s and trails
in the forests and in making the forests more safe from fire.

[Illustration: _H. W. Fairbanks_
A beautiful grassy meadow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.]

The National Forests are open to all for pleasure and recreation, but
under strict regulations about the cutting of trees and the care of camp
fires. Violators of these rules are severely punished. Visitors to the
forests are expected to take care in the selection of places for their
camp fires so that there will be no danger of the fire spreading. When
the camp is left, the fire must be put out with water or covered with
earth.

Many states have forest services of their own, and some have
conservation commissions. It is the business of these organizations to
look after various natural resources, including the forests, water,
soil, minerals, and wild game. All forest rangers as well as state fire
wardens are authorized to aid in the enforcement of the game laws.

We should assist the foresters and wardens in every way possible. Most
of these men love the woods, the birds, and the animals. They are doing
their best to protect the forest and its wild life for the good and
happiness of us all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

OUR FOREST PLAYGROUNDS

What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants the friend of sun and sky;
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty, towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh
For song and mother-croon of bird
In hushed and happy twilight heard--
The treble of heaven's harmony--
These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants cool shade and tender rain,
And seed and bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again;
He plants the glory of the plain;
He plants the forest's heritage;
The harvest of a coming age;
The joy that unborn eyes shall see--
These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,
In love of home and loyalty
And far-cast thought of civic good--
His blessing on the neighborhood
Who in the hollow of His hand
Holds all the growth of all our land--
A nation's growth from sea to sea
Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.

H. C. BUNNER, _The Heart of the Tree_; in _Century Magazine_, April, 1893

Our National Parks and Forests form the grandest