136 Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



region, scoring unsightly furrows and deep gorges in the surface, 

 which then bakes hard in the sun. Such wood lots are unfit for 

 cultivation within a few years; but the wasteful process con- 

 tinues, as the mountaineer seeks only pasturage for his cows, and 

 lumber has little value in his eyes. I have seen solid white oak 

 trees two feet in diameter standing like unsightly skeletons in a 

 mountain forest that had been thus wrecked. 



When we pass to the consideration of what has already been 

 accomplished along the lines of practical conservation, we cannot 

 fail to be impressed with the fact that it is largely due to the 

 wisdom, foresight, and persistence of one man, and to the courage 

 and tireless energy of another. Whatever opinion may be held 

 of the unfortunate controversy which deprived the federal service 

 of one of its most able officials, and however we may differ on 

 questions of policy in forest management, the credit for making 

 conservation a vital issue before the people must be awarded to 

 ex-President Theodore Roosevelt and Mr. Gifford Pinchot. The 

 latter succeeded, as chief forester of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Dr. B. E. Fernow, who is often called the father of Amer- 

 ican forestry, and who was the first to demonstrate the value of 

 scientific methods as applied to forest management and to call 

 public attention to what had already been accomplished in this 

 direction in Germany and France, where the conservation problem 

 was equally serious. Thus the seeds were sown of that mighty 

 crop which Dr. Fernow's successor nurtured and brought to 

 maturity; and one of the smallest divisions in the Department of 

 Agriculture has now become one of the most important of its 

 bureaus, employing a field force alone of over 2,000 men. 



Mr. Roosevelt, as is well known, was always an active sup- 

 porter of Mr. Pinchot's policies. He made extensive additions 

 to the national forest reserves, and the wonderfully rapid devel- 

 opment of the Forest Service since 1900 has been due in large 

 part to his powerful influence. 



In 1909 the reserves included a total acreage of 194,505,325, of 

 which over 27,000 had been added during the previous fiscal year. 



