Roosevelt's Part in Forestry 49 



to handle it. At the recommendation of the Secretary of Interior, 

 as I recall it, President Roosevelt made, soon after he came to the 

 White House, a decision as to grazing on National Forests in Ari- 

 zona which I thought to be unwise. Representatives of the grazing 

 interests of that territory, including, I believe, the present Associate 

 Forester of the United States Forest Service, came to me and set 

 forth their objections to the President's decision. I agreed with 

 them, and I suggested that, although the President's action had 

 been made public, we might nevertheless put the case before him. 

 We did so, very briefly. With his usual lightning grasp of a situa- 

 tion, Roosevelt saw that he had followed the wrong trail, and with- 

 out the slightest care that he would be reversing himself in public, 

 he set the matter right. I knew then that he was a great man. 



It was the endless good fortune of forestry in America that while 

 it was still young it should have had in the White House so firm, 

 sympathetic, and understanding a friend. How much it owes to 

 him it will never be possible accurately to determine ; for the debt 

 of forestry to Roosevelt is not to be counted only in the great 

 things he did for it. but also in the thousands of small advances 

 and advantages which came to American forestry because it was 

 known to be dear to the heart of the first citizen, the greatest driving 

 force, and the most powerful influence in America. 



Forestry is firmly established among us today because Roosevelt 

 stood behind it like a stone wall when there was little to it except 

 hope and good intentions.* 



* Reprinted, by permission of the author and the Editor, from the Journal 

 of Forestry, Vol. 17, pp. 122-124, 1919. 



