72 Our Field and Forest Trees 



country beyond the Great Divide, and the ranches 

 depend for their crops upon water from the moun- 

 tains. How necessary it becomes for the pros- 

 perity of the West to save the mountain forests 

 which shelter the infancy of the western water- 

 courses I 



So Government, providing for the best interests 

 of the whole people, has set aside a number of 

 tracts of forest land. These are the property 

 of the nation, managed by the nation for the 

 good of the nation, and are called National 

 Forests (Fig. 22). 



The first " Forest Reserve," as it was then 

 called, was the " Yellowstone," established by 

 President Harrison in 1891. Five years later, 

 President Cleveland, acting upon the advice of the 

 National Academy of Sciences, set aside thirteen 

 additional Forest Reserves. The movement grew 

 so fast that in 1899 the country's Forest Reserves 

 numbered thirty-six, and succeeding Presidents 

 and Congresses have felt the need of saving more 

 and more woodland, till now (19 16) there are 

 one hundred and fifty-three national forests. 

 There are also sixteen " purchase areas " in 

 the White Mountains and in the southern 

 Appalachians where the Federal Government 

 is buying land for the establishment of more 

 forests. 



At first, people did not quite understand the 

 need of these forests, nor the purpose of the 



