come; and no sound
Shall be borne on the desolate air.
But a murmur of death and despair.

ALEXANDER BLAIR THAW, _The Passing of the Forest_; in _Century
Magazine_, June, 1907

For many years it was thought the forests were inexhaustible and needed
no special care. The national government encouraged people to acquire
forest land and practically gave away 160 acres to every one who would
build a cabin upon the land and live there for a short time.

Suddenly some of the wise people among us awoke to a realization of what
was going on. They discovered that the forests were going very fast and
that soon we should have none if something were not done. Between the
fires that swept them every year and the wasteful lumbering, the forests
were in a fair way to leave us as they had the wasteful and careless
peoples of other parts of the world.

How fortunate it is that some of us did look ahead before it was too
late; for, although the Eastern forests have largely disappeared, there
still remain millions of acres of government-owned forests in the West.
These forests have now been withdrawn from sale and are to be held for
the use and benefit of all. They are not to be permitted to pass into
the hands of a few, to be cut and sold for private gain.

Our government is acting like a wise father who is interested in the
welfare of his children, and who understands the need of taking care of
their treasures until they are wise enough to manage them for
themselves.

We are all concerned in many ways in the welfare of the forests. Whether
we own any forest land or not, we are affected by the way in which the
trees are managed. Because we are all dependent more or less upon the
forests, they should be regarded as the property of us all, just as the
air and water are. But because some of us do not yet know how, or do not
care, to protect them, it is best that the government should do so for
us.

[Illustration: _American Forestry Association_
These men are replanting a mountain slope from which fire once swept the
forest.]

It may be that you live in a brick, or stone house and burn coal in your
stoves. You think that it makes no difference to you whether or not
there are any forests. But stop and think a moment. Are you sure that
you are really independent of them? How many things do you use every day
that are made of wood? The list is surely a long one. If wood is rare
and expensive, the articles which are m