equipment, and machinery stimulated by expand- 
ing forest industries, and in merchandising and 
other businesses and professions serving greater 
numbers of forest workers. 
All this increased employment based on an in- 
creasingly productive forest resource will mean 
greater national income. The mass purchasing 
power represented by several million workers in 
forest-based industries will expand markets for 
the products which other industries supply. 
It goes without saying that once the full poten- 
tialities of our forests are developed, they must 
be maintained. This means adequate, effective 
conservation. It would be sheerest folly to re- 
build our forest resources only to lay them waste 
again in another cycle of destructive exploitation. 
How Will the Costs Compare with Benefits? 
Postwar forest protection and improvement 
work will cost money. Costs will be small, it is 
true, as compared with war costs—a full year’s 
fire protection for all the forests of the country, 
for instance, could be obtained for the equivalent 
of about 1144 hours of United States 1944 war 
expenditures; the cost of one flying fortress 
would reforest some 16,000 acres of denuded 
land. Nevertheless, any expenditure of public 
funds should be weighed against prospective 
public benefits. 
Forest protection work—expansion of fire- 
control facilities, hazard reduction, insect con- 
trol, and the like—may be viewed as insurance 
against loss of existing values. Insurance against 
possible loss is generally considered good busi- 
ness. 
What forest values need better protection in 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
FOREST SERVICE 
your locality? Merchantable timber? Water- 
sheds? Scenic or recreation values? Generally 
these values far exceed the costs of protection. 
Forest improvement work—tree planting, tim- 
ber-stand improvement, development of recrea- 
tion facilities, etc—may be viewed as a capital 
investment which will pay future dividends either 
in yield of forest products or in other com- 
munity services and benefits. 
What dividends may be expected from these 
projects? Perpetuation of local forest products 
industries; opportunities to establish new indus- 
tries; safe water supplies; flood control; increased 
tourist business—these are some of the dividends 
that should result. In many cases these expected 
returns will fully justify the costs of the projects. 
And what will be the costs—in reduced com- 
munity income, dwindling opportunities for em- 
ployment, loss of tourist trade, etc.—if such 
projects are not carried out? 
How About Our Children? 
The full returns from some projects—tree 
planting, for instance—may not be realized until 
after our time. What is our obligation to future 
generations? 
We have been taking from our forests not only 
timber that is ripe for today’s use but immature 
timber that will be needed tomorrow. Through 
short-sightedness and neglect we have laid waste 
millions of acres that ought to be growing timber 
for the future. In other words, we have been 
robbing our own children. 
Isn’t it time to stop that? Isn’t it our responsi- 
bility to keep our forest green and growing for 
our children and grandchildren? 
December 1945 
AIS 34 
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1945 
