WHAT THEY ARE FOR 17 



fields and repeats the skinning process. It is he who is 

 the greatest enemy of the home builder. 



National Forests are made, first of all, for the lasting 

 benefit of the real home builder. They make it impos- 

 sible for the land to be skinned. They benefit the man 

 with a home and the man who seeks to build one by 

 insuring protection and wise use of the timber and grass 

 and by conserving the water. In considering what Na- 

 tional Forests are for and how they affect the resources 

 of the western mountains, the fact should never be lost 

 sight of that they are for the home builder first, and 

 that their resources are protected and used for his special 

 welfare before everything else. 



TO PROTECT AND GROW WOOD FOR USE. 



The National Forests occupy high mountain lands, 

 rough and rocky, and which will always be of value 

 chiefly for the production of timber and wood. The 

 first thing that is made sure is that the timber is not 

 burnt up; the next, that it is used, though not used up. 

 Before there were any National Forests enormous quan- 

 tities of the people's timber on the public domain every 

 year went up in smoke. Forests which covered districts 

 as large as the State of Rhode Island were completely 

 wiped out in the course of a few days. It meant losses 

 to the people of millions and millions of dollars. Fire 

 destroys quickly; trees grow slowly. It often takes a 

 hundred years to make good the damage done by a 

 single day's fire. 



In National Forests there is a force of men on the 

 ground whose business it is to look out for fire. They 

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