DISTRIBUTION OF AMERICAN FORESTS 
only: for if we look closely we shall also 
recognize the old character and expres- 
sion in the harvested forests that have 
long since been deserted and forgotten 
and at last returned, like lost children, 
to the fostering care of their mother. 
The forests of the West may be fitly 
separated into two parts. The greater 
part embraces the Rocky Mountain 
ranges, while the other extends from 
the crests of the Sierra Nevada to the 
sea. In the former the forests are 
sometimes open in character and sepa- 
rated by parks or grassy plains, or they 
constitute a scattered tree growth on 
the high altitudes of the rougher ridges. 
This open character is sometimes due 
to devastation by fires, but generally it 
is the result of climatic conditions. 
And yet there are wide tracts and 
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