YOUR FOREST LAND 13 



the lodgepole pine forests cover millions of acres. These trees are slim and 

 straight. Often they grow so densely together that you have to fight your 

 way through them. In mixture with the lodgepole pine you see Douglas fir 

 and the true fir. The ground cover is of sedges and grasses of many kinds, 

 together with the bright-blue lupine, brilliant orange tiger lily, and many 

 other cheerful flowers. 



The giant forests of western Washington and Oregon are majestic and 

 solemn. They are like vast cathedrals, out of doors. Here are lands of per- 

 petual shadow formed by the dense crowns of Douglas fir and Sitka spruce, 

 which grow more than 250 feet tall, and of the shorter hemlocks, cedars, and 

 white firs. Their branches are draped with long, hanging tree moss which 

 gives to the surroundings a veiled appearance. On the floor of the forest 

 only the most shade-enduring vegetation can live, but this includes ferns 

 which frequently grow waist high. Such forests convey the feeling of the 

 everlastingness of life. Here stand all ages and sizes of trees, from the over- 

 mature giants, 5, 10, or even 15 feet in diameter, to the current year's 

 seedling which is less than an inch tall, but sprouts hopefully on the disinte- 

 grating, moss-covered remains of some ancient specimen that had tumbled 

 long before Columbus came. 



The alpine forests of many high western mountain ranges are lighter, 

 brighter, and more cheerful. Here the trees are scattered and stunted from a 

 lifetime of battling against the cold and wind of high altitudes. And strewn 

 between the throngs of battling trees are alpine meadows, carpeted with 

 fresh green grass and a gay profusion of many-colored flowers, but recently 

 born after a hard winter of dormancy under snowdrifts unbelievably deep. 



These in general are elder woodlands, our more primitive forests, such 

 as remain. Recreation on the national forests is by no means confined today 

 to the primeval setting. 



New Woods and Ways . . . Millions of acres of vigorously growing 

 younger stands which have followed fire and logging, millions of acres of 

 meadows and browse lands where people come for relaxation and adven- 

 ture, have been opened to the public within the last few years. 



New ways of public entry have been opened to old forests, and new. 



