SOME PLAIN FACTS ABOUT 
THE FORESTS 
If we heard that some great scourge was threatening to 
destroy the productive capacity of millions of acres of our 
land, we would be greatly alarmed. Yet something very 
much like that is actually happening. The destructive agent 
in this case is our own carelessness and neglect, and it is 
jeopardizing the productive capacity of many of the Nation’s 
forests. Because of our failure to adopt adequate conserva- 
tion measures, our forests are not being grown as fast as we 
are depleting them. ‘They are growing much less timber 
than we are likely to need in the future. 
If we fail to gain some understanding of the importance of 
forests to national welfare and the necessity for keeping them 
permanently and adequately productive, an important 
element in knowledge essential to good citizenship will be 
lacking. . 
Much information on forest resources and their utilization 
is available. Unfortunately some of this contains statements 
which result in confusion or misunderstanding in the mind of 
the public as to the actual forest situation. Some statements 
even tend to promote the idea that there is nothing to worry 
about; to spread the idea that forest destruction and deteri- 
oration are negligible problems, and that good forestry is now 
so generally and widely practiced that the Nation is sure to 
have ample future timber supplies. Such statements are 
definitely misleading. 
