I've shot wood- 

 peckers." This is not perhaps a fair measure of 

 the extent of public knowledge, but it does suggest 

 that the public is withholding its attention from our 

 great and vital forest problem. 



"Our Vanishing Forests" is not written for for- 

 esters or for those who already possess a thorough 

 knowledge of the economic importance of our for- 

 ests. It is designed for Mr. and Mrs. Average 

 Citizen, the man and woman in the home and in 

 every walk of life, for it is upon them above all 

 others that the solution of this great national prob- 

 lem depends. For the information briefly summa- 

 rized in the chapters that follow the author is deeplv 



