d in the dignity and high standing which the
profession of forestry, young as it is, has already acquired in the
United States. This position it must be the first care of every member
of the profession to maintain and increase.

In the long run, no profession rises higher than the degree of public
consideration which marks its members. The profession of forestry is in
many ways a peculiarly responsible profession, but in nothing more so
than in its vital connection with the whole future welfare of our
country and in the obligation which lies upon its members to see that
its reputation and standing, which are the measures of its capacity for
usefulness, are kept strong and clear.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FORESTRY

In the United States, forestry is passing out of the pioneer phase of
agitation and the education of public opinion, and into the permanent
phase of the practice of the profession. The first steps in forestry in
this country, as in any other where the development and destruction of
natural resources has been rapid, were necessarily directed mainly to
informing the public mind upon the importance of forestry, and to
building up national and State laws and organizations for the protection
of timberlands set aside for the public benefit. The right to be heard
with respect by the men who were already in control of the larger part
of our total forest wealth had to be won, and has been won. What is
more, in the teeth of the bitterest opposition of private special
interests, the right of the public to first consideration in the
protection and development of the forest and of all the resources it
contains had to be asserted and established. That has now been done.

In the United States these steps in the movement for the wise use of the
forest have been taken mainly in the last dozen or fifteen years, during
which the Federal forest organization has grown from an insignificant
division of less than a dozen men to the present United States Forest
Service, of more than three thousand members. During this period, also,
forestry, both as a profession and as a public necessity, has won
enduring public recognition, and at the same time more public timberland
has been set aside for the public use and to remain in the public hands
than during all the rest of our history put together. To-day the
National Forests are reasonably safe in the protection of public
opinion, not against all attack, it is true, but against any