Canadian Forestry Journal. May. IQ16. 



■* r\ ^^ 



oil 



Forest Conservation as a War 

 ^ Measure ^^^^^^^ 



^'Natural Resources Lie at the Foundation of all Preparedness 



Whether for Peace or for War. 



: T 11 



By 



Clyde Leavitt, 



Forester, Commission of Conservation; Director. Canadian Forestry Association. 



"Natural resources lie at the foun- 

 dation of all preparedness, whether 

 for peace or for war." These are 

 the words of Gifford Pinchot, the 

 foremost advocate on this continent 

 of the hetter conservation of natural 

 resources. 



This statement by Mr. Pinchot is 

 no less true for Canada than for any 

 other country. Its truth is obvious, 

 so far as the great world-war is con- 

 cerned, since a moment's thought 

 wll demonstrate that behind the 

 production of munitions and of all 

 the multitudinous articles of equip- 

 ment and supplies essential to war- 

 fare, there must be great supplies of 

 the natural products of the earth. 

 Of these, the metals and other min- 

 erals, and the various woods, come 

 first to mind. All food supplies, in- 

 cluding meats as well as grains and 

 vegetables, are dependent upon the 

 productive capacity of the soil, 

 which is the most important of all 

 natural resources, aside from human 

 life itself. 



Considering this latter element, 

 human life, it is obvious also that 

 the capacity of a country to sustain 

 population must depend primarilv 

 upon either agriculture or manufac- 

 turing or both, and the extent to 

 which these can be developed de- 

 pends absolutely upon the extent of 

 the natural resources available, of 



which the soil, the metals, the for- 

 ests, and the water-powers are the 

 most prominent examples. 



In time of war, the financial credit 

 of a country is a factor the impor- 

 tance of which can scarcely ije over- 

 emphasized. The degree to which 

 this can be realized upon depends to 

 a very large extent on the degree of 

 de\elopment of manufacturing in- 

 dustries. Since these, in turn, de- 

 pend directly upon the extent of 

 natural resources available, the con- 

 nection between national credit and 

 natural resources is obvious. 



Thus we see clearly that natural 

 resources are the determining fac- 

 tors, not only with regard to the 

 production of munitions and sup- 

 plies, and of credit, but of men as 

 well, who constitute the most es- 

 sential element in any programme of 

 national defence. 



Agitation a Necessity. 

 The relationship above outlined 

 for war conditions is equally true in 

 times of peace. Practically every 

 form of human activity is directly or 

 indirectly dependent, either imme- 

 diately or ultimately, upon the utili- 

 zation of some natural resource. All 

 agriculture and all manufacture are 

 directly so dependent, as has been 

 shown. Only the boundless natural 

 resources of Canada — her lands, her 

 forests, her minerals, her water- 



