Our Protected Forests 



739 



cess of our movement, you are earnestly re- 

 quested to reply at the earliest possible date. 

 Respectfully yours, 



Jos. E. Ransdell, President. 

 J. F. Ellison, Secretary. 



CONSERVATION LEAGUE OF AMER- 

 ICA—STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES. 



Whereas, it is of the utmost importance that 

 the natural resources of the nation shall be 

 comprehensively and vigorously developed and 

 utilized for the promotion of the public welfare 

 without waste, destruction, or needless im- 

 pairment, and subject always to their intelligent 

 conservation and the effective preservation of 

 the rights and interests of the future genera- 

 tions of our people. 



Now, therefore, to secure the recognition 

 and support of these principles by the people 

 and by their representatives we hereby unite in 

 a National Conservation League, and adopt for 

 ourselves the following, taken directly from 

 the declaration unanimously adopted by the 

 conference of governors, convened by the Pres- 

 ident of the United States in the White House 

 at Washington, May 13, 14, and 15, [908. 



We do hereby declare the conviction that 

 the great prosperity of our country rests upon 

 the abundant resources of the land chosen by 

 our forefathers for their homes, and where 

 they laid the foundation of this great nation. 



We look upon these resources as a heritage 

 to be made use of in establishing and pro- 

 moting the comfort, prosperity, and happiness 

 of the American people, but not to be wasted, 

 deteriorated, or needlessly destroyed. 



We agree that our country's future is in- 

 volved in this : That the great natural re- 

 sources supply the material basis upon which 

 our civilization must continue to depend, and 

 upon which the perpetuity of the nation itself 

 rests. 



We agree that this material basis is threat- 

 ened with exhaustion. 



We agree that the land should be so used 

 that erosion and soil wash shall cease, and 

 that there should be reclamation of arid and 

 semi-arid regions by means of irrigation, and 

 of swamp and overflowed regions by means of 

 drainage: that the waters should be so con- 

 served and used as to promote navigation, to 

 enable the arid regions to be reclaimed by irri- 

 gation, and to develop power in the interests 

 of the people : that the forests which regulate 

 our rivers, support our industries, and promote 

 the fertility and productiveness of the soil 

 should be preserved and perpetuated: that the 

 minerals found so abundantly beneath the sur- 

 face should be so used as to prolong their util- 

 ity ; that the beauty, healthfulness. and habita- 

 bility of our country should be preserved and 

 increased ; that sources of national wealth 

 exist for the benefit of the people, and that 

 monopoly thereof should not be tolerated. 



We declare our firm conviction that this 

 conservation of our natural resources is a sub- 

 ject of transcendent importance which should 

 engage unremittingly the attention of the na- 

 tion, the states, and the people in earnest co- 

 operation. 



We agree that this cooperation should find 

 expression in suitable action by the Congress 

 and by the legislatures of the several states. 



Let us conserve the foundations of our pros- 

 perity. 



This invitation has been accepted by 

 the Board of Managers, provided that the 

 organization shall be, as stated, "abso- 

 lutely non-partisan, both politically and 

 industrially." 



The Magazine will keep our members 

 fully advised of the work of the National 

 Conservation Commission, and it is be- 

 lieved that our members will render all 

 possible assistance to the ends and aims 

 of the Commission. 



A COMPARISON OF OUR UNPRO- 

 TECTED WITH OUR PROTECTED 

 FORESTS 



NOTHING better emphasizes the 

 necessity for the preservation of 

 our natural resources than the great for- 

 est fires which have been so widely dis- 

 tributed throughout the country and have 

 played such havoc this summer. It is 

 doubtful if the losses for the year 1908 

 will ever be fully known, but a conserva- 

 tive estimate places the aggregate loss in 

 all parts of the country at not less than 

 $20,000,000. 



In nearly every instance these devas- 

 tating fires might have been prevented if 

 the various states had provided an ade- 

 quate number of men to patrol the woods 

 and arrest all such fires in their incip- 

 iency, and if lumbermen and other users 

 of the forest were careful to dispose of 

 brush after logging, so as to prevent the 

 spread of fires. 



The Forest Service has had a lot of 

 work to do on the national forests in the 

 fire-fighting line this year, but the work 

 has shown good results. Exclusive of 

 the salaries of forest officers, the work of 

 putting down fires on the national forests 

 for the year has cost the government 



