10 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



noble band of workers of the Northwest in the common cause known as the 

 Washington Forestry Association. The step was typical of the men of the great 

 Northwest and illustrative of the spirit that has enabled them to build an empire 

 and has made them at all times such forceful and valuable allies in the fight for 

 conservation. This body held a convention in November, 1908, at which it was 

 arranged that a Conservation Congress of national scope should be held in Seattle 

 during the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition. 



From the beginning thus made has grown this Annual Meeting or Congress 

 in which we all take pride. The Seattle Congress devoted itself to Forestry and 

 Water Power. A year later, the St. Paul sessions were largely taken up with 

 consideration of the conservation of public lands, one of the most important 

 phases of the work involved in the scope of the organization. At Kansas City, 

 in 1911, Soil Fertility was the primary problem on which the talents, scholar- 

 ships and practical experiences of the delegates were concentrated. L,ast year, 

 in Indianapolis, we devoted our thought largely to the conservation of Human 

 Life, questions to which some of the Nation's most earnest, conscientious and 

 highly developed minds have given constructive thought with results that com- 

 mand our admiration. 



This year we return to the seat of Government and to Forestry and Water 

 Power, where we can anew synchronize the place and the subjects with which the 

 conservation movement found its birth and its first development. Since 1908, 

 large results have been achieved in the conservation and proper utilization of 

 these fundamental resources of the greatest, richest and most fortunate nation 

 in the world. Let me emphasize the statement that the growth of conservation 

 has been coincident with the growth of proper utilization of these resources. 

 Conservation and utilization are synonymous. They cannot be divorced. Our 

 opponents — sometimes we call them — would like to make it appear that conser- 

 vation means reservation and the locking up of resources for the benefit of 

 future generations at the expense of the present. We know that this is not true. 

 We know that without proper utilization there can be no conservation worthy 

 of the name. We know that perpetuation can be best achieved by present use 

 along scientific lines, and it is to this policy that we stand committed. (Applause.) 

 It is a policy which must be protected by constant vigilance — fought for when 

 necessary. 



But one should not make the mistake of assuming that at all times all the 

 laws and regulations that have been passed or made in connection with the 

 handling of our public resources are all right and fit the situation, because it is 

 not the fact. No one knows this better than those who have had actual experi- 

 ence. What people like ourselves stand for are the underlying principles and the 

 frank correction of errors and amending of laws when found to be wrong. We 

 are for the truth! 



Another phase of combat arises from the insistence with which some interests 

 strive to make it appear that there is popular clamor for State control of the 

 great Government properties in forest and stream. The growth of conservation 

 does not please everybody. It is an economic problem. There are those who 



