Umted States National Forests 71 



were being made in what were once the prairies 

 and the desert, and everywhere wood was in de- 

 mand for building material. From year to year 

 the demand for wood increased — and it is still 

 increasing. 



We must therefore try to increase the supply, 

 and also to protect the standing woods from fire 

 and from decay. For it will not be easy to import 

 wood if we allow our forests to be used up. 



Other countries have been equally shortsighted 

 and wasteful in managing their forests, and as 

 most of them are older, and have had more time 

 in which to waste, they are worse off than we are. 

 They are buying wood — not selling it. 



Siberia, Canada, and Brazil are the only coun- 

 tries exporting wood in quantity, and soon they 

 too will need all they grow for their own use. 



Twenty years ago we realized that because the 

 demand for timber was so great, and the methods 

 of clearing the land for settlement were so waste- 

 ful, forests were being cut three times as fast as 

 they grew. It was necessary to save the forests 

 lest the timber supply should fail. It was neces- 

 sary also to take care of the forests because they 

 are nurseries of the rivers. West of the great 

 plains, streams are few and precious. After they 

 leave their birthplaces in the mountain woods they 

 cross great stretches of wind-swept valley or plain, 

 where the summer sunlight is almost tropical in 

 its fierce splendor. There is little rainfall in the 



