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UTAH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 187 
ment of the United States in 1891 made radical changes 
in the public land policy through providing for the estab- 
lishment of national forests from the timbered portions of 
the then unappropriated public domain. The total area 
of the national forests now approximates 155 million acres, 
while state and communal forests aggregate approximately 
four million acres. The standing timber on the national 
forests alone is valued at nearly 600 million dollars. The 
merchantable standing timber in the United States, ex- 
clusive of Alaska, amounts to around 2,800 billion board 
feet. 
One of the most interesting and far-reaching move- 
ments in conservation in the United States has been the 
nation-wide movement toward the public ownership of 
forest property, especially potential forest land. The direct 
value of the forest which accrues to the public at large 
makes the practice of forestry economically possible by the 
public before it becomes practicable for the private indi- 
vidual. Since forestry in the United States originated in a 
general educational propaganda any great constructive 
movement in forest conservation cannot be a success in this 
republic without its being solidly supported by public opin- 
ion. *Toumey believes that public opinion will continue to 
grow in this country until ultimately at least 50 per cent of 
the strictly non-agricultural lands capable of producing 
forest crops are publicly owned. 
At this time when the United States is all but in the 
throes of actual warfare, the speaker cannot refrain from 
digressing from the main theme for a moment in order to 
utter a word regarding the proper place of the scientist and 
the forester in the national preparedness campagin which 
is now being conducted. Preparedness signifies, not only 
the optimum military and naval forces necessary for re- 
pelling the enemy, but also the ability of a nation quickly 
to adapt itself to the rapidly changing conditions wrought 
by war and to render available the latent resources of the 
Nation in the shortest period of time. Major Ahern, a 
soldier and a forester, in a discussion of the preparedness 
2Toumey, J. W., The Interdependence of Forest Conservation and For- 
estry Education. Science, N. S. 44; 327-337, 1916. 
