Forest Service Circular No. 35 Forest Preservation and National Prosperity

THE BENEFITS OF FEDERAL FOREST RESERVES.

Hon. FRANCIS E. WARREN,
United States Senator from Wyoming.

* * * The beneficial object of the withdrawal of the forests of the West from unrestricted public use and their creation into reservations has the indorsement of residents of Western States, even though the public-land area of those States is seriously diminished. The Western people, patriotic in all things, acquiesced in the intrenchment upon their States for the general public good. Although the creation of forest reserves and forestry regulations often works hardship to individuals and to communities, there is no branch of the Government which has more loyal support from Western citizens than has the forestry service. Happily the idea of withdrawing the reserves from all use has year by year lost its potency. Investigation, examination, and experience demonstrated that the reserves could best be preserved by judicious use; and the welcome words of President Roosevelt, in his latest message to Congress, coincide with the views which have been held by many Western citizens since the creation of the reserves, and they illustrate also how closely and clearly the President is in touch with Western needs and interests. In his message he said:

It is the cardinal principle of the forest reserve policy of this Administration that the reserves are for use. Whatever interferes with the use of their resources is to be avoided by every possible means.

WILLIAM S. HARVEY,
Delegate from Pennsylvania.

The Appalachian Forest Reservation, the purchase of which has been indorsed and advised by commercial bodies throughout New England and the East, by various forest associations, and by the National Board of Trade, is of vital interest to the whole people. The Southern States have more than 200 millions of dollars invested in cotton mills. These cotton mills are in a large measure dependent upon water power. The taking of the forest cover from the Appalachian Mountains will largely destroy the opportunity which nature has given the South to increase in wealth and prosperity. Upon the continuance of this forest cover depends almost entirely the water power, navigation, and agriculture of the region south of the Ohio and Potomac rivers and east of the Mississippi.