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T#z/r Forest Land 



In the administration of the forest reserves it must be clearly borne in mind that all land is 

 to be devoted to its most productive use for the permanent good of the whole people, and 

 not for the temporary benefit of individuals or companies. All the resources of forest re- 

 serves are for use, and this use must be brought about in a thoroughly prompt and business- 

 like manner, under such restrictions only as will insure the permanence of these resources. 

 Where conflicting interests must be reconciled the question will always be decided from 

 the standpoint of the greatest good for the greatest number in the long run. 



James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, in a letter establishing policy, February 7, 1905. 



THE NATIONAL FORESTS of the United States of America embrace 

 176 million acres. That is nearly one- tenth of all our land. This land belongs 

 to the people. It is their vast estate, and the United States Forest Service is 

 charged to administer all its resources and uses in such ways as will increase 

 the wealth and happiness of the people not only during the present year and 

 century but also for all time to come. 



An acre of land is about the size of a football field— the gridiron, proper. 

 Our total national population at present stands at around 130 million. 

 So each citizen's share in our national forest land — if you want to figure it 

 that way — comes to about an acre and one-third. An acre and one-third 

 is about as big as a football field, entire, with room for side lines, a press 

 stand, grandstands, and dressing quarters. 



To think of our national forests in terms of per capita shares or tracts, is 

 invigorating; for all those many acres do, indeed, belong to all the people. 

 "This land," as William Atherton DuPuy says in his book, The Nation's 

 Forests (1938), "is ours though we live in a tenement and never see a chip- 

 munk along a rotting log, or live on the prairie and never hear the wind 



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