Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1886-12-18

-corregpondence Of TIE MINsR-
PROTECT THE FOREST Trees
A Pleasantly Written and Very In
structive Letter Upon . Subject OF
Vital Importance to Montanians.
To the Editor Of THE MINER:
A personal friend in Colorado writes and
requests me to speak with Montana gentle
men, who will probably appreciate it, upon
the Importance OF the people and law
makers Of Montana giving immediate at
~tention to the protection of the trees now
here, and, indeed, to the Importance OF a
general Forestry system in the Terri
tory. With your permission l will sue
cinctly do so Though your columns.
In California, Dakota, Illinois. Iowa,
Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Ne,
braska, Nevada, New York, Wisconsin and
Colorado-perhaps other States-laws not
only to encourage the growth OF trees from
seed or stems exist, but there are provisions
ola penal nature, most stringent in charac-
ter, for the protection OF trees now grown.
The theory upon which these laws are
based is practically this: hat forests are a
crop planted by nature for the s~ustenance.
protection and advantage OF every living
thing on the earth-man in particular-and
that any policy which tends to lessen this
crop, or, after consuming q portion of it,
fails to provide for it's ample reproduction,
is not ouly q short sighted policy, bnt one
that slaps grand natures law fairly in the
face. Experience, that best teacher from
antiquity till to-day, tells us how futile, if
not criminal, is such conduct on the part
| of the men of any generation.
Putting aside at this Tins all considera-
| tioDs OF mere beauty and poetry, such rs
have filled the hearts OF men m women at
/ the mention of the groves which were Gods
first temples" ~; closing u eyes to the pic
lures that spring up at the thought OF the
songs that were Jung from the earliest day
that man sat beneath the shade of mon.
archs of the forest to think great thoughts
that he might perform greater deeds, this
question OF forestry" presents itself in
that practical, every.day-life aspect which
stamps it, in the eye Of intelligent men.
with the brand of common sense, practical
business and necessity. And this is true
with an especial emphasis of force here upon
the ''treeless" expanse of the continent.
The mode to secure the end in view as
adopted SO successfully in other common
wealths of both the new and old world, has
OVSA " pAOAAS PAOSVN0 l, OuoAuSSo uhC OHCs
just as men in their everyday affairs first
plan and then put those plans into opera.
ton methodically. That mode or method
is by something like Forestry Associa-
tion," or incorporated company or society
for the purpose in view, regulated like any
other business association, protected, sus.
tanned and encouraged by government
state or national, as other institutions
are, having in view the welfare and interest
OF each and every citizen and the general
prosperity and protection of the country
at large.
For this purpose the proper body to ap-
ply to is the legislature, whose members
are OF the people, by the people and for the
people, presumably. And not a day too
early can be fixed for putting such a work
into operation. The annual lessening OF
trees, tit and unfit for mems uses, is abso-
-lutely astonishing! The axe to-day
wipes from the face of the earth that which
generations will not zee replaced. And to
this manner of mans destruction of the
timber trees and the younger growth that,
it unmolested, would fill the parents place,
must be added that dread enemy and fell
destroyer, fire.
Fires, accidental. careless or m%aliciously
Intentional, yearly sweep from this CONT
nent-particularly this sparcely settled
portion, to which the ever-increasing Sec
tions, with their teeming multitudes look
for home, health and shelter-such an ap-
palIing source of national wealth that it
may almost be said, tits the devastation
Of the nations heritage.
have no space here to 60 into detail.
only ask, at the suggestion of my friend,
the president of that portion of the United
States Department OF Agriculture that en-
braces Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho.
w md nj Nn$0n, <l4 A. 1
ton OF the people OF Montana to the i'm |
portance Of the general subject, and to
suggest to the men OF influence in the Ter
rltory. that some legislative step be taken
this winter to put into practical operation !
the views here outlined.
It is idle, permit me to add, for men who /
temporarily live in the mountains where I
the forests OF Montana are, to say, ooh
we shall soon be gone and nobody will live
here after u.s." These hardy men of the
should recollect that their
brothers of the valleys and the
plains, along the fastest river and the
merest Laughing brook, do want those
trees. Yea, not only do they want them
DOWN in the valleys and plains, but they
want them on the rocky sides OF the grand
that stand guard about the
busy heart OF the State and symbolic the
manhood OF it's children.
The man who Intentionally or uninten-
tlonally makes war upon trees makns war
the happiness, prosperity and civil
'atlon OF the country. They thus cut of
me supply OF water; they dry the springs in
he hills and they blight those trees that
.nelr direct ruthlessness may have spared.
The strong and mighty friends of the men
nd women OF this western land are the
Mountains. All fertility of soil, all health
ILLNESS OF climate proceed from the noun
AIMS. 1t is their granite, their limestone
nd their sandstone which, crumbling. make
he soil for the farmers valley home and
raises for the stockman's plains. They
re our shelter IRON storms. It is beneath
heir evening shadows hat men find rest.
ne heat OF summer is tempered and the
DID OF winter moderated by these silent
sntinels OF nature. Like the white tents ,
an army are they camped along our hori-
IN! Their banner is a cloud! They are ,
ne breastworks of the land and vet are y
lied with treasures and rich in gold and U
liver. But there is another treasure,
eater, perhaps, than these; it is the virgin a
low, folded like a maiden's mantle around b
1elr shining SUBMITS! Take away all this b
nd ike a field OF death would be theland's s
esolatlon: Tor the wheat, the core and the
UT OF the vine are in the snow. It holds
'e golden harvest that in the warmulaye q
AYES upon the plains. And the trees are y
10 protecting guardian spirits oil the snow. -
ence let us protect the trees. !
Respectfully your obedient servant, =
&C. RUSSELL. =
Butte City, Decembee II, 1886. \
LOCAL NEWS NOTES. Il