Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-10-13
George r. Marsh on the Denuding of
the AdirOndaCks,

In the late Hon. George =. Marsh's great
work on "The Earth as Modified by Human
Action, he has Il noticeable passage fore.
shadowng the consequences to follow from
the cutting down of the Adirondack woods.
After describing the terrible results which
have followed the clearing the forests from
the mountains of Southeastern France
which the government is now cndcavoiing at
great cost, not to retrieve, for that is hope
less, but simply to chcck-hc goes on to say :
1T is evidently a matter OF the utmost I'M
portance that the public, and especially land
owners, be reused to a sense OF the dangers
to which the indiscrininatc clearing of the
woods may expose not only future genera
lions, but the very soil itself. Some of the
American States, as well as the governments
of many European colonies, still retain the
ownership of great tracts of primitive wood
mnd. The State of New York, for example,
has in its northeastern counties Il vast tract
of territory in which the lumberman has only
here and there established his camp, and
where the forest though interspcrscd with
permanent settlements, robbed of some of
its finest plne-groves, and often Iavaged by
devastating fires, still covers far the largest
proportion Of the surface.
Through this territory the soil is general
ly poor and even the new clcarngs have lit
tic of the luXuriance Of harvest which dis
tiDguishes them elsewhere. The value of
the land for agricultural uses is, therefore.
very small, aud few purchases are made for
any other purpose than to strip the land of
its timber 1t has been Often proposed that
the State should declare the remaining for
est the iualienablc property of the common
wealth but believe the motive of the sug
gestion has originated rather in poctical than
in economical views of the subject. Both
these classes Of considerations have II real
worth. 1t is desirable that some large and
easily accessible region of American soil
should remain, as far MS possible in its print
tive conditional once Il museum for the in
struction of the student, garden for the re-
creation of the lover of nature, and an asy
lum where Indigenous tree and humble plant
that loves the shade, and fish and fowl and
tour-footcd beast, may dwell and pcrpctuate
their kind. in the enjoyment of such imper-
feet protection AS the laws of people ieal-
Gus of restraint can afford them. The i'm
mediate loss to the public treasury from the
adoption of this policy would be inconsistent
Bile for these lands are sold at low rates.
The forest alone, economically managed,
would, without injury and even with benefit
to its pcrnanence and growth, soon yield n
regular income larger than the present value
Of the fee.
The collateral advantages OF the prcscr-
Walton of these forests would be far greater.
Nature threw up those mountains and cloth
ed them with lofty woods, that they might
serve as reservoir to supply with perennial
waters the thousand rivers and rills that
are fed by the rains and SHOWS of the Adir.
ondacks, and us IA screen for the fertile plains
of the central counties, against the chilling
blasts of the north wind, which meet no
other barrier in their sweep from the Arctic
Pole. The climate of New York presents
even now greater extremes of temperature
than that of Southern France. The long
continued coldof Winter is more intense, the
short heats of Summer even tiercer than in
Provence, and hence the preservation of
every influence that tends TO maintain an
equilibrium of temperature and humidity is
Of cardinal importance. The Telling of the
Adirondack woods would ultimately involve,
for Northern and Central New York, conse-
quences similar to those which have resulted
from the laying bare Of the southern and