these that make the earth a happier, a more interesting or 

 delightful place for other men to live upon. 



That this movement must grow, no one who has thought 

 upon the matter can doubt — the movement for public 

 parks and open spaces, near or far, not as playgrounds 

 simply but as opportunities for Nature in her deep appeal 

 and various beauty to remain an influence in human 

 life; for places, too, where such features of wild life 

 as may coexist with man can be preserved, and where 

 plant life, whether in forest growths or the infinite detail 

 of flowering plants and lowly forms, may still continue a 

 source of health and happiness in man's environment. 



The movement will grow, as all great movements do, 

 because a great truth — man's need for Nature — lies 

 behind it. The essentially important thing is to save 

 now what opportunity we can for its expansion later. 



Our Duty to the Future 



James Bryce 



Extract from address delivered when ambassador to this 

 country, urging the importance of creating national 

 parks and forest reservations in the Eastern States 

 before the opportunity was lost. 



I have had experience in England in dealing with this 

 question, having been for some years chairman of a 

 society for preserving commons and open spaces and 

 public rights of way, and having also served on the com- 

 mittee of another society for securing to the public places 

 of national and historic interest. Thus I was led often 

 to think of what is our duty to the future, and of the 

 benefits which the preservation of places of natural 

 beauty may confer on the community. That is a problem 

 which presents itself not only in Great Britain but all 

 over Europe, and now you in America are tending to 



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