The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1889-02-15
The Nations Forests.

The first step in the effort to provide
for the conservation of the forests on
the national domain should be the with
drawal from sale OF all forestlands be-
longing to the nation. II will not be
necessary to preserve and maintain all
these forests permanently, but the ex.
tent of forest-territory which will be
required by practical plan of forest.
preservation and management for our
Western mountain regions cannot be
at once precisely determined. A
thorough examination of these regions,
and OF the agricultural country depend
ing upon them for its water supply will
be necessary, in order to show what
forests must be retained, and what
tracts of timber can be put upon the
market without injury 10 the important
interests involved Until such an ex-
animation has been made, none of the
forest-lands now belonging to the
United States should be sold.
The second step should be to commit
to the United States army the care and
guardianship of the forests belonging
to the nation. There in time of peace
no other work of national defense or
protection 80 important as this which
the army can perform, and it is plain
that under existing conditions the for
ests on the natl onal domain will not be
indeed cannot be adequately guarded
and protected by any other means
The measures which have been tried,
including those now in operation, have
proved almost entirely Ineffective
The forests on the public lands are
pillaged by settlers, and by the en-
ployees of railroad and mining com.
panies, without scruple of limit Other
instruments will have TO be employed
if the forests are to be preserved.
Their complete and final destruction,
with that of the soil which sustains
them, is, under the present system, or
want of system, onIya question of time
and of very short time.
The officers of the United States
army are educated by the notion for its
service, and they constitute body of
men nnoqualled by any other in our
country in their equipment for guard
ing and protecting the great forest
regions belonging to the nation. They
possess every kind of fitness for this
work in greater degree than any other
class of men, and if authorized by law
to undertake this service they would
have the power and the means neces-
sary for its performance, while every
body else is Inevitably powerless and
incapable. As there is likely to be
very little work for the army hereafter
in the care of the Indians, it will be
available for this service of guarding
the national forests. The work can be
done we'll by the army, and it will cost
nothing, or very little, while any other
plan would necessarily be both ineffec-
tive and costly. This guardianship
and defense of the nations forests by
the army of the nation should be con-
tinued and maintained until sufficient
number of adequately trained and
equipped foresters has been provided
by the national government for the
administration of complete and
permanent system and policy for the
management of the forests on the pub,
lie domain.
This brings us to consider the third
step. This should be the appointment
by the President, of Commission tc
make thorough examination of the
forests belonging to the nation, and Of
their relation to the agricultural inter
ests Of the regions through which the
SIRENS flow which have their sources
in these forests, and to report, with tht
facts observed, a comprehensive plar
for the preservation and management
of the public forests, including a sys
tenn for the training, by the govern
ment, of sufficient number of forest
ers for the national forest service.
The commission should determiu,
what portions of the existing forests
on the pu olic domain should be per
mauently preserved, and in what man
ner the remainder should be disposed
of. The national forests can be 81
managed that they will be perpetual,
reproduced, and will yield forever al
abundant supply of timber for the in
habitants of the adjacent country, ant
a revenue which will more than sustain
the cost of the forest service. A Ma
tional School of Forestry should b,
established at suitable place in on
of the general mountain forests on tn
public lands, and its equipments shoul'
be as thorough and adequate for it
purpose as is that of the Natlona
Military Academy at West Point
Garden and forest, Jan. 30 1889.