l6 USE OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 



National Forests keep these resources coming in abund- 

 ance by using them wisely at present. 



Production. — The permanent wealth of a country 

 comes from the soil. To insure permanent wealth the 

 soil must be kept productive. Agricultural lands are 

 managed so as to produce the most valuable crops, year 

 after year, without a break. Forest lands also should 

 be managed so as to produce the most valuable crops of 

 timber and wood, year after year, without interruption. 

 Without a plentiful, cheap, and continuous supply of 

 wood, agriculture and all its dependent industries must 

 suffer. And in regions of little rainfall, without a plen- 

 tiful and steady flow of water for irrigation, agriculture 

 is either impossible or unprofitable. 



National Forests from their own soil produce always 

 the greatest possible amounts and the most valuable 

 kinds of timber, wood, and forage; and the Forests 

 themselves make the soil of the surrounding country 

 produce the largest and most useful agricultural crops 

 by supplying it with a steady flow of water for irrigation 

 and by furnishing its settlers with an abundance of tim- 

 ber, and wood, and forage, for home and local business 

 use. 



Homes. — Homes are of vital importance to the West, 

 and to the whole country. A land without homes is not 

 worth living in. What the West needs is people who 

 come to stay. The man who skins the land and moves 

 on does the country more harm than good. He may 

 enrich himself and a few others for a very brief time, 

 but he kills the land. He cares nothing for this, because 

 he does not stay in the country, but moves on to new 



