CHAPTER V 



FOREST PRESERVATION (ORGANIZATION) 



FOREST preservation does not, of necessity, mean the 

 continuation of all the forest at present standing, or of any 

 particular part of it. It means the preservation of a suf- 

 ficient amount to maintain a proper balance between 

 wooded and cultivated areas and thus ensure a supply of 

 forest products, conserve the water in the basins of the 

 streams, protect wild animal life, break the sweep of the 

 wind and beautify the landscape. Usually there is suf- 

 ficient land unfit for cultivation to support all the forest 

 necessary. Streams generally rise in rough hilly regions, 

 and their basins contain considerable land unfit to till. 

 This broken country is the natural haunt of wild animals, 

 and its irregularity gives that break to the sky line which 

 makes for beauty of landscape. Let the land be wooded 

 which would otherwise be waste, and the forests properly 

 preserved, and the cultivated parts will not only be more 

 productive but also more pleasant places in which to live. 



This might involve the clearing of some land now in 

 forest and the re-foresting of a good deal now lying waste, 

 as well as the proper protection of much forest now stand- 

 ing. The process is slow. A forest is planted for coming 

 generations, but what does it matter? It is only the ex- 



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