
Smouldering wreckage, a sad sight to the forest lover. 
Commercialism or Conservation P 
An Illuminating Article on what is 
Happening in the Beaver River Country : 
N the eyes of posterity the tree rav- 
| ished areas of the American conti- 
nent will point an accusing finger 
at the generations of the past. Pos- 
terity, we hope, will be educated; pos- 
terity, we believe, will have inculcated 
in the curriculum of schools and col- 
leges the fundamentals of conservation 
in regard to the natural resources with 
which this country is blessed. It will 
recognize, perhaps, as we do not, its 
obligations to posterity. In the future, 
if there are forestlands left to us, if 
indeed there are any save those within 
the boundaries of national and state 
parks, these forests, we hope, will be 
treated not as an unlimited source on 
which commercialism can prey and fat- 
ten, but as repositories of reserve 
strength and power, as the invaluable 
storehouses of that most precious com- 
modity —fresh water; as sanctuaries 
for the propagation and perpetuation 
of wild life, and as those places most 
ideally fitted for human recreation, 
and the building up of such tastes and 
characteristics as are essential to the 
personal fibre of a great nation. 
There are few things in nature 
582 
By PAUL BRANDRETH 
more beautiful, more inspiring, more 
satisfying than a forest. Especially 
is this true of a forest in the north- 
ern hemisphere. From the founda- 
tion of rock on which it has risen to 
the millions of leaf cells which crown 
it during the fair months of the year, 
it is a living, breathing entity. The 
ground we tread on teems with life; the 
trees themselves are as alive as the 
birds and mammals that inhabit and 
take refuge in their shelter. Very often 
the life is silent. There is no place in 
the world that can be quite as still as 
a forest. Yet life and growth go for- 
ward uninterruptedly. 
[* a forest not denuded of its right- 
ful heritage one can obtain practi- 
call every necessity for existence. 
There is wood for shelter, wood for 
fuel, material for a soft bed, the skins 
of wild animals for clothing, the flesh 
of wild animals for food, the purest 
water to drink. Man can, and has sub- 
sisted indefinitely on what the forest 
has had to give him. The plains are 
not so merciful, the desert and the sea 
have no mercy at all, but a forest 
offers the very substance of itself, and 
will not see a human creature die, ex- 
cept under the most lamentable and 
unfortunate circumstances. 
It is illuminating to stand in a for- 
est and consider the toil of centuries, 
The infinite patience of nature, the in- 
finite labor, the gradual acquiring of 
soil eieonen the rotting down of a suce 
cession of trees that their descendents 
may be fed, makes us realize more than 
anything else the profound meaning 
of the word “growth.” Waste is un- 
known. Although on the surface, fallen 
and decaying timber may appear in 
that light, as an actual fact every 
smallest atom of wood is utilized in the 
construction of fresh empires. Time 
is essential to forest growth. The 
beauty and mystery of the past walk 
in the shadow of primitive trees. t 
Ne man-planted forest can attain 
this beauty or this atmosphere, 
chiefly because it is the accumulated 
wealth of ages, and artificially planted 
trees are not permitted to grow old. 
Thus, a forest destroyed is a forest lost 4 
forever. 

