CHAPTER III 



THE FOREST AND MAN 



THE bold navigators of the sixteenth century 

 who gradually made the Atlantic coasts of 

 our continent known to Europe had before their 

 eyes hardly anything but the hope of discovering 

 in the newly found countries stores of precious 

 minerals. To the wealth of other resources they 

 were almost entirely blind. But hardly had perma- 

 nent settlements been established on the continent 

 when the value of the forest became apparent both 

 to the settlers and the home government. From 

 a very early period, the British rulers had their 

 attention directed to the management of the forests, 

 particularly in the northern colonies, and the vari- 

 ous disputes growing out of the attempts to rege- 

 late the exploitation of the woods were one of the 

 causes that contributed to the estrangement of the 

 colonists from the mother country. 



To understand the attitudes of the parties to 

 these disputes it is necessary to recall the views 

 then held as to the proper relations of colonies to 

 their central government. Nothing was farther 

 from the minds of the authorities who promoted 

 the establishment of colonies than a desire that the 



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