Pollard: Conservation, the National Issue 139 



mote agricultural operations, and not to allow a slavish adher- 

 ence to the mere theory of conservation to interfere with the 

 practical execution of common-sense ideas. In this connection 

 it should be a source of gratification that under irrigation it has 

 been found possible literally to make the deserts blossom like the 

 rose, and since the conversion of these deserts into arable land 

 means practically the addition of so much capital to our working 

 resources without in any way conflicting with the demands of 

 conservation, the benefits of irrigation should be extended in 

 every possible way. 



I propose to touch very lightly on the question of federal versus 

 state control of the national forest reserves. It is based upon 

 that greater problem of federal as opposed to state rights, a 

 problem around which all political theories have centered since 

 the establishment of the republic, and which is certain to remain 

 a compelling issue, in one form or another, so long as our present 

 form of government shall endure. The advocates of broader 

 federal authority are committed to the general policy of centrali- 

 zation as a natural corollary. Those who favor state control, on 

 the other hand, are usually disciples of the Jeffersonian school, 

 though not necessarily allied with the Democratic party of the 

 present day. While open to conviction on the subject, I believe 

 that the best practical results can be secured by a judicious coop- 

 eration between state and federal authorities in working out the 

 complex problems presented by the management of these reserves. 

 It is highly desirable, of course, that whenever certain principles 

 or conditions are of universal application, they should be safe- 

 guarded by federal laws. Thus protection from fires, which is 

 really the chief pillar of the conservation movement, is well pro- 

 vided for under the present system of employing forest rangers 

 and guards. In the year 1908, when disastrous fires worked 

 havoc throughout the country, the national forests suffered rela- 

 tively little, a fact which testifies to the efficiency of the service. 

 Three states, Oregon, Washington, and California, have rendered 

 effective cooperation in this work by commissioning the federal 



